How good is Trijicon AccuPoint 5-20×50 Scope?

There are many shooters who are unsure about the quality of Trijicon AccuPoint 5-20×50 scope. In many forums they have either received rave reviews or are hated out rightly. These conflicting reviews have made many people inquire about the effective use and quality of the riflescope. After the queries piled up, reviewers at Scopelist thought of testing the scope and writing a thorough finding on the same.

Whenever anyone tells you about Trijicon, the first name that comes to mind is the military ACOG battle sights. However, the Trijicon Accupoint line of scopes is manufactured not for long range tactical shooting but for mid-to-long-range hunting purposes. Trijicon AccuPoint 5-20×50 is one of the finest scopes available in the market for hunting. The US-based manufacturer has set the price at above $1,000 and therefore is pitched against the leaders of the high price range long distance riflescopes such as Nightforce, Nikon Tacticals, Leupold Mk4, and others. As it is counted among one of the most preferred hunting scopes in the market, reviewers at Scopelist decided to give it a closer look.

First look

The riflescope comes in a nice box where we found a bikini style scope cover, manuals, 3 inch sunshade, and a lens pen. The body tube of the riflescope is 30mm and it has been chiseled from aircraft grade aluminum block. However, giving a closer look it seemed that the scope has not been created from a single block of aluminum. The frontal part seems to be attached at the turret shoulder. This aspect is not much of a problem as these kinds of things can be seen in many other high quality riflescopes too. No matter how rugged the situation in which the riflescope is subjected to in the field, the scope will hold up comfortably. Design of the scope is traditional. Knobs of the riflescope are located on elevated shoulder and this makes the overall scope shape pleasing. In fact, the shooters and hunters will find lots of tube areas to mount the rings. Size of the scope is quite average and comes with a significant weight. The first thing we felt after holding this optical device in hand is that it is a well built one and is definitely a durable one.

Trijicon AccuPoint 5-20×50 scope comes with an anodized coating that is not at all reflective. This feature ensures that the body remains non-corrosive all the time. The non-reflective aspect ensures that the sunlight doesn’t reflect from it, thereby alerting the prey. The markings on the knobs are slightly dulled and are not at all reflective in any manner. However, this doesn’t mean that they can’t be read properly. They are quite readable and it remained so even after years of usage. The scope is overall good looking and looks very much like a really good tactical optical device. It requires less than one full 360 degree rotation for covering one complete dioptre range. Slight ribbing can be found on the fast focus eyepiece for enhancing gripping of the same. Though the eye piece is smooth to adjust, adequate resistance can be felt throughout the adjustment range for getting the right setting.

Testing Apparatus

To test the Trijicon AccuPoint 5-20×50 scope, we put it over a Remington 700P rifle (chambered in 308 Winchester), which is popular among hunters for hunting mules. To test the Trijicon scope, we brought 30mm Steel rings of Leupold Mark 4, thereby setting the AccuPoint 5-20×50 riflescope just a few millimeters off the barrel. Though we initially thought that we may face problem in zeroing the scope at 100 yards due to lack of elevation available in this set-up, we didn’t find any problem with the 20MOA canted base. To zero the riflescope, it took us 5 shots to achieve the same. In fact, this is when we found out that repeatability of the scope is just perfect.

Looking at Optics closely

When looking through the Trijicon AccuPoint 5-20×50 riflescope, we found out that the scope glass is very clear and the image can be viewed with absolute clarity. In fact, the images were quite bright and we faced no problem in locating mules at long distances even in twilight conditions. We even compared the image clarity and brightness with that of leading scopes of Nightforce, Leupold, and Nikon. We found the image quality through this Accupoint scope is extremely well and is comparable to other leading riflescopes.  If you are thinking of using this scope for extreme long range shooting expeditions, the elevation adjustment limitation may come in the way. Another thing we found out at the maximum magnification is the small exit pupil. In such a case, for getting full scope picture, the shooter may need precise sight alignment.

Excellent optical contrast coupled with great image sharpness of Trijicon AccuPoint 5-20×50 riflescope has helped us in clearly finding the targets in the range from 300 yards to 600 yards. To look at the targets in the shadowy parts or in low light conditions, the images were clearly visible. When the targets are under shadowy areas, we found the unique tritium lit small dot in the reticle center especially useful. When considering performance of the overall operation, we found the riflescope to be excellent.

The Unique Illumination System

Trijicon AccuPoint 5-20×50 scope comes with unique illumination system that illuminates the small dot at reticle center. This illumination takes place by both tritium and fibre. A green window portion can be seen on the eye piece, which is nothing but the light gathering area of fiber optics, which in turn helps in reticle illumination. Even when the green area is concealed, the reticle illumination remains, though dimly. This has become possible due to the presence of tritium, which keeps the reticle center illuminated even when the light gathering area of the fiber is concealed. Therefore, the hunter or tactical shooter doesn’t have to bother about the power to go away because no electronics or battery is used here for reticle illumination. No matter whether there is enough light available, the reticle remains illuminated all the time. The central lit dot in the reticle comes in red, green, and amber colors.

The knobs for adjustment are good

Both windage and elevation knobs had a large and exposed design and the adjustments per click was .25 MOA. With every complete revolution of the elevation knob, 12 MOA adjustment are done. We found out that every click is very positive and every click from the other is significantly spaced. We didn’t feel any kind of mushiness in clicks. Whether it is elevation knob or windage knob, the numbers are quite tall and they are visible clearly even from behind the scope. You will not find any problem in checking out the number of rotations because of the clear marking of the up and down direction beneath the knob.

One thing that we didn’t like much is the limitation of up elevation adjustments available. We were only able to get 47 MOA total elevation adjustment, which we feel is definitely inadequate. When it comes to elevation, we would have liked to see anything around or above 60 MOA, especially in cases of long range riflescopes like this Trijicon AccuPoint 5-20×50 riflescope. 47 MOA elevation is highly inadequate when hunting or tactical shooting in extreme long ranges, anything above 1,500 yards.
There is also a side focus knob present in this riflescope whose shape is different from that of windage knob or even the elevation knob. It is located in the left side of the scope, just opposite of the the windage knob’s location. This side focus knob is shorter than windage/elevation knobs. Hash marks can be seen on this knob with bottom range marked with 40 and top end marked with infinity. The focus knob is quite smooth to adjust, which we feel could have come with a bit more resistance.

Overall

When the entire Trijicon AccuPoint 5-20×50 is considered, we are quite impressed by it. Except for the comparatively less elevation space availability, we didn’t find any problem. Only if you want to buy this scope for extreme long range shots, we will recommend against it. We found this Trijicon variable powered scope to be perfect for shooting targets at around 1,000 yards. We definitely give it thumbs up and recommend our buyers to buy this around-$1,000 riflescope.