Hard to find the niche - try before you buy!!! - Leupold Mark 4 1-3x14mm CQ/T Rifle Scope

Purchased for use on M4.
True to Leupold standards for optical quality, but is expensive and heavy. Unfortunately, it under performs as a tactical scope, both for CQB and longer range shooting ... & I REALLY wanted to like this scope.
- The eye relief has very little margin, about 1 3/4" to 2", so it sits at the back of the upper rail eliminating any iron back-up.
- Because of the short and limited eye relief it is difficult to use as a holographic red dot in CQB. Viewing with both eyes open is not comfortable and FOV is limited by a scope length tube
- Due to only 3x magnification it has limited effectiveness as long range scope
- I ended up adding a mini-red dot, which would not mount on the short top rail space of the scope. Defeats the purpose of the "tactical" scope
- This is beautiful glass but I really can't find a use for it. For your money the Trijicon TA31 blows it away, has 4x magnification, works magnitudes better as an assault rifle scope. Maybe I can make a swap
Pros: 1) RUGGED! 2) compact body 3) works without batteries (non-illumination) 4) fantastic clarity 5) good night vision settings 6) mates up well with NVS Optics 6) good performance in varied lighting conditions
Cons: 1) EYE RELIEF!!! 2) maximum 3x magnification 3) limited utility of rails 4) on/illumination level switch difficult to operate 5) mounting device not adjustable 6) no killflash

This review was written in the old system and had content requirements that are different than reviews written today.