Best AR-15 Carry Handle Scopes in 2023 – Updated Picks & Guide

What Makes an AR-15 Scope with Carry Handle a Great One?

Effortless mounting is the first thing that makes an AR-15 Scope with Carry Handle a Great One. Yes, the scope you choose for ARs or M16A4 should always be easy to mount on the rifle.

Everyone wants the scope to perfectly sit on the carry handle and it should come with outstanding stability to withstand extreme conditions. And a best AR-15 carry handle scope needs to possess the capacity to face off the recoil effect caused by triggering the rifles.

The second thing is optical quality, the scope built with a wider objective lens system provides extra FOV and detailed output to the user. And if the lens has multi-coated technology, it’ll assure the quality of the images without glare or blur effect.

As well, you should ensure that the lens has an anti-reflective coating or emerald green coating, these are very helpful in producing clear images in the bright sunlight environment. The glass of the optical system should transmit optimum light and need to come with a light-gathering feature.

One great riflescope surely comes with a trustworthy sighting mechanism to provide accurate and precise visuals. So a scope built with an advanced sighting technology for accuracy and speed is considered as a great AR Riflescope.

And one more thing determines the AR-15 scope as the best, which is the construction and multi-proof technology. The scope should withstand external elements such as fog, moisture, scratch, shock, drops, bumps, and bangs.

What Magnification Suits You?

Determining the range of magnification for your AR-15 Scope depends on the purpose for which you are using the riflescope. If you utilize the carry handle scope to shoot long-distance targets then you should go for at least 20X magnification range.

Here, the recommended range allows you to hit the target over 100 yards of distance. On the other hand, this range of magnification scopes is heavier and bigger, so mounting could be complicated.

For prolonging the life of the device you should choose the magnification range with a lower profile. And make sure before buying these kinds of scopes that you are able to shoot the target with complete precision.If you often use your scope to shoot close-range objects, then you won’t need the scope with high magnification. 

• That means scope with a magnification range from 1X to 4X is enough for short-range target shooting, and it provides versatility for your requirements. This magnification enables you to shoot the target from 10 yards to 150-200 yards of distance, based on your visual acuity. So it is used by most people to aim the target in small game shooting and hunting. And low magnification provides you the optimum speed while you hunt fast-moving objects. Besides, these are ideal and come with fast target acquisition with precision.

• For medium-range hunting, use the scope with the magnification range of 5X to 9X, so that you can hunt prey or protect yourself from foxes, coyotes, hogs, and other animals from 150 to 400 Yards. 

• For long-range shooting, AR-15 carry handle scope with the magnification range above 9X is the preferable one. But AR-15 rifle is not suitable for long-range shooting because of its structure.

Factors to Consider when Buying a Carry Handle Scope for AR-15 Rifle

Buying a scope with a carry handle for an AR-15 firearm is not a simple thing, because there are lots of factors to think about when purchasing it. No one likes lagging performance that occurs while utilizing the product.

The performance of the device depends upon the product’s variety of traits. So one must consider every aspect and feature of the scope before buying.

➢ Mounting

Most of the AR rifles come with flat-top construction, for the purpose of mounting different sizes and types of scopes on them. Placing the carry handle scopes in the improper mounting position will cause many damages.

Therefore, you need to make sure that the scope you select for ARs fits easily at all levels. The scope should come with the necessary hardware to secure both rifle and handle, and for the simple carry handle mounting. The mounting rails should be durable, stable, and have some adjustments to accommodate multiple requirements.

➢ Magnification

Nowadays, there are various magnification range AR-15 carry handle scope available in the market and you can choose the range based on your purpose. If you are a hunter, you need a scope with increased zooming capacity and you should also consider the light allowance of the lens to get a clear view of the sight at higher magnification. Greater zoom will cause image distortion, yet advanced innovative technology will decrease this distortion.

Less magnification range will produce a more clarity view at short distances that can be typically used in a tactical environment and firing at high rates. Before purchasing the AR-15 carry handle scope, select the product with the correct magnification which is fitted to yourself.

➢ Lens System

Not only carry handle scopes but also all sighting devices are determined by their lens quality and optical technology. Most of the premium-quality lens manufacturers produce durable and reliable riflescopes.

