Airsoft SpecOps: Revision: Protecting the Optical Sight on Airsoft Guns

Older Revision of Protecting the Optical Sight on Airsoft Guns

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Protecting the Optical Sight on Airsoft Guns

I would never think that a 400 FPS plastic BB can shoot out a glass aiming sight. After all, the claim is that a plastic BB is much softer than a glass BB. But with so many Internet reports of glass sights and scopes being shot out in airsoft games, you have to take it seriously. So when I placed the Ultimate Arms Gear Tactical 4 Reticle Sight (JH400) onto my APS ASR106 Mini Patriot M4, I really didn't want it to get shot out on the field.

Now, you can get an airsoft sight protector (see Related Links below). But it's $15 every time it gets shot out by an airsoft BB. You might as well get $10 red dot sights instead. And my guess is the plastic protector will blur the sight vision.

I have a better idea... glass microscope slides. You can buy 72 glass slides for $5 to $10 (see photo below). Every time one slide gets shot out, you just replace it with another one.

The microscope slide is made out of clear glass (see photo below). And is usually made uniformly in order to provide the best visibility for scientific research purposes. Make sure you don't get the frosted version.

The microscope slide is just big enough to cover the Ultimate Arms Gear Tactical 4 Reticle Sight (see photo below). In fact, one slide has enough surface area to serve twice. If your sight is bigger, than you can use multiple slides.

Use a glass cutter (see photo below) to score the glass. After scoring the glass, snap the glass slide in two. Before you snap it, make sure you wear goggles.

After cutting the glass to size, I tried it on the sight. I taped the glass slide to the front of sight. Turning on the red dot, I found that the glass slide doesn't throw off the holographic red dot. Perfect. The microscope glass was so uniform, there was no distortion in the vision. It worked better than I expected. The question, then, was how to mount it permanently, but not so permanent that it can't be replaced.

The answer is white glue. White glue on the four corners of the microscope slide (see photo below) makes it easy to fix to the sight. It excretes no fume to fog the sight. It drys almost clear, so that it doesn't stand out. A bit of finger nail can usually remove it from most surfaces. At worst, a little bit of water will solute it.

I took the sight with microscope slide protection to an indoor CQB field this past weekend. It worked beautifully. Neither the microscope slide nor the sight got shot out. I don't know if it was ever hit by a BB. But with it, I wasn't afraid to stick the rifle out at the enemy.

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Protection Paid Off

After a indoor CQB game, I noticed that the protection glass is gone. I remembered at one time during the night, I heard a loud crack coming from my gun. I didn't really think much of it at that time, thinking a pellet hit my gun. But while packing up my equipment, the protection glass was no longer on the sight. It came clean off leaving no glue residue behind (see photo below).

I don't know if the hit shattered the protection glass slide or just popped it off the red dot holographic sight. But I was glad it hit the protection, rather than the sight. Now that I know the noise of the hit, I will keep my eyes out next time.

I now have more examples of the microscope slide protection being broken by BB's. The photo below is a classic example of a bullet hole in glass. Except this time, it's the BB breaking the microscope slide glass protector.

I have also made some tests and shot a video of different FPS airsoft guns shooting microscope glass slides. It answers the question, "Will Airsoft BB Break Glass?"

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More Protections?

I already had the other half of the glass slide ready to go. Gluing it on was a piece of cake at home. But it made me wonder what I should do the next time it happens. I was very fortunate that no one hit the sight again that night. And this is the only time someone hit the sight after playing two nights with it.

But it doesn't mean I can't be unlucky enough for someone to hit it twice in one night. So here are some ideas.

One: Use two guns with two sights. You can't have two sights ready to go, because the sights have to be sighted in on the gun. When you switch sights, there is no guarantee that it will be dialed in. The best scenario is to have two guns with two sights. When one protector is smashed, switch to the second gun.

Two: Carry $15 airsoft sight protector (see "Related Links" below). When the glass slide is shattered, mount the sight protector for the next round. After getting home, you can glue another glass slide onto the scope and remove the airsoft sight protector.

Three: Remove the sight after glass slide shatters and use iron sight. This is the most economical solution. But also the most inconvenient. Once you removed the sight, you'll have to dial it back in after mounting it. But is a good solution if you are unlucky twice in a row using one of the two solutions above.

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