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Holosun AEMS (Green) - new to me

dadoser

dadoser

Elite
Picked up my 1st Holosun AEMS (green) dot yesterday.
I'm a huge Holosun fan. On ARs and SBRs - I use the Holosun 510s, 503s, and a 512 - mostly in green, but a couple in gold (either works best for my particular aging, astigmatism eyes. Con on the gold is I have to run it a lot brighter than green)

I decided to change it up and go with the AEMS on a Steyr Aug. (I had a 510 on it, but ended up putting that on a carbine I was upgrading.)

I went with the AEMS on the Aug due to its size. Its about 2/3 the length compared to the 510. I wanted to make sure the dot was out-of-the-way of the charging handle and farther up the rail vs closer to my eyes.

Pros -
Small size
Great FOV
Clear end caps/glass protection
Solar and battery (Core version does not have solar)
(for me) Brand familiarity

Con -
Proprietary mount (The AEMS is 1/3 co-witness - so if you want an absolute co-witness mount, it may be hard to find. Holosun makes a low mount for this, but I don't think its absolute co-witness.)

Neutral -
Aesthetic??? At first I didn't like the squared off boxy look compared to the lines of the other Holosuns I run. But, this one is growing on me. The Steyr Aug is a little weird looking in its own right, While the AEMS lines don't go with the lines of the Aug - they do all come together for the "uniqueness" of the Aug aesthetic.

My take -
I think this will be a great little dot. Perfect size to run on an SBR, bullpup, or anything where rail space is short. The clear end cap protection is great. I'm not sure why one would need to open those up - unless they fogged up. Reticle is clear and sharp for my eyes.
(I could not get a good pic of the reticle.)
 

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I have one and love it. The only down side I have found is that the screw that holds it to the rail has a Torx hole which is slightly oversized and it easily stripped using a standard Torx driver. Holsun will send you replacement screws free but that are of the same quality as the original.
 
BobT said:
I have one and love it. The only down side I have found is that the screw that holds it to the rail has a Torx hole which is slightly oversized and it easily stripped using a standard Torx driver. Holsun will send you replacement screws free but that are of the same quality as the original.
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F'ing Torx screws, makes no sense on small diameter screws, no sense! I hate these with a passion :)
Is Green vs. Red dot making a big difference? They tend to cost a little more, so I'm assuming there is a benefit...
 
Pro Digy II said:
F'ing Torx screws, makes no sense on small diameter screws, no sense! I hate these with a passion :)
Is Green vs. Red dot making a big difference? They tend to cost a little more, so I'm assuming there is a benefit...
Click to expand...
With my particular astigmatism, I find green works best for my eyes. May not be the case for everyone.
(Also in AZ - when shooting outdoors - no issue with losing the green in lush woods foliage. I've read that is an issue with green and I've read it isn't an issue with green.)
 
Pro Digy II said:
F'ing Torx screws, makes no sense on small diameter screws, no sense! I hate these with a passion :)
Is Green vs. Red dot making a big difference? They tend to cost a little more, so I'm assuming there is a benefit...
Click to expand...
What type of screws do you think would work better?

I think the Torx are fine. Much better than a flat or phillips head. The issue is the screw quality and/or the use of screw "Bits" as opposed to legitimate Torx drivers. I have found the bits, when inserted into a torque driver, are adequate for installation, but for removal you're going to want to use an actual driver and you're going to want to make sure it fits snug.
 
Bassbob said:
What type of screws do you think would work better?

I think the Torx are fine. Much better than a flat or phillips head. The issue is the screw quality and/or the use of screw "Bits" as opposed to legitimate Torx drivers. I have found the bits, when inserted into a torque driver, are adequate for installation, but for removal you're going to want to use an actual driver and you're going to want to make sure it fits snug.
Click to expand...
Hex Head is much better, especially for small sizes, more meat to grab onto, no risk of breaking off the head. Many RDS use Hex instead of Torx.

Too much stress goes into the point of the star, which breaks off easily. They're just way to easy to strip while the Hex heads are not, even with lower grade screws it would not crumble.
 
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Bassbob said:
What type of screws do you think would work better?

I think the Torx are fine. Much better than a flat or phillips head. The issue is the screw quality and/or the use of screw "Bits" as opposed to legitimate Torx drivers. I have found the bits, when inserted into a torque driver, are adequate for installation, but for removal you're going to want to use an actual driver and you're going to want to make sure it fits snug.
Click to expand...
I’m with you, Bob. More often than not it’s a crappy bit that does the damage. Problem is that once the damage is done you have to be real patient not to Jack it up completely. The best Torx drivers I have are Craftsman drivers, but they have pretty thin handles and I can’t always get the purchase I want.
 
Pro Digy II said:
Hex Head is much better, especially for small sizes, more meat to grab onto, no risk of breaking off the head. Many RDS use Hex instead of Torx.

Too much stress goes into the point of the star, which breaks off easily. They're just way to easy to strip while the Hex heads are not, even with lower grade screws it would not crumble.
Click to expand...
I think hex is just as easy to booger up at the small sizes required for red dots. In fact, I think once you even slightly round off a hex head it is infinitely worse to remove than a Torx.
 