The multi-coated lens of all carry handle scope has the ability to light-gathers features and optimum light transmission trait. Here you should also consider the durability of the lens. Some of the lenses of AR-15 scope are coated with emerald which provides visibility in low light conditions.

➢ Sighting Technology

Choosing an AR-15 scope with an ideal sighting mechanism depending on the usability of the scope and your personal preference. Choose scope integrated with a traditional crosshair for getting an absolute accuracy.

Or else go for the scope that is consolidated with a reflex red dot sight that provides optimum speed and precision. And don’t forget to consider the sort of your shooting style while selecting the sighting mechanism.

Though both sights are best for tactical adventures, the red dot sight has the ability to shoot fast-moving objects, and the holographic sight is designed with a convincing mechanism.

⇒ Reflex Sights 

In reflex sight, the red or green dot gets visioned in its reticle, and mostly used one in scope is the red dot because of its larger wavelength to target the prey in the far distance easily. Reflex sight does not use laser technology, and so there is no sufficient quantity of light emitted.

Here, AR-15 scope with reflex sight has a partially coated objective lens that projects the reticle from a point behind the objective lens, and then it gets reflected back to the shooter’s eye.

Light transmission gets reduced due to the presence of reflective coating over the objective lens of the AR-15 scope. The shooter rarely observes light transmission issues, and this happens because the reflective coated objective lens is modified to reflect a particular light wavelength that gets emitted by the reticle projection system. 

The Reticle projection system used in Reflex sight of AR-15 scope is a Light-Emitting Diode. Some AR-15 scope with reflex sight uses ambient light that is collected by a fiber-optic network to provides better vision in dim lighting conditions. There two types of reflex sight which are explained below.

Heads up red dot sight: AR 15 scope with Heads-up reflex sight shows the reticle on the objective lens using a wide range of light. The color of the light entering through the objective lens gets changed and then produces the reticle.

 In Heads up style, the scope has only one lens, and the scope working process happens below the lens. Due to its structure, Heads up scope will be mounted lower on the rifle; it is a lightweight scope, so most of them prefer this one.

Tube body reflex sight: Tube-body style reflex sight construction looks like a tube-like structure with a lens placed at each end of the AR-15 scope. This style scope is a bit heavier when compared to heads up. The durability of the Tube body scope is unbeatable, and it can withstand the worst environmental conditions. 

⇒ Holographic Sights

Electric-Optic Technologies is the only company that produces HWS (Holographic Weapon Sights) in the current market, and they are available in the brand Bushnell and EOTech. AR-15 scope with holographic sights uses LASER, and it produces a reticle that superimposed on the target. 

It illuminates the hologram, and here the objective lenses are not coated with a reflective coating. Mostly all the holographic sight type AR-15 scopes are heads-up style, and here the scope has a wide objective lens that provides a larger field of view.

The main advantage of using holographic sight scope with a magnifier only enlarge the target, not the dot. But in reflex sight, it magnifies both target and dot.

➢ Mount and Weight

It is possible to mount a regular telescopic sight on the AR-15’s carry handle, but it is necessary to select it with a very low profile.

Although the AR’s carry handle is strong and rigid, applying a heavy scope to it can result in unexpected flaws, which only exacerbates the problem. Experts also recommend that mounting the lightweight-scope on onto the device will help prolong its life.

➢ Reticle

There are various styles of reticles available and select the best reticle for your AR-15 rifle. In a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle, one can easily view the target in any light condition with the adjustable brightness and color reticle. The reticles are basically black, red, or green in color. Some scopes are designed with a built-in rangefinder that helps the hunters know the distance to the target.

Duplex reticle: Common reticle types with a simple cross that can be just placed over the target. Other types of duplex reticles like long-distance reticle possess the same function as a duplex but in addition to that, it has extra rings that allow you to quickly decide the range.

Mildot reticle: Same as the duplex reticle but it has rings for different distances that cover the vertical distance and shows rungs for the horizontal aspect. 

BDC reticle: Same as the duplex long range but has more detail into the distance rings.  It shows targets in 25 to 600 yards making it suitable for the tactical environment of AR-15 and helpful in law enforcement.

➢ Additional Features

The scope you have selected for your AR-15 firearm should be compensated for the effect of the bullet’s trajectory and gravity forces. As well, the scope should possess an appropriate feature to permit compensation. Therefore, you should consider that your scope has proper features to support all the aspects that come from external sources.