Eotech replicas drying up?
 

Has anyone else noticed that a lot less retailers are stocking eotechs over the past half year or so. I cant really seem to find them as easily on ebay either. Is eotech starting to crack down on replica sales?

Or people are buying more because they keep breaking or are craptacular to start with.

Buy real, buy once.

We don't stock them because... well, they suck. Looks great from afar though...
I've tried about 7 of them from various places/makes/models but they're all plagued with the same issues: Ghosting/Reticle too dim, fuzzy reticles, etc.

I heard the Hurricane one is not too bad but they're hard to get a hold of.

Apparently Huang/Airsoft Depot has some but you need to be signed up to be able to see them for some reason now.

I've had a couple of his EOtechs and they were okay, stood up to GBBRs, reticle was okay. But I ended up not liking EOtech sight pictures at all, so I'm happy I got a fake one before dropping $600 on a real one. I would have regretted that sorely.

NOTHING beats the Real thing....thousands of miles ahead of anything else IMO

a little bit of both, Eotech and other manufacturer are starting to crack down on copycats items, in HK there are a few retailers that are well known to sell knockoff that changed their inventory recently because the rightfull distributor of Aimpoint/Eotech in HK have filed trademarke infringement lawsuits against them and their manufacturer in China. The major ass kicking crackdown from the government and recent shutdown of UN has also scared off the local retailers, one in particular in HK have dumped all his ACM MAGPUL items from his inventory and start stoocking real PTS items instead after receiving a letter from MAGPUL PTS in HK and other known copycat stores have decide to stop for the moment from bringing other newer trademarked red dot scopes, replica parts, sight etc.

Despite all the hoopla, UNC is still in operation. Someone on Arnies posted about it:

http://www.arniesairsoft.co.uk/forum...ded/?p=2621727

The real version reticle is so much better it's like eating a perfect T-bone fresh off the coals vs. a cold hot dog you defrosted in a gas station sink.

Fail! A perfect T-Bone needs to rest before you eat it! :)

ya ya, I know where you're coming from for your analogy.... :rolleyes:

...defrosted hot dog in a gas station sink...speaking from experience?? lol

all kidding aside, the hurricanE 552 is fairly decent, even stands up to the recoil on my WE M4. I bought mine a couple years ago from airsoftparts, but it was a bit pricey compared to most of the ACM stuff you see.

I paid the same as Hurricane for a real EOTech and it's miles better.

I owned both versions at the same time.

You either overpaid for the hurricanE or got a really good deal on the L3...which one was it lol

Good deal. They are out there.

I'm rather curious Danke, where did you grab this? I'll be building a GBB SOPMOD BlockII and want to grip a real EOTech 553 for it. You can PM me if you don't want to post up here.

Watch the classifieds here.

Make sure you have cash in hand.

When a good deal pops up it's gone in a couple hours.

As of last Saturday their store in Wan Chai is still closed with a note notifying of closure

if u dont mind me asking, which gbbr were u running it on?

if you can, get the 552 GBBR safe EOTech from Huang.

I've put it on a real C7 firing blanks and it kept it's zero when put back onto my airsoft gun. I've also used it on my old Inokatsu M4, same result :) I will NEVER sell this EOTech

Sorry bout the slight revive, but do u know what reticule is on it? I read on one of the reviews that i wasnt the standard a65 reticule

it's not the traditional 1MOA dot with the 65MOA ring that you see in movies or video games, but it's still a a65 reticle, just a different version. This replica is somewhat of the a65-2 variant. But uses 3, 1MOA dots instead of 2.

The additional dots are great for adjusting your fire at longer distances, although there is not really any need to utilize them because airsoft guns don't even go past 100m lol.

Hope that answers some questions.

WE M4s

Huang's ACOG (TA01) also seems to be holding zero.

Oh wow. Thanks for the replies guys! I really appreciate it

That site could use some hardcore proof reading.

Uhhhh yeah. I have a *very* tough time believing that that site is in any way affiliated with EOTech Inc. or L-3.

Clones are clones.

funny, that's the lowest of the low -In case if anyone haven't realize -it's probably a clone manufacture claiming themselves as real.

