Aimpoint#Aimpoint mounting standards

Aimpoint is a manufacturing company founded in 1974.[https://web.archive.org/web/20121015001726/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=2745598 businessweek.com, Bloomberg Business Exchange, Electronic Equipment, Instruments and Components, Aimpoint AB] Their primary products are reflector (or reflex) sights, specifically the red dot sight sub-type. In 1975 they introduced their first product,{{Cite web |url=http://www.aimpoint.com/us/about-aimpoint/history/ |title=Aimpoint, History |access-date=2011-07-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025094202/http://www.aimpoint.com/us/about-aimpoint/history/ |archive-date=2014-10-25 |url-status=dead }} the "Aimpoint Electronic" red dot sight, based on a design by Helsingborg engineer John Arne Ingemund Ekstrand.Invention intelligence: Volume 11, Inventions Promotion Board, National Research Development Corporation of India - 1976, page 12 This is the first light emitting diode (LED) "red dot" reflector sight manufactured.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}} Aimpoint currently offers various products based on this technology. In 1997 the US Army awarded Aimpoint the first military contract for a red dot sight, the Aimpoint CompM2, designated the “M68 Close Combat Optic”.{{citation|url=https://aimpoint.us/trusted-by-military-and-law-enforcement/|title=Trusted by Military and Law Enforcement|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210326024238/https://aimpoint.us/trusted-by-military-and-law-enforcement/|archivedate=2021-03-26}}

{{citation|url=http://procnet.pica.army.mil/Reference/articles/Archives/multiyear.htm |title=USE OF MULTIYEAR CONTRACT SAVES $1.36M |author=Paul Milenkowic, Stan S. Sudol |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110825033137/http://procnet.pica.army.mil/Reference/articles/Archives/multiyear.htm |archivedate=2011-08-25 }}

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File:Ak4B Aimpoint.JPG]]

Image:Ak5Daimpoint.jpg red dot sight.]]

File:Aimpoint_Micro-H2.jpg

Aimpoint's red dot sights are marketed to hunters, marksmen, law-enforcement agencies, and military organizations.List includes: US Army, US Navy, US Air Force, US Marine Corps, USSOCOM units, the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team, French Army, Swedish Army, Danish Army, Finnish Army, Norwegian Army, Latvian Army, Slovenian Army, and Italian Army {{Citation needed|date=July 2011}} Nearly 3,000,000 sights are in use world wide today.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

Their products use non-magnifying optical collimators (reflector or "reflex" sights) and battery powered LEDs to produce an illuminated red dot reticle. Many sights utilize a mangin mirror system, consisting of a meniscus lens corrector element combined with a semi-reflective mirror (referred to as a "two lens" or "double lens" system by Aimpoint{{Cite web |url=http://www.battle-technology.com/exhibitions.asp?key=360 |title=BATTLESPACE Exhibition News, SHOT SHOW OPENS WITH A BANG! by Julian Nettlefold |access-date=2011-07-29 |archive-date=2011-09-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929115333/http://www.battle-technology.com/exhibitions.asp?key=360 |url-status=dead }}), that compensates for spherical aberration, an error that can cause the dot position to diverge from the sight's optical axis with change in eye position.Note: a setup Aimpoint calls "parallax free"[http://www.ar15.com/mobile/topic.html?b=3&f=18&t=538406 ar15.com, How Aimpoints, EOTechs, And Other Parallax-Free Optics Work][http://www.docstoc.com/docs/50408297/Gunsight---Patent-5901452 Gunsight - Patent 5901452 - general description of a mangin mirror system] Aimpoint markets their sights as "parallax free",[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIKH5GLpL5g Aimpoint's parallax-free, double lens system... AFMO.com]{{citation needed|reason=Content from websites whose content is largely user-generated is generally unacceptable, per WP:RS#Self-published_sources_(online_and_paper)|date=March 2021}} but this seems to refer to their off-axis spherical aberration correction system at one optimized viewing distance. Aimpoints, like all collimated sight systems, induce some parallax at non-optimized viewing distances.[http://www.bullseyepistol.com/dotsight.htm John Dreyer, Facts and Figures About Dot Sights, Encyclopedia of Bullseye Pistol]American rifleman: Volume 93, National Rifle Association of America - THE REFLECTOR SIGHT By JOHN B. BUTLER, page 31

Aimpoint has separate distributors for their military and civilian products in many countries.{{cite web |title=Where To Buy |url=https://www.aimpoint.com/where-to-buy |website=Aimpoint |access-date=25 June 2021}}[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DelQ_dogdM4 Differences between professional and hunting Aimpoints]{{citation needed|reason=Content from websites whose content is largely user-generated is generally unacceptable, per WP:RS#Self-published_sources_(online_and_paper)|date=March 2021}}

File:Aimpoint Acro C2 and Picatinny riser with Acro rail.jpg riser.]]

