Lucid has given me a couple HD7 Red Dot units. An original first generation unit, and then later a third generation unit. I’ve also purchased three other Gen3’s… One as a gift and the two others for my own use. None of these units have had any problems. And I still have one of the Gen3’s. It’s the one Jason gave me. It will continue to be used on one of my family’s AR’s until it goes belly up. Which I don’t see happening any time soon.
I’ve sold a lot of Lucid optics to other guys, and have friends that have bought a lot of them as well. Unfortunately Lucid has fall out of favor with them due to one issue or anther. Which is odd to me, because none of mine had ever given me a bit of trouble. My last HD7 still works great, every time, and battery life has been outstanding. 3 weeks ago, I changed the battery in my HD7 Gen3, and realized that that was the first time I had ever had to change the battery in it. After 4 YEARS of service. That’s AimPoint level stuff right there. That’s impressive.
The question though… Would I buy another HD7?
The answer is no. Reasons:
1. It’s manufactured in China. I know Jason Wilson is a great guy and running a good company and they are doing good things… but the manufacturing is in China and I just don’t like that. If Jason had everything made in the USA – I’d be supporting LUCID like crazy.
2. It’s kinda fat. It’s chunky and heavy. I like that in my Breakfast Burritos, but not in something I’m going to put on any new AR. It’s all about being light and compact now. This is also why I don’t use Magnifiers.
3. It’s trying to look like an ACOG – which is an out of date style by a over a decade. For a Non-Magnified optic, it does comes off as Cheap Knockoff. Like the Bushnell Trophy T optic.
3. There are no mounting options… it’s AR Flat Top Only. Everything else, it’s too high. Jason needs to redesign the HD7 so the battery is on the top-side and is as low on the bottom as possible and then include mounts for different heights.
4. It needs more FOV. If Lucid dropped the ACOG look, and made the tube straight… style it after an ELCAN… Give it 50% more FOV if not more… Then Lucid could have another winner.
Now, Lucid has a newer OGS (Optical Gun Sight) that they are calling the P7. Now, this one is more interesting. In fact, this is very interesting. The P7 still looks like an ACOG, but there’s a reason for it. It’s a 4X fixed Magnified Optic with a very usable reticle that’s very useable for a fighting gun. This is most interesting and for retailing at only about $400 it looks to be a great value. A solid fixed power OGS for only $400 dollars… Or under 900? One that I’d consider putting on one of my guns – is very rare. In fact, it’s pretty much nonexistent. But Lucid has it covered.
Being manufactured in China is what gives the Lucid it’s greatest selling point, price. Manufacturing in the U.S. would easily drive the price into AimPoint ACO/PRO territory where it would fail due to AimPoint having name recognition and a military history.
I’ve handled and abused a few HD7’s. They’ve all held up quite well, in fact better than some similarly priced optics(that bear a striking resemblance to aimpoints) that have been well regarded. But yes, the damn thing are huge. If it had the FOV of an Elcan or Meprolite I could forgive the size, but it doesn’t.
For the size, weight and rather small FOV I would likely go with a 1-4x scope. Since my AR is primarily a house gun however, saving up some lunch money toward a slightly more expensive(and smaller, lighter) red dot or holo sight made more sense.
I might buy one again. I bought a used one from a guy who fell out of love with it. I am not in love with it but it has worked reliably for me. That is all I need. For it to work. When it fails to work, then I will decide if I will buy Lucid again. I don’t care for the styling, but style/looks is not important to me. Price, functionality, and reliability are what is important to me. Would I like more field of view? Yes. But for what I paid I can not argue.
I have three. An HD7 and two little M7s. My experience has been great with them all. I bought the ADM sourced QD levers for the HD7 and the kill flash. I still have all three.
Ultimately, I liked the smaller T-1 sized M7s which pretty much had all the features of the HD7 except multiple reticle choices, but in a much more compact package and without so much of the “tunnel effect” of the HD7 and the more obstructed peripheral vision it has due to the turrets and reticle selector.
I think the HD7 is build like a tank and will probably take quite a bit of abuse. Mine has been knocked around quite a bit and never acted up. I have always been impressed that all four reticles shoot to the same POI which says something about the precision of the internals.
I do wish it was lighter. I do wish it had a more open peripheral FOV, but I will keep it, mostly stored in my gunsafe, but available as a backup.
Mostly I miss that Lucid discontinued the little M7. I really liked it with its EOTech like circle dot reticle, which I continue to think is a clear advantage over a simple dot. I realize we all have our preferences. It is so fast on target.
I understand that Lucid discontinued the M7 because of manufacturing problems that arose in the Chinese factory that caused it to have a lot of parallax when the dot was moved over toward the edge of the field of view. I wish they could have worked out that issue, as it was and remains a dandy little red dot.
Neither of my two M7s have that issue. One of them sits on a 12 gauge shotgun, taking a heavy pounding of slugs and full power buckshot with no problems whatsoever.
Lucid is a good company, sadly being neglected in the ever changing landscape of “latest and greatest” Chinese red dots.
I agree. And I do understand the difficulties in US based production… well… Gearing up for US based production. And just because production in the US doesn’t mean it’s going to be higher quality. (Look at Kel-Tek) So we know it can be hit or miss.
But I just prefer things made in Allied Nations at least if not made by Fellow Americans.
I’d really like to try out that new P7, though, I don’t quite have a rifle suitable for that optic.
All good stuff here…even the relatively naive criticism…LUCID OPTICS has come a long way since the HD7… If any of you want to discuss openly..e-mail me direct Jason@mylucidgear.com
Thanks, Jason. Bring back the M7! Please!