SimonRL said:
I think hex is just as easy to booger up at the small sizes required for red dots. In fact, I think once you even slightly round off a hex head it is infinitely worse to remove than a Torx.
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You've got 2 failure points instead of one as the Torx bits have to have these same thin surfaces... I honestly have never had a single hex strip, being cap screw or button head, Torx on the other end is a disaster waiting to happen. Luckily, it's easy to remove with a drill, had to do that not long ago with the Dragonfly on the Prodigy, took 1 minute to drill both out...

But if it's junk material to begin with then it really doesn't matter, it will fall apart regardless... The Torx vs. Hex just exacerbates the problem. Socket heads are a lot better than flat heads too. All the Holosun & SIG RDS I have use socket heads and are easy to torque accurately and don't move. The Dragonfly and Bushnell on the other end uses flats and they are a disaster.

A cold worked A286 M4 screw costs $5/piece, but that's indestructible as it's about double the strength of what we get in the RDS, even Torx survive almost everything. That solves the issue, or at least move the issue somewhere else (kill the bits or crack the RDS if over-torquing) :p
 
And here it is, prime example of these friggin' Torx screws being shite: opening the wife's HP laptop to reset the battery. For some reason, the shell has 9 screws: 8 Philips around the perimeter (with blue Loctite!!!) and 1 Torx in the front, same size. All 8 Philips were removed successfully, no fuss even with the blue Loctite, but guess which one stripped and required a 15 minutes battle? The Friggin'g Torx scew!!! PITA
 
Speaking of Green vs. Red, took one of my AR to the range last night and just realized the RDS on it (Tacticon) had a "G" and "R" turret for brightness adjustment. Green is great actually, far less fuzzy!
 
Bassbob said:
What type of screws do you think would work better?

I think the Torx are fine. Much better than a flat or phillips head. The issue is the screw quality and/or the use of screw "Bits" as opposed to legitimate Torx drivers. I have found the bits, when inserted into a torque driver, are adequate for installation, but for removal you're going to want to use an actual driver and you're going to want to make sure it fits snug.
Click to expand...
I would agree with you as long as the Torx screw was of good quality. However, the screws that come with the AEMS are cheap. The tool they give you to tighten them is made of plastic. I am currently searching for a hex head screw that I can use as a replacement for mine.

On the subject of green vs read noted elsewhere in this thread, for me, the green works better for my 75 year old eyes. What is especially nice on the AEMS is the ring surrounding the dot. It makes acquisition of the target very fast with no hunting for the dot. The dot is there for fine tuning. This is a user selectable feature with dot only, ring only or both.
 
BobT said:
I would agree with you as long as the Torx screw was of good quality. However, the screws that come with the AEMS are cheap. The tool they give you to tighten them is made of plastic. I am currently searching for a hex head screw that I can use as a replacement for mine.

On the subject of green vs read noted elsewhere in this thread, for me, the green works better for my 75 year old eyes. What is especially nice on the AEMS is the ring surrounding the dot. It makes acquisition of the target very fast with no hunting for the dot. The dot is there for fine tuning. This is a user selectable feature with dot only, ring only or both.
Click to expand...
The Holosun reticle. My favorite. All my 510s, 512s and 507s have it. I too like the green, but most of the ones I have are red, which is ok too.

I’m sure Holosun uses cheap Chinese screws. That said I haven’t had any issues with them, but I don’t use LocTite and I torque them to spec. And I only use quality torx drivers for removal, not bits and a universal driver.

There are companies and one in particular people rave about who’s name I don’t remember who have a full complement of high quality metric screws for these applications. If I can find it I’ll put a link up.
 
BobT said:
I would agree with you as long as the Torx screw was of good quality. However, the screws that come with the AEMS are cheap. The tool they give you to tighten them is made of plastic. I am currently searching for a hex head screw that I can use as a replacement for mine.

On the subject of green vs read noted elsewhere in this thread, for me, the green works better for my 75 year old eyes. What is especially nice on the AEMS is the ring surrounding the dot. It makes acquisition of the target very fast with no hunting for the dot. The dot is there for fine tuning. This is a user selectable feature with dot only, ring only or both.
Click to expand...
You can get them from McMaster: https://www.mcmaster.com/products/a.../system-of-measurement~metric/thread-size~m4/

1696883009694.png


I'm silly enough to put MIL-grade hex head cap screws on my license plate holders, it could possibly be a mental illness, I just call it silliness :p
 
Pro Digy II said:
You can get them from McMaster: https://www.mcmaster.com/products/a.../system-of-measurement~metric/thread-size~m4/

ProDigy - I joined this forum as a result of your post. Thank you. Would you happen to know which screw you got from McMaster for your AEMS? Holosun is sending me replacements but they will likely be made with the same pot metal. Their tool that comes with the unit is made from aluminum. Bad choices all around. https://www.holosun.eu/p/70149432 I also use unique screws on my license plates. 😜
Click to expand...



Pro Digy II said:
I'm silly enough to put MIL-grade hex head cap screws on my license plate holders, it could possibly be a mental illness, I just call it silliness :p
Click to expand...
 
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