File:Acro style dovetail rail dimensions.png.]]

Aimpoint has launched a series of proprietary mounts for their products. These include:

• Aimpoint CompM4 mount: Launched in 2007{{cite web|url=https://gunivore.com/accessories/aimpoint-comp-m4-sight-review/|title=Aimpoint Comp M4 Sight|last=M|first=Sam|work=Gunivore|language=en-US|date=21 April 2016|access-date=5 November 2022}} with the Aimpoint CompM4 sight. The sight is attached to the mount via two M5 screws from the underside, and the mount has a transverse groove acting as a recoil lug. The Aimpoint Comp line was launched in 1993. The predecessor of the CompM4, CompM2, had a 30 mm ring mount and was introduced in the American military in 2000. Some manufacturers have copied the M4 mount system, but it has mainly been used by Aimpoint.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wJqlH_jwsU Aimpoint Comp M4 review]{{citation needed|reason=Content from websites whose content is largely user-generated is generally unacceptable, per WP:RS#Self-published_sources_(online_and_paper)|date=March 2021}}
• Aimpoint Micro mount: Launched in 2007{{cite web|url=https://aimpoint.us/history/|title=History|work=aimpoint.us|access-date=5 November 2022}} together with the compact Aimpoint Micro series of sights (T1 and H1, and later T2 and H2). The sight is attached to the mount with four M3 screw. The mount has a longitudinal profile which is reminiscent of the Zeiss rail, but with other dimensions and a square recoil lug in the middle. The profile is also longitudinally slightly offset from the centerline. The standard has been copied by many other manufacturers, and has been a common mounting standard for reflex sights in sizes similar to the Aimpoint Micro (such as Holosun 403B, Minox RV1, SIG Sauer Romeo4, Vortex Crossfire and Aimpoint Comp M5b{{cite web|url=https://www.optics-trade.eu/blog/aimpoint-micro-h-2-footprint/|title=Aimpoint Micro H-2 Footprint|last=Gradišnik|first=Andraž|work=Optics Trade Blog|language=en-GB|date=23 February 2022|access-date=5 November 2022}}). In addition to being offered as the mounting surface on sights from many other optics manufacturers, there are also many aftermarket mounts available for this pattern.[https://www.optics-trade.eu/en/mounts/aimpoint-micro-mounts.html Aimpoint Micro mounts selection]
• Aimpoint Acro rail: Launched in 2019 together with the sights Aimpoint Acro P-1 and C-1.{{cite web|url=https://www.optics-trade.eu/us/mounts/red-dot-sights-mounts/aimpoint-acro-mounts.html|title=Aimpoint ACRO Mounts - Optics-Trade|work=United States|language=en|access-date=5 November 2022}} This is a mount without screws acting directly between the sight and the mount, and is slim enough (approximately 15 mm wide and 2 mm tall) so that it can be milled directly into most pistol slides. The mount is a dovetail rail with a thick transverse recoil lug (4 mm) and is reminiscent of a miniaturized version of the Picatinny rail, but with a lower and slimmer profile, and fewer edges exposed to the user. With competing standards for attaching miniature red dot sights to pistols (such as the Docter, Trijicon, C-more and Shield/Leupold mounting standards), experience among competition shooters has shown that the screws used for attaching the sight directly to the mount can wear due to inadvertently taking up recoil, including both normal recoil from firing as well as negative recoil from when the slide closes during feeding, resulting in the screws wearing and needing to be replaced over time. The Acro mount does not use such screws, but instead has a clamp mount. Due to using a clamp mount (similar to the Picatinny), no screws are needed to attach the sight to the mount rail. The Acro rail has so far been used on Aimpoint Acro (P1, C1, P2, C2) and Steiner MPS.

• EOTech
• Trijicon
• Elcan
• ITL MARS

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Category:Companies based in Malmö

Category:Firearm sights

Category:Optics manufacturing companies