[budgetprepp-n]

I wanted a Ar-15 for some time now so I waited for the price too come down and ordered one.
For my first AR I figure I would get a sort of bare bones low cost Le6920 mil-spec M-4 Colt. It's on it's way I haven't
received it yet but I was wondering about mounting a scope on it. It has the carry handle and the tall sight
on the front. I'm told the handle is removable. Is there a rail under it for mounting scope rings? And will that tall sight
in the front get in the way? I thought a scope might be nice for plunking off the back porch
The picture below is what I have coming. I have hunted for years with bolt and leaver actions this will be my first semi auto.
I never felt and reason to own a rifle like this until I started waking up and looking around.
I can't Waite to get my hands on this I feel like a kid just before Christmas


As a christian this was a tough decision to make but I have a family to protect and insure they survive
I have prayed that I never need to use this rifle for defense. What is happening to the world around us?

 

[Chipper]

You will see a shadow of the front sight but it won't interfere with using the scope. Most ar type scope mounts are high enough that the cross hairs will be just over the front sight.
I would have suggested that you buy a flat model and get a set of nice pop up sights. Then you could have a scope and simply remove it to use the sights in an emergency.

 

[PrepConsultant]

Unless it is a bull barrel and set up for long range. I wouldn't bother with a scope except for maby 1-3x or 1-4x acog type or reflex or sight for it.. Just my 2cc's worth..

 

[Smitty901]

You Colt will be a fine weapon. Points to consider. Do you want a scope or a sight. And you Colt has a fixed front sight so it it will be a part of what you go with. IMO it is best to not mount on top of carrying handle if you want a sight or scope remove it.
How much do want to spend and how much do you need?
An AR is a fast target acquisition weapon There are many afford able Red dot sights out there that work well for short to mid range.
Longer range ones price goes up.
With a fixed front sight putting a flat top or fixed or pop up rear sight allows you to cowitness with you sight good idea you have both if needed.
Colt like yours with carrying handle removed and rear iron sight added. This is the Same Colt 6920 just a few quick changes made.


If you want I can mount a Red dot to display how it works with iron still installed.
Take some time and read up on how to properly Zero an AR and how to engage short range targets with one you will save a lot of time and ammo zero chasing .
GOOD read and not understood by many Ar shooters
Zero Distance for a Home-Defense AR-15 | Shooting Illustrated

A bit on zero
https://sites.google.com/site/jimmyhots/usmc25mar-15zero

Great Red dot reflex type sights run 400 and up AIM point topping the list but they are not needed by most
The best scopes for an Ar run 900 and up The ACOG being about the best again over kill for most.

Do your self a big favor use the Iron for awhile at the most drop carrying handle and add a rear sight to it.
After you master the zero and hitting the target with iron Turn to researching you sights or scopes.
Download 25 meter zero targets fro the M4 not the m16a2.
Download source
http://ohmr.ohio.gov/forms/ohmr2444-b.pdf
Enjoy you purchased a fine AR 15 that is both effective and flexible. And it is by no means a low cost or cheap AR.
Down the road if you want to remove the front gas block and go with a pop up front sight changing the gas block is easy and not very expensive.

 

[wesley762]

I would suggest getting proficient with the Iron sights first. You can still get a scope for it but the iron ones will be much quicker. I was in that same dilemma you where when I got my AR but found that the Iron sights on it are plenty capable out to 100 to 150 yards and further if needed. Yes the gun can shoot father than that but it was not really designed with that in mind.

 

[Smitty901]

AR 15 is designed for 0-400 meters in average shooters hands. A nd will do it if you get the sights down.
6 shots

 

[PrepConsultant]

I would suggest getting proficient with the Iron sights first. You can still get a scope for it but the iron ones will be much quicker. I was in that same dilemma you where when I got my AR but found that the Iron sights on it are plenty capable out to 100 to 150 yards and further if needed. Yes the gun can shoot father than that but it was not really designed with that in mind.

Very true, become proficient with iron sights FIRST!! Then move to a scope of some sort.. Say you are out and something happens to your scope. I would train with iron sights out to 500yds. Then move to your scope..

