The Trijicon SRS or Sealed Reflex Sight mounted to my 10″ SIG 516.
I had an opportunity pop up a few weeks ago that allowed me to get my hands on the new Trijicon SRS (Sealed Reflex Sight). The 1×38 MIL-spec sight is about as rugged as they come. It is a parallax free, reflex sight with a large 38mm aperture for maximum visibility in a short body. The 1.75 MOA red dot has dual power illumination with 10 brightness settings. 3 of those are NVG compatible. The AA battery is mounted in line with the bore and assisted by the top mounted solar cell panel. The large buttons for adjusting the brightness levels are located on the sides of the housing and are easily manipulated with or without gloves. The overall build quality of the sight is what you would expect from a company such as Trijicon. The sight is robust with a housing so rugged that seems like the demonic offspring of a fire hydrant and a manhole cover.
1/2 moa adjustment and recessed intensity level adjustment buttons are part of a very sleek and snag free package.
The 28mm clear aperture yields a 23m field of view at 100m. Depending on the ambient temperatures, the AA battery will last for 2.5 – 3 years on power setting 7-10. The overall length is a stubby 3.75 inches leaving plenty of room for other rail mounted accessories. Sitting only 2.4 inches off of the rail and at 2.5 inches wide, the SRS provides plenty without asking for a lot of room on the rifle. Total weight of the sight is 13.8 ounces. What the sight brings to the table is well worth the real estate it uses and the extra push up or two you’ll have to do to hold up the extra 3/4 of a pound.
The AA battery cap is tethered to the body and is mounted low on the sight to help keep things smooth.
Trijicon claims the SRS is waterproof to 50 m or 165 ft. Being lazy I let it sink to 20 ft and left it there for 8 hours. There was no indication of leakage and the battery compartment was dry as a bone when opened. I then tossed the SRS into the freezer for 40 hours, took it out and it was still working. I mounted it to the gun and ran off a few rounds to help expedite the thawing process. After a complete defrosting, the sight was still running and there was no leaking from the battery compartment when I tossed it in the sink again. Now that I was done playing I set it aside for the night and let it dry out naturally.
Day one on the range began with zeroing. I cheated and used a laser bore sighter to get it close and then tuned it from there. I was able to zero in 6 rounds using the 1/2 moa adjustment screws. The adjustment screws are easy to reach and marked very well so most of the thinking was eliminated from the process. Once I had a solid 50 yd zero I was able to put together an aggregate zero with all but one shot outside of the 8 inch ring on the Academy target. So far the new SRS was holding up to the same standards as my Aimpoint COMP M4s. The rest of the day consisted of drills from prone to offhand and as much dirt and sand as I could get into and on the sight. A total of 565 rounds fired and the sight was bright as ever and still holding zero.
The SRS easily bottom one-third co-witnessed with my A2 height fixed Troy iron sights.
Day two on the range brought on 900 rounds of pre-loaded mags, than god for the bench loader, and a lot of drills, reloads and bouncing around for the sight. On top of that, I decided to drop it from 3 and 6 feet onto the black top just to see what happened. Other than a few white scuff marks, there were no adverse effects to the sight. Day two ended with a much higher round count and a couple of abusive drops and the SRS still running and still zeroed.
The third day on the range was all between 100 and 300 yards in the prone position. The sight truly is parallax free and the 1.75 moa red dot is more than adequate at those distances. Called flyers aside, all of the groups were well within the 8 inch ring and adding 360 rounds to the total count.
In the end, 1825 rounds were fired with no perceptible effect on the sight. The power to the red dot was constant and I see no evidence of damage to the sight. The zero remains as it was set on day one. The lever throw quick release mount still held firm and there was no movement between the sight and the base. I intend to run the SRS on my rifle for the rest of the year which should add another 8-10k to the round count. I suspect it will hold up just fine.
So it’s a rugged, dependable red dot… that costs twice as much as an Aimpoint PRO, and 1/3 more than a Micro. Trijicon makes good stuff, most of the time, but what would be the advantage here over an Aimpoint?
Well, it comes with a QD mount already (Bobro), has a huge aperture unlike the T-1, and it has a solar power backup. Not too shabby
I didn’t see it in the review (maybe I’m going blind) but what’s the co-witness on this sight with that mount, absolute or lower 1/3?
Bottom 1/3
Interesting tool. It’s obviously built military-tough, but it’s not so easy to discount the weight. People are getting rid of traditional railed handguards in favor of lightweight versions and doing everything they can to lighten their gear (Helium Whisper). If you’re in full kit with plate carrier and ruck and your loadout weighs 75 or 100 lb – despite the fact that you sawed off the handle of your toothbrush, are you going to use this Trijicon sight or an Aimpoint T-1? It will be interesting to see how the market responds.
I have about 700-800 rounds through mine so far. While the cost is hard to justify, and after using an T1 for literally 3 and 1/2 years (on deployment, same battery since purchase, battery on for the whole year of 30-130 degree temperatures) this was partially more of a solution to the tube effect I get with the T1 and a bit of boredom of an aimpoints otherwise boring reliability. I haven’t shot it enough to call it GTG, but I love the FOV that it offers and the extra weight is not equal. While the weight is a big deal, we are only going to get “so” light as times goes on without a finding the next leap in gear tech (HW is a good example). As far as weapons tech we are only going to be able to make a center fire, semi-auto rifle so light with how hard guys are on shit and still make it durable and reliable. Weapon sighting systems are no differant.
The SRS has almost the field of view of the EOtech and the sot of the aimpoint. Almost the best of both worlds.
BUT !!! I had a huge issue in bright/ambiet light. When the sunlight hit the SRS’s front lens, the 1.75 MOA dot became something like 5 MOA square. The square was actually an internal reflection of the emitter. It was pretty annoying as it would disappear and reappear depending on which way the SRS was, relative to the sun (there were no issues at an indoor range).
I spoke to Trijicon at the NRA show and they acknowledged the issue and said that they were working on a new lens coating to solve that problem. They told me that purchasing a ARD ($90+) would solve that problem (and I told them that they should be giving the ARD’s away to solve a mistake in their design!!).
While i love the field of view on the SRS and have nothing but good things to say about the design and all, I had to return mine as $800+ for a sight should get me a flawless item.
At this time the Aimpoint PRO is my favorite until the SRS is redesigned.
I meant “… field of view of the EOtech and the DOT of the Aimpoint”.