Several days ago, I posted a picture on social media that captured a very clear view through the Trijicon AccuPoint 5-20×50 rifle scope mounted on the DD5 V1 I recently reviewed. This post got quite a bit of love on Twitter and one reader asked for my thoughts on the Trijicon AccuPoint since he has been hesitating on getting one. As such, I figured I should oblige and share my thoughts on it.
Good magnified optics are amazing tools that are considered a must have by just about every rifle shooter I’ve met. They can significantly enhance the shooter’s ability to properly identify targets and, with the right reticle for the application, make last minute adjustments a breeze. Downsides include a hefty price tag and added weight. I consider Trijicon AccuPoint riflescopes to be a very good magnified optic that strikes a good balance between price and capabilities. Let’s get into it.
Before getting too deep, I want to remind readers that I’m personally still learning a lot about optics and rifles as a whole. While I have some experience hunting and long distance target shooting, I don’t consider myself (and you shouldn’t either) an authoritative source. These are just my thoughts and opinions given my current experience level. This specific rifle scope was the second one that I personally acquired. I knew I wanted a high magnification optic with a large field of view, but that was about it. The opinions I provide below are based on much more experience than I had when I first picked up this optic.
Let’s start with what I like about the scope.
One of my favorite things about this scope is the clarity of the lenses. The image is crisp and clear from edge to edge across the field of view across the entire magnification range when the right amount of parallax adjustment is applied. The 50mm objective lens gathers light beautifully with or without the included sunshade attached. The scope also provides a generous eye relief for about 4″. In my opinion, the image quality is superb considering the $1000+ price tag and has yet to disappoint.
The scope does come equipped with a parallax adjustment on the left side of the turrets that allows adjustments from 40 yards to infinity. I personally have not engaged any targets beyond 250 yards with it, so I can’t speak how well the parallax adjustment works for targets at extended distances. However, I can say the adjustments have worked very well for the distances I’ve used this scope for.
In addition to the parallax adjustment, the scope includes a focus eyepiece, magnification power adjustment ring, and a fiber optic brightness adjustment ring all located near the ocular lens.
I really like the idea of an illuminated reticle without a battery. Although, that is a bit misleading since the entire reticle is not illuminated. The illuminated portion is limited to the aiming point of the reticle meet which is always illuminated by both fiber optics and tritium. The fiber optic brightness adjustment ring controls how much daylight a fiber optic strip is exposed and uses that control the illumination intensity. Without daylight, the tritium takes over and illuminates the aiming point in low light conditions. I do like the illuminated aiming point as the green illumination is easy to see and draws the shooters eye quickly to it.
The exposed turrets on the scope are some of my favorite turrets. The tactile feedback of the clicks as the turrets are adjusted in .25 MOA increments are very pronounced. This makes counting clicks a breeze. The elevation turret includes a return to zero disk which acts as an adjustable zero stop. The ability to return the turrets to the zero position quickly (without counting back and) without breaking the cheek weld to check the turret position is simply wonderful and welcome for scenarios where multiple targets at different distances are engaged. Both the windage and elevation turrets have a total travel of 40 MOA and track very well.
There are a couple of things about this particular scope that I don’t care for. The first thing is the reticle I selected which is a standard MIL-DOT crosshair reticle pattern. While the reticle is an excellent choice to assist the shooter in quickly estimating distances of targets (where the target height is known) and dial them in, I find that it’s not suboptimal since the turret adjustments are measured in MOA increments. This means the shooter has to deal with MRAD hold overs and MOA adjustments. Therefore is forced to be familiar with both MOA and MRAD drop and windage data for the ammunition loaded. This particular reticle pattern would be better paired with MRAD adjustment turrets.
The other thing that I don’t care for about this particular scope is it isn’t offered with a tree reticle pattern or a BDC reticle pattern. I personally prefer tree reticle patterns as I find them to be the easiest to combine windage (or lead) and elevation holdovers. When a tree pattern isn’t available, I fallback to a BDC reticle pattern for similar reasons. This may not be a problem from many folks, but I figured I would point it out anyway. This 5-20×50 AccuPoint Scope is offered with six different reticle patterns which will likely speak to many different reticle preferences.
Overall, I think this is fantastic scope given its price point. Yes there are a few things about it I don’t care for and would like to change, but those are simply my preferences based on the shooting activities I participate in with the rifle this scope is mounted to. In my opinion, this scope is a great option for applications where the shooter will have sufficient time to dial in windage and elevation adjustments before taking a shot and limiting hold overs to either windage or elevation (but not both). Examples of these types of activities include, recreationally shooting targets at extended distances and hunting game animals at extended distances.