 

[rickkyw1720pf]

You can go both ways remove the handle and install a scope on the rail or you can get a mount that attaches in your handle and see above the front post. That is how I installed a TA-11 ACOG on a AR-15 colt compition. Trijicon makes scope mounts for the handle and you can still use your iron sights with the scope mounted.

 

[dwight55]

OR, . . . you can get a set of low mounts, . . . put the scope on the handle. You want to shoot scope, . . . put on the handle with the scope and have at it. You want to shoot irons, . . . take the scope and handle off together and shoot irons.

An original Colt I had several decades ago, . . . put 10 rounds down range at 100 yds with a simple dual reticle 6 power, . . . cover them with a quarter, . . . never knew where you hit.

Now truthfully, . . . I only did that once, . . . but it shows that it can be done. Most of my 100 yd shooting even with the scope was more the 2 inch group.

May God bless,
Dwight

 

[PaulS]

Isn't that a 50 or 100 yard target scaled down to appear the same size as a full silhouette at 300 meters?

 

[trainershawn]

You can easily hit man sized targets at 300 meters or further with iron sights. The 5.56 round is a very flat shooter. If you're wanting precision at those ranges, then yes, a scope is necessary. But as others have mentioned, learn to use you're iron sights first. Once you have those dialed in and you are comfortable, then consider a red dot or a scope. Since the AR15 is a tactical rifle, I use red dot sights for quick target acquisition. I'm not rich so I don't have an Eotech or Aimpoint. I have a UTG I paid around $45 for on Amazon and it's held it's zero for several months now. Vortex and Sightmark makes some decent red dot sights for not too much money also. YMMV

 

[PrepConsultant]

You can easily hit man sized targets at 300 meters or further with iron sights. The 5.56 round is a very flat shooter. If you're wanting precision at those ranges, then yes, a scope is necessary. But as others have mentioned, learn to use you're iron sights first. Once you have those dialed in and you are comfortable, then consider a red dot or a scope. Since the AR15 is a tactical rifle, I use red dot sights for quick target acquisition. I'm not rich so I don't have an Eotech or Aimpoint. I have a UTG I paid around $45 for on Amazon and it's held it's zero for several months now. Vortex and Sightmark makes some decent red dot sights for not too much money also. YMMV

Never used Sightmark myself but have a few Vortex on a few of my rifles and they are quality glass..

 

[shotlady]

I was competing with iron sights while everyone else had scopes. I was scoring quite high. I recently got an eotechs for my two boys & myself. I don't know why. I put a flip up rear sight and kept the fixed front sight and will use as a co witness. im scared to get lazy about iron sites in case I gotta snag some one else's gun and all they have is iron sights. and it make my gun a big fat pig.

 

[Smitty901]

When you mount a scope or sight on the carrying handle it just gets to be a load example.
6920 with a low cost red dot on carrying handle about worthless at close range.


Because the 6920 has a removable carrying handle you can install a standard A2 type rear sight . once zeroed you can remove it and put it back on and be close enough or you can leave it on and co-witness with a sight or scope. It works the same way your rear sight on the carrying handle work.

They are not expensive 25-30 dollars

The pop up work well for some but cost a lot more.

Getting use to using sight that co-witness takes time for many but it can be done.
Sightmark was mention they make a few holographic sights that are very low priced and work pretty darn well even in bright sun light
have one laying around is a list of 79 they can be had for 49 on sale and work very well.

There are a bunch of aftermarket copies of the Aim point while they are not the real deal many are well worth the cost but no where near what a real aimpoint cost.
What ever you do take your time it is so easy to waste cash on the add ons. If you are lucky you will get to try others and find what works best for you.
If down the road you want as I said before removing the one peace gasblock and sight in front is easy and not expensive. then you have even more options.
A set of good front and rear pop ups are going to cost 150-190. Middle of the road about 80-90.
If you are going to shoot at 350 meters and out a scope that can give you 3x is nice but it must also go down to at least1.5X or short range shots become a bit of a problem for some. I have one setup with a 2.5-10 good setup but under 75 meter it is not the best.
Problem with these darn things to many options. You do not need to spend the house payment to get good stuff, But you need to be careful for the junk.
More junk on the market than good stuff.
You done darn good so far with the 6920 with a little care you will be passing it on some day.

