FN Five Seven with Trijicon RMR and Streamlight TLR1s review

[truehuntersupply]

I was asked by a customer how the trijicon RMR optic would do in the dark and then use a streamlight TLR. I was very disappointed with the outcome. The Trijicon RMR (Non Battery Model) was almost useless in a complete dark setting. With low light it was somewhat of a use able optic. But in pitch black room it failed the amber dot did not show at all. I then turned on the Streamlight and it still did not emit enough of a dot to be used. I then decided to turn on some back light. Being in a lit room but having a dark alley situation. The amber dot was visible a bit but once I turned on the TLR it washed out the amber dot. The amber dot is not strong enough to be used with an attached tactical light
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP57GmHcU-A

This is pitch black room.


The RMR failed, for the price it goes for its useless in the dark. If there is no light it will not work.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL2P188eFfM

It works great for daylight situations, but low light and dark situations it fails. It becomes a useless.

On a good note the Streamlight is well built and very bright. I was very happy on how well it emit light. The strobe feature is neat as its still bright enough to see almost anything being a low light to pitch black situation.

[djv38]

That makes future decisions on an RMR easier for me.

I've always felt the amber dot wasn't optimal (easier to wash out as you pointed out), but I'm a little surprised it was worthless in a pitch black environment.

[truehuntersupply]

In a pitch dark room I could barely find the dot.

[Deployment Solutions US]

I have a couple of the RMR02 LED. They are bright always!!!

[racer88]

That makes future decisions on an RMR easier for me.

I've always felt the amber dot wasn't optimal (easier to wash out as you pointed out), but I'm a little surprised it was worthless in a pitch black environment.

There are two basic types of RMR sights. One is LED based. The other is fiber-optic / Tritium based. The first takes a battery. The second does not require batteries. The first projects a bright red dot. The second projects an amber dot.

The OP is describing the "dual illumination" model which is powered by ambient light gathered by fiber optics or a tritium light source in the absence of ambient light. No batteries. Sounds attractive at first.

It seems that in a dark room, the Streamlight (obviously) doesn't provide enough ambient light to light up the fiber optics. And, at the same time, the Streamlight's spotlight overpowers / drowns out the tritium-based amber dot. Just light physics at work... and obviously an issue with this type of optic in an unlit defensive situation.

The seemingly easy solution is to get an LED based RMR sight. That's what I just ordered for my FNP-45T. Yes, it requires a battery. But, it will last 2+ years with it being constantly on. It can also be powered down (in storage) to prolong battery life. But, if I only have to replace the battery every couple of years, I can live with that. I like that it's a bright red dot that will be visible in ANY environment or circumstance.

[Deployment Solutions US]

I just bought 12 Sunbeam 2032 batteries(RMR02 battery type) at The Dollar Store for $3.00. They come in a three pack. I also have a bunch of Panasonic 2032 batteries put away. 17,000 hrs is what they claim is the battery life constantly on.

Some of my friends have the Dual Illuminated RMRs. They have put black electrical tape over the top of it because in bright sunlight, it is too bright.

[Deployment Solutions US]

OK, it was $4.00. I was just gonna buy three, but I took them all!!!

[Ivegotscars]

I have the Streamlight w/ Lazer combo. This is the hot ticket day or night.
For night time purpose - Light and lazer super quick target acquisition from any position or angle.
And although the 5.7 is known for having very little muzzle rise durring follow up shots, it very much tames the barrel some more.
Great addition to the weapon

[RC57]

I have a dual illuminated RMR on my FNP45 Tactical, but it is a 13 MOA. It's really easy to pick up the dot for up close shots, but it's way too big for anything at distance. I went to it after trying a Burris FFII that the dot was too small and not bright enough in many situations to be able to pick up easily. I decided to pick up a Leupold DeltaPoint 7.5 MOA as something in between.

I actually had the DeltaPoint mounted my FsN. So far I really like it. The automatic brightness works much better than the FFII. The auto shutdown and motion sensing to turn it on works well. The 7.5 MOA triangle is bright and fairly crisp. I've seen crisper, but it's good enough. I found that if I zero the triangle at 15 yards, I can use the bottom of the triangle at 7 yards and the top point of the triangle at 25 yards to be plenty accurate for 6 inch targets. I put 5 20 round mags of 197 and a 20 round staggered mag of ProII and ProIII's through the FsN last night and it held zero with no problems. I haven't tried any extreme low light or no light with it yet, but I'll do some testing tonight.

Looks right at home on the FsN.

[RC57]

Checked out the DeltaPoint in the dark. It's bright in complete darkness and low light. In the dark, with me holding my 4Sevens MiniX under the barrel, it's bright on the low setting, not bright but very easily visible on the medium setting, and easily visible but faded at the brightest setting. The light's settings are 1.2/45/210 lumens. It's also bright when the room is lit with compact flourescents, which have caused problems for me with some sights.