DRMW
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TimeOut forum: P.O.W.W. #11 Magpul MBUS PRO
Hello all,
There are many options for BUIS (Back Up Iron Sights) for the AR15/10 platform. I've been using variations of the A.R.M.S. #40 and Knight's Armament Company iron sights for a long time. They have been solid, reliable and are extremely well designed. A few years a go I installed a set from Troy Industries and found them to be pretty good. On a recent RECCE style build I wanted to try something different. I looked at Yankee Hill Machining, Diamonhead, and some others. As I planned on installing an optic, one of the requirements for the back up sight is to be low enough to clear the eyepiece.
I considered the plastic sights like the Gen2 Magpul, A.R.M.S. #71, and the Diamondhead Polymer with the NiteBrite but hesitated due to the plastic construction of these. I heard good things about this:
There are many options for BUIS (Back Up Iron Sights) for the AR15/10 platform. I've been using variations of the A.R.M.S. #40 and Knight's Armament Company iron sights for a long time. They have been solid, reliable and are extremely well designed. A few years a go I installed a set from Troy Industries and found them to be pretty good. On a recent RECCE style build I wanted to try something different. I looked at Yankee Hill Machining, Diamonhead, and some others. As I planned on installing an optic, one of the requirements for the back up sight is to be low enough to clear the eyepiece.
I considered the plastic sights like the Gen2 Magpul, A.R.M.S. #71, and the Diamondhead Polymer with the NiteBrite but hesitated due to the plastic construction of these. I heard good things about this:
The Magpul MBUS PRO:
The Magpul MBUS PRO were released last year and are steel front and rear adjustable sights that attach to a 1913 picatinny platform. They are sold individually so if you have a front sight gas block you can just purchase the rear sight. My build has a 15" keymod handguard and it covered the SLR Rifleworks Sentry low profile adjustable gas block so I got the set.
Packaging is very plain, a cardboard outer box and plastic to protect the sight during shipping. Simple instructions were provided but installing is not very complicated.
The Rear Sight:
and the Front Sight:
When installed on a AR upper receiver, placing it on the T1 picatinny slot will fit perfectly to the rear section. Compared to the Magpul Gen1 and 2 MBUS, they are much flatter and slimmer. When folded down the Magpul Pro is only .43" tall!
Here is the sight in the deployed (up) position. Unlike the A.R.M.S. or Troy type sights, these do not have any locking mechanisms. Instead they have positive detents that hold it up or down. From here we can see the dual apertures. They are position on top of each other so they do not add any unwanted height to the sight. The Yankee Hill sight is low but the flip apertures are designed at 90 degrees to one another so it sticks up high when folded. This can cause a potential problem with it hitting the eyepiece of a scope or interfere with a Eotech/Aimpoint type magnifier.
The sight itself has smooth edges but is easily manipulated to deploy or fold. The sight adjustment is for windage (located on the right side) and is tool-less in design. They require a bit of effort to rotate and do have nice clicks to it which is good. You don't have to worry too much about your zero being accidentally moved.
The Front Sight:
T sight blade is non tritium and has the knob for adjusting elevation. .223/5.56 doesn't recoil much and it probably didn't need it but for both the front and rear Magpul Pro sights I bit a drop of blue loctite to make sure they stayed on.
The serrations for the adjustment knob was deep enough for rotating with/without gloves or a wet environment.
The sight blade is pretty wide, it's a battle sight so if you want something more accurate you can use the narrower aperture. Note that both the front and rear go 90 degrees, some manufacturers flip at a lesser angle. They do this so the sight does not get damaged if dropped. Since the Pro's are not locking they come up at the 90.
The Troy Industries set has variations on the protective ears, you can pick a M4 style like the Magpul Pro or a HK style that has the ring design covering the front sight post. The Magpul Pro front is only available with the M4 style.
Overall I like the sights and they are more economical than the KAC's and A.R.M.S I have on my other rifles. As for the A.R.M.S. #40, I like it over the Magpul Pro but the front is very hard to find and not that many dealers stock them. They don't have a locking mechanism but they stay up during recoil and impact on barricades.
-MW
More posts:
TimeOut forum: P.O.W.W. #11 Magpul MBUS PRO
Hello all, There are many options for BUIS (Back Up Iron Sights) for the AR15/10 platform. I've been using variations of the A.R.M.S. #40 and Knight's Armament Company iron sights for a long time. They have been solid, reliable and are extremely well desi...
Cool Sights...
But you know I really want to see pictures of the AR15 with the sight mounted LoooL :-) S
I'm a fan of the ARMS #40L
There's so many backup iron sights on the market these days. I recently installed a pair of Magpul MBUS gen 2 polymer sights and they are fairly light weight, low enough to mount under a full length riflescope, and are reasonably priced. I think I'll have...
me too...
I got a set of the ARMS #71, I think they look cooler than the MAGPUL MBUS polymer but they are taller. -MW
If only they made a small change
Yep, definitely the #71 looks cooler and it's a solidly built polymer BUIS. Just wish it was just a hair smaller (ie somewhere around .50" when folded) and it would be a perfect BUIS and a good value. Sleeker looking than the MAGPUL BUIS gen 2. And the on...
re: change
Yes, there were some issues with the 71's when it was first released. The aperture would flip out due to the forward momentum when it was deployed. ARMS has supposedly fixed them so if you got a set that has this problem, definitely contact them. The #71 ...
