Trijicon 1-4X24 TR24-3 Scope Review

Trijicon 1-4X24 TR24-3 Scope Review

If you do not know the name Trijicon you should. Trijicon founded the pioneering use of fiber optics and tritium to enhance sighting in blackout to full sun lighting conditions.  Their concept in 1981 when the company was founded was simple, to hit your target your need to be able to see the sights even when you do not have any batteries.  In order to accomplish that battery free goal Trijicon utilizes fiber optics to gather available light to provide various colored aiming points in iron sights, dot optics, and scopes.  When ambient light is not available Trijicon’s sighting systems utilizes a small inert glowing radioactive isotope called tritium which takes over sight illumination to provide a glowing dot on theses same optics even in black out conditions.  

The reality of warfare and hunting is that typically the action starts when the lights go dim and without an effective sighting option in these light conditions, it becomes tough to hit what you are aiming at.  Historically the shooter has relied on battery powered light dots or reticles, but in 1981 Trijicon released the first Tritium powered dot sighting system which immediately became a favorite of the military.  Over time the Trijicon pioneered the dual illumination fiber optic and tritium sight lighting concept which powered the now famous Trijicon ACOG military optics which provides fast and accurate shooting in any light.

Today Trijicon’s dual illumination technology has become standard on various military weapons and now sportsman and competitors are realizing the advantages as well in a number of other products in the Trijicon line.

ABOUT THE TRIJICON ACCUPOINT
In 1998 Trijicon introduced the Accupoint dual illuminated scopes for the outdoor sporting enthusiast which fast become not only a favorite of sportsman but also back up to the military as well.  The AccuPoint line blend standard scope features with Trijicon’s dual illumination sighting for a glowing center dot regardless of lighting conditions.  The advantage of the AccuPoint is a very quality scope available in various magnifications with a glowing dot for sighting.  I have been using the Trijicon 1-4X24 TR24-3 scope for about three months on a variety of bolt actions and semi-autos and thought it was about time for a review now that I have run this scope through its paces.

FINISH, FIT, FEEL, FEATURES, & FUNCTIONING
FINISH, FIT, FEEL
Trijicon’s reputation has preceded itself and delivered on the hype with a top quality finish, fit and quality heft.  At 14.4oz the Trijicon AccuPoint 1-4X scope is not a lightweight, but not the heaviest in its class either, however what the scope offers in advantages it is worth the weight addition to your firearm.

FEATURES
The biggest advantage of the Trijicon AccuPoint is that it is completely batter-free thanks to the fiber optics and tritium powering the reticle.  Tritium technically has a half life of around 12-years which means the tritium light output will be about half what it is when new but should still be visible in very low light conditions. Trijicon will not replace tritium under warranty, however the fiber optics will never run dead most of my optics get replaced in a 10-year period so I am not particularly worried.  For the doomsday voice in my head this battery free scope seems to be about the best option available.

Everyone thinks they need a 4 Billion X magnification so the can see hairs on a gnats ass at 300 yards. The reality is that unless you can really lock down your gun on a very solid rest anything more than 10-14X is going to look like your target is on a trampoline and if your target is moving forget about using anything over 6X-10X. In typical hunting and combat situations a lower power scope will get you on target faster and probably more accurately than a higher power option. Trijicon offers the AccuPoint in a number of powers and reticles, however I think the 1-4x24 model is the best for the vast majority of shooting most of us will do with any firearm from a .22 to a .308.  4X is plenty for game or defensive shots well past 200 yards and the 1X power has obvious two-eyes open shooting advantages that simply would not be available with a scope starting at a higher power.  

The Trijicon AccuPoint have very clear optics thank to multi-layer coated lenses which provide very high distortion-free light transmission.  Other features were a quick-focus eyepiece, comparatively long-eye relief to competing scopes, and ¼” click windage and elevation adjustment.

Personally I could have handled a little more light in my dot which indicates I should have gone with the BAC reticle instead.  The BAC reticle provides a very prominent bright triangle-on-post format, whereas the duplex reticle provides a tiny dot in the center of the cross-hairs with a more subtle dot intensity.  Should you find the brightness a little too strong Trijicon has integrated a Brightness Override Adjustment that which is essentially a shade over the fiber optics port on the eyepiece that allows you to tune how bright the dot it.  My preference would be to leave it at maximum, however some might find the light distracting in some conditions, so it is good they have the tuning option.

FUNCTIONING
I chose the standard Cross Hair duplex reticle versus the other BAC (Bindon Aiming Concept) reticle, named actor the Trijicon founder.  The with a day or night lite aiming point the cross-hair shares the same two-eyes open ideas as the BAC reticle with a more familiar cross-hair reticle. On everything I mounted the Trijicon 1-4X from a Ruger 77/357, to 10/22, to AR15 to 7.62X52 AR10 this was a very fast sighting optic. This optic is about perfect on an AR15 and provides excellent shot placement out to 250 mark and still allow good gong hits out to the 400 yard mark.

Making a standard 3-9X power scope is not that tough, a lot of folks do that well for very little money.  What is very difficult is manufacturing a variable powered scope with true 1X non-magnification.  The Trijicon is not true 1X however it is so close that you probably will not notice unless you are really picky.  The eye-piece can be adjusted to provide a really really close to 1X power, however I get an barely perceptible fish-eye effect which I have only seen improve on the extra-ordinarily expensive scopes well over the price of the Trijicon AccuPoint.

As you can see on with the Accupoint attached with standard rings on my DPMS Oracle upper, unless you have one of those continuous top rails beyond your upper receiver two standard rings are not going to cut it. Any AR scope including the Trijicon will require a cantilever front ring mount. You will want to utilize something like the Millet Cantilever mounts for the front ring to most the scope and inch or so forward enough on your AR to provide the required eye relief for comfortable shooting.  Millet has two options a monolithic two-ring mount or the lower one pictured which matches up to Millet's .608" height rings. Mounting was a simple with 30mm Millet Tactical and Cantilever rings on various AR format rifles.
FINAL THOUGHTS
At a time when so many optics are made overseas, Trijicon is 100% American Made in Wixom, Michigan.  Because of this they are not the least expensive optics, however they are exceptionally high quality for the money and with the dual-illumination feature they provide something no other optic manufacturer has.  For an AR or even general purpose bolt action gun, the 1-4X power of the Trijicon AccuPoint is more than adequate for all but the bench-rest group shooter folks. For an all conditions AR scope for reasonable shot distances the Trijicon TR-24-3 1-4X24 scope is an ideal and elegant solution to a complex problem that provides excellent clarity and repeatable precision in any light condition.

SPECS

Magnification	1x-4x
Objective Size	24
Bullet Drop Compensator	No
Length (In)	10.3
Weight (oz)	14.4
Illumination Source	Fiber Optics & Tritium
Reticle Pattern	Germand #4 Crosshair
Day Reticle Color	Amber
Night Reticle Color	Amber
Eye Relief	3.2
Exit Pupil	17.5 to 5.1
Field of View @ 100 yards (ft)	97.5 to 24.2
Adjustment @ 100 yards (clicks/in)	4
Tube Size	30mm
Housing Material	6061-T6 aluminum, hard coat anodized per MIL-A-8625, Type III, Class 2 dull & non reflective
Made In	USA

SOURCES
Shop the complete selection of optics at Brownells.com 

Trijicon
AccuPoint http://www.trijicon.com/na_en/products/product1.php?id=AccuPoint
http://www.trijicon.com