 

[Smitty901]

I was competing with iron sights while everyone else had scopes. I was scoring quite high. I recently got an eotechs for my two boys & myself. I don't know why. I put a flip up rear sight and kept the fixed front sight and will use as a co witness. im scared to get lazy about iron sites in case I gotta snag some one else's gun and all they have is iron sights. and it make my gun a big fat pig.

Until the aimpoint m68 became standard issue there was no way I would have used any scope or sight less than 100 metes. After training with and using the flex sights I became a believer. One day of training in reflex fire using M68's company wide hits went up 30%. That was on the move from nose to nose to 200 meters. The AR platform is why they invent reflex sights

 

[Smitty901]

Isn't that a 50 or 100 yard target scaled down to appear the same size as a full silhouette at 300 meters?

25 meter zero target the correct one it was shot at a measure 100 meters 2.5x rapid fire the reason was to measure MOA on that weapon
That weapon with 5.56 62 gr shoots between sub and 1 MOA with .223 55gr 3 MOA.
Full size target 300 meters iron. zero test 3 less than 3 inches at 300 meter iron out of the box ammo you leave it alone good to go.

 

[Fuzzee]

As said, it's worth it to learn to use the irons first. You can mount on top of the carry handle but it's not optimum. That standard front sight base will always be in your way with optics mounted off the rail the A2 carrying handle rear sight is mounted on is you take the A2 CH off and mount to the rail with a scope. Lots of guys like it for co-witness of the front sight and have gotten used to it in the military. You may too, but you're not stuck with it if you don't want it. I see no one mentioned the fact that there are tons of replacement blocks out there you could change the front sight base out to, whether you yourself are handy and can knock out the pins holding it in place and knock the sight off with a rubber hammer and slide it off the barrel. If not, that a local gunsmith can do it easy enough. That simply install whatever block you buy and mount a set of flip up BUIS (back up iron sights) to the rifle.

Gas Blocks | AR-15 | Gun Parts by Gun Make & Model | Gun Parts

Personally, I don't like the traditional front sight base myself and don't like anything in my scope view but my reticle. I also don't buy DI AR's anymore but that's another thread. The Colt 6920 is a good basic AR, and you're not stuck leaving it as is if you don't like it as is. Change out the block, buy a some BUIS and a good scope, sell off or keep the carry handle rear and front sight base, and shoot the hell out of it.

 

[AquaHull]

Never used Sightmark myself but have a few Vortex on a few of my rifles and they are quality glass..

My Sightmark Tactical red Dot had issues after 50 rounds. It went back to dunhams. Now my AR wear a Vortex Strikefire @119.99 shipped from PSA. It has absolute co-witness with my BUIS,which stay flipped down. With no magnification,you can use it with 2 eyes open or close 1 and screw the 2x magnifier on.

 

[PrepperLite]

I have the same style AR you do (with fixed front sight and detachable carry handle). Looking back I should have went with the full flat top with flip up sights and a scope but oh well. You can get a mount for about $10 that will sit on your carry handle and you can fix a scope to.

Think about your scope, and what scenarios you think will happen. If you think an EMP/Solar Flare may hit or you don't have the ability to charge those hard to find (and even harder to find if not impossible when SHTF) Batteries, a powered red dot sight my not be for you. I like the Idea of the scope on top so if it breaks, or if it is powered and I no longer can power it (making it useless) I don't have to zero the weapon again to make sure its accurate (taking off the scope and putting on the carry handle with the fixed sights).

If you have the money there are some nice Fiber optic sights.

 

[csi-tech]

I have an M4 style bushmaster with a fixed carry handle. I stuck a GI issue Aimpoint red dot on a Tapco carry handle mount and love it. I dialed in the iron sights then lined the dot up with those, then moved the laser dot to match. It is zeroed at 50 yards. I only expect it to be a 100 yard gun.