So, Magpul makes these folding sights called the MBUS. The reasoning behind them appears to be that since backup sights are, you know, backup, then a light and inexpensive plastic unit should work just fine for the job.
Like pretty much everything Magpul makes, they've been a phenomenal sales success, as well they should be: A front-'n'-rear pair of MBUS sights costs less than most quality steel folding rear sights alone, and the rear sight by itself (if you have a fixed front like I do) is cheaper than even the relatively low-end and snag-prone Yankee Hill folding rear.
So now I find out that of course there's some Chinese company selling cheap plastic knockoffs of an already inexpensive plastic sight. And the packaging is such that an unscrupulous seller could pass them off as the real deal.
Folks, if you're at a gun show and that "Aimpoint" or "EOTech" or "Magpul" accessory is priced too good to be true, then it probably is. The fake problem is so bad with Aimpoints that they even have a whole "How To Spot A Fake Aimpoint" section on their web site...
BONUS!: Via email, "How to spot a bogus Loopie!"
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I play a fun game at local gun shops, "Spot the fakepoint".
ReplyDeleteI've shown one local store two different fakepoint's, one magnifier, one M2 clone. What killed me was the employee's understood, but the manager wanted to keep the magnifier listed for $400.
Aimpoint has had their "Spot the fake" page for years now.
Said Magpul sights are apparently obscenely strong.
ReplyDeleteI dunno, but I think this plastic stuff is here to stay. In part because it's evidently indestructible.
The fakes are certainly bad, and Ebay is full of them.
ReplyDeleteThat the Airsoft crowd loves them makes their continued proliferation inevitable.
Too bad they can't be required to have a marking that reads "Copy" to let buyers beware.
There's a "how to spot counterfeit Magpul stuff" thread in the Magpul industry forum on Arfcom. Buddy of mine got shafted with a fake UBR stock, had "Coorado USA" molded on it...
ReplyDeleteDo fake EoThings have fake bible references on them?
ReplyDeleteDrang:
ReplyDeleteThat was Trijicon with the biblical references on the sights until people were upset that Muslims might be shot with scopes that had Christian biblical references upon them, not Eotech.
Now they are shot with unmarked Trijicon sights and that's ok.
Thus, if you see an Eotech etched with a biblical reference, then yeah, its very fake.
Doesn't Magpul themselves have a cheaper line for Airsoft with their "MagPul PTS" line? I'd guess a lot of people sell those as the real thing. And the factories cranking them out probably make a bunch of extras after the orders are filled and dump them on the market, likely as the real thing as well.
ReplyDeleteVisited my favorite buyer-beware-made-in-China-stuff site and searched for Magpul...PLENTY of fakes on there.
Drang: Apocrypha references!
ReplyDeleteAnother good reason to not buy made in china stuff at all.
ReplyDeletecj,
ReplyDelete"Doesn't Magpul themselves have a cheaper line for Airsoft with their "MagPul PTS" line? I'd guess a lot of people sell those as the real thing."
No and yes, respectively. "PTS" is licensed to make cheap copies of Magpul gear for the airsoft market, even using the Magpul name.
The "yes" is because a lot of unscrupulous or ignorant vendors sell them as the real deal.
I still have a hard time accepting that plastic is sometimes better than steel. Probably something to do with my childhood and the weak plastics I grew up with.
ReplyDeleteThe MBUS only have one problem for my personal M-4Gery.
ReplyDeleteWhich is that mine has a gas-block rail, and the MBUS will melt if you put it there, according to MagPul.
Selling your trademark to an airsoft acc. vendor was just a big effing mistake, IMO.
ReplyDeleteYou just knew some gunshow reptile would start selling Daisy sights for eotech/aimpoint prices, right next to that big stack of Turner Diaries and fake Hitler Youth knives.
So out of curiosity Tam, what would you suggest for a rugged, dependable, easily adjusted iron sight for an AR? Assume a 20" bbl and the irons will be the primary sight used. Some sort of optic may be added later but for now I happen to like peep sights.
ReplyDeleteAll disclaimers applied of course but your opinion is valued.
BGM
BGM,
ReplyDeleteTroy, Midwest Industries, and Daniel Defense all make good, solid, non-folding rears.
@ Charles Pergiel
ReplyDeleteSome plastics are just better than metal for certain applications. But remember that plastic (and polymer) is as generic a term as metal or steel.
Some steel is useless in firearms, like most plastics.
My bias against plastic guns is that I want my gun to be around in five generations for people to wonder, "where's this thing been and who owned it?" and I am not sure that any plastic we make guns from won't be too brittle to fire by then.
Yes, that's a silly reason. And it didn't keep me from buying a Glock 21. Nor will it keep me from buying an M&P. Arbitrary emotional rules are like that.
:tips hat:
ReplyDeleteMany thanks.
BGM
Dadblast it, as soon as I hit "publish" I knew it wasn't Eotech, but I couldn't remember who it was; I had stuff to do, so rather than research and correct it, I figured someone would be along shortly to tell me how screwed up I was... ;-)
ReplyDelete(Not even 10 minutes, I couldn't have researched it that quick anyway.)
What they said, plus the fact that the offshore manufacturers have the ability to grow and learn, just like us. I am not a fan of 'after-market' parts on my gun(s). The factory setting should work. However.....
ReplyDelete