Where do you see that Eotech-L3 is officially licensed? I can't find anything about it being officially licensed on my quick google search...Other than someone with a URL as their forum name, posting it on different forums over the past month.

The website itself seems fairly poorly made. It even just links me to the general TF141 shopping site.

I sent an email off to Eotech themselves, to see if it is officially licensed, and to ask about the quality of the replicas if they are in fact licensed.

spidey senses be a tinglin'.

This is all I can find on the EOTech site.

http://www.eotechinc.com/counterfeit...to-spot-a-fake

I'd say you folks should lock your doors; but that's not going to help.

This guy is on all the sites spamming with this link.

That's just another Chinese clone (HK).

There's no evidence of official licensing.

I got a response back.

I wonder if I'm in trouble with EOTech. :P

Everything seemed legitimate and above board right up to the point where on the product page it suggested that I "... may also be interested in the following product(s)"

http://www.tf141.com/media/catalog/p...b/mbcn0001.jpghttp://www.tf141.com/media/catalog/p...b/mbcn0002.jpg

:p

ORLY?!

Keep us posted, if you provide them with your phone number, lol.

Maybe they will hook you up.

11:43 AM (1 minute ago)

to me

Hello Scott,

It is a knockoff company selling black market Chinese counterfeit sights without our permission…

They do not have our permission or authorization to do this…

Where are they physically located? Canada or US?





Sincerely,

##############

Customer Service Manager

EOTech- An L-3 Communications Company

1201 E. Ellsworth Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48108



www.eotech-inc.com



To submit a repair request double click www.eotech-inc.com/raform.php

Wonder what would happen if one was to report all the airsoft stores that are selling reps?

I assume they are safe, since they aren't manufacturing them.

lol.

probably get a cease and desist if they were in the US... probably why they're asking for contact info.

Also probably a reason why some of the supply seems to be drying up. They may be actively going after fakes and fakers.

This EOTech rep emails back fast. It's also interesting that their firewall is blocking the tf141 website, haha.

I've asked if they've considered doing a lower quality model EOTech targeted for airsofters. Kind of like how Magpul worked with PTS to get Magpul accessories for airsoft. (if I remember my history correct?)
However, he replied to that email, but didn't address that. I don't know if I'll get another response.

Biorage: I gave my phone number, but told him it was Canada, and asked if it was worth calling Canada. He said "not really".

scottyfox: The rep I was talking with (Mike), determined "This site is in Hong Kong with sights coming in from Red China."

He sent me the same thing, and is hilarious and awesome by the way.
EOTech rules!

Thanks for the details, quite interesting. Seems they don't give a fuck unless it's regarding their products being replicated in the U.S.A, and being sold from there. Else they are all safe. Could explain why Evike and GI don't sell reps now.

Good ol' asia and canadian retailers though can still prosper :)

I got a response back, regarding EOTechs for airsoft (to fill the low priced gap that replicas are taking):

Seems they're more concerned about incorrect use and scammers. I guess that if you produce something that can just be mounted on a milspec rail - as opposed to something like PTS stuff that fits on off-spec AEGs (and thus, can only be used for AEGs), it's harder to ensure your "for airsoft" products are only used for airsoft.

It makes sense. But I would imagine you can do something like change the EOTech logo a little bit on the optic (put a BB flying through it or something, so con men can't just paint over the logo to make it look like real steel), and put a warning "for airsoft use only" on the optic and in the paperwork or something.

Ah well. At least we can pretty safely call out any other companies claiming they're making "EOTech licensed" airsoft optics. EOTech knock offs aren't going to go away, but at least we can call out people blatantly lying about it.

Good to know! thanks for the follow up.

I would of gotten an EoTech, but got a sweet deal on an Aimpoint Pro.

Unfortunately it is not cost effective to produce $600+ optics and expect them to work reasonably. I have a total of 4 and 3 of them have stopped working. One of them, the internals have fell a part and floating around on the inside tube.

I picked up truglo from Basspro for US$120, and that thing is sweet. Best of all.... Life time warranty.

http://www.basspro.com/TRUGLO-TriCol...1110105010320/

Which brand are they? Any $600 optic should come with a pretty good warranty.

There are probably a lot Aimpoint purists that'd disagree with that hahaha :D

I wonder what is stopping them from making an airsoft line that is very clearly and permanently marked as 'Airsoft Edition' or something of the like.

I have a real EXSP3 in front of a 3x magnifier, I am not too sure how much I like the setup. Pretty sure my prescription is fucking with it.

I'm almost certain this is one of the biggest factors in magpul pulling the plug on pts.

brand confusion is a real thing. PEople who are stupid... and there's a lot of them out there, will not do their due diligence. If the price seems to good to be true... it probably is.

magpul/pts/acm is a perfect example. Maybe someone expecting the real deal magpul thing got an acm fake to put on their REAL gun. Let's say it was LE or a soldier who's life depends on the function of that piece of kit to work?

What if it fails them when they depend on it? Would you want your name associated with it? The person who bought it and his peers think it was real. Now who's going to be liable for that piece of kit failing, when you make those guarantees that your shit is awesome?... especially in the land of the free to sue for whatever reason you think as long as you can prove it has cause you harm.

If a shitty ACM stock somehow was made to fit on a real steel gun.. albeit a poor fit, and that guy thought it was real... and his buddies thought it was real... and the pos shakes itself to pieces. Now what are that guy and his buddies going to think? They're going to think your product is garbage.


EOTech is taking a good stance on it.. "we're not licensing ANYTHING for use for ANYTHING that isn't real firearms..." ...That way you can be sure if it's not real that it's garbage and not our product.

That's a very understandable viewpoint. If you want it, buy the real deal so there is no confusion.

The email mentioning the KIA soldier kind of sells that idea; someone removes the "AIRSOFT ONLY" portion, or paints over it, it creates unacceptable risk to their brand. You also have the aspect of them manufacturing an inferior product, which they would have to change their manufacturing line to do (if they even would) - then all you need is some dude in Texas who makes a review about how he put 2000 rounds through it and it still holds zero. Now people suddenly think it's as good as the real thing and EOTech is over charging on their normal product line.

There are a lot considerations to take into account, and they all seem to create more problems than they solve - all for a market that isn't really that big. They will also still have to chase down the Chinese clones whether or not they sell their own Airsoft version.

O_O

http://i.imgur.com/sexrUIU.png

I declare sausage party!

I guess EOtech can produce a functional, real steel ready, cheap red dot scope instead of a legit holosight and charge a lower price. Not sure if there is anything on the patent side stopping them but everyone makes red dots so...

Its mainly for the looks. Most airsofters choose an eotech because of its looks.

But anyway, at the end of the day, Level 3 is a 10 billion dollar company. I don't think they are sweating over missing out on sale of cheap scopes to airsofters.

They wouldn't though. They still get away with charging a shy under 500 dollars for their MRDS line. L3 charges whatever they want because they know people (read: the gubmint contracts) will pay whatever their asking price is.

You missed what I said. They are ACM. You can not expect quality optics from a $60 ACM that is a clone of a $600+ brand name optic. Hit and miss. Some work better than others.

The bushnell I got from BassPro can be used on my RS as sell because it is for RS.

Yeah they wouldn't. Its not their thing. But if they were to ever care about volume of sales in the future and higher revenue numbers, they could go cheap red dot route and charge maybe $150. That might capture a lot of the airsoft market. But, $500 isnt that bad for a real steel holosight. If I had a real steel, $500 eotech seems ok to me. But since I have an airsoft, my budget is less than $100 for a scope.

Haha true.

I don't see any proof of the supply of replica Eotechs "drying up", rather when stores get stock in they are usually gone the same day or close to it; demand is simply outstripping the amount that retailers are bringing in.

If you want Eotechs to be stocked by your local retailer, talk to them, let them know if you have been trying to get an Eotech for months but cannot due to "out of stock".

There is a misconception that airsoft retailers are mind readers, and some players get really irate when items are out of stock... This goes for any product; provide retailers good feedback, ask to speak to the owner/manager if a product is out of stock and let them know what you want, usually they will special order it in for you or allocate one out of their next shipment for you.

As with anything, you only get what you want if you speak up.

On the subject of quality, the G&G Eotechs are quite nice, as well there are some new ACM Eotechs hitting the market that are exceptionally good values for the money. A good rule of thumb though, always test an optic before buying to ensure there is no ghosting, and that the windage/elevation adjustment cams work.