Having a quality optic on your rifle can really make a big difference…
…because when push comes to shove, you want something that’s going to work 100% when you need it to.
Now, there are a lot of great red dot sights out on the market right now…
…but today I’m going to review one with a dynamite record for durability and reliability, the Trijicon MRO Patrol…
If you’re in a hurry, here’s my one-line review: This sight in awesome… It’s super tough, it’s reliable, and it gives a huge sight picture!
Click Here To See The Latest Price Of The Trijicon MRO Patrol On Amazon >>
If you’re looking for more detailed information than that, then keep reading because in this review we’re going to cover the following:
- The Durability Of The MRO Patrol…
- The Battery Life…
- The Reticle And Clarity…
- Extra Goodies That Come With The Sight…
- The Pros And Cons Of The MRO Patrol…
In the end, I’ll give my final thoughts about the MRO Patrol, and you should have a good idea whether or not it’s a red dot sight that will fit your needs…
Let’s get started!
Durability Of The Trijicon MRO Patrol…
Trijicon optics are known for their durability (just think about the Trijicon ACOGs that the military uses), and the MRO Patrol is no different…
To start off with, the sight housing for the Patrol is fully sealed and built from forged 7075 (aircraft-grade) aluminum.
It’s also hard anodized, and has that trade-mark Trijicon coating which weirdly seems rubberish and metallic at the same time…
I don’t know exactly what that coating is, but I do know that it’s super durable.
In addition to that, the windage and elevation turrets are built specifically for rugged use.
They are recessed into the sight housing and can be adjusted with a screwdriver or the rim of a spent round…
I think this is a smart design choice because it means there is no possibility that the adjustment turrets can be bumped against a wall (or something like that) and be snapped off…
Each click on the adjustment turrets will move the reticle 0.5 MOA (minute of angle), which is perfect for a red dot sight…
…and the clicks are crisp and audible giving you a sense that the sight is built to a high quality.
Now, relative to some other micro red dot sights out there, the MRO Patrol may seem a little bit large, but even though it is larger, it’s not that much bigger than other red dots on the market…
…and the bigger size gives it some important advantages over smaller sights.
We’ll get into some of these advantages later in this review, but one of them is that this sight is a lot more durable than some of its competitors…
It’s built like a tank, but it still comes in at a reasonable weight of 5.1 ounces for the sight and 1.8 ounce for the mount.
In addition to that, the Patrol is waterproof up to 100 meters… which means that it can handle rainy or wet conditions without skipping a beat.
All in all, the strength and durability of this red dot is up to the mil-spec standards that Trijicon is known for.
How’s The Battery Life?
The battery life on the MRO Patrol is fantastic… First of all, it has a total of 8 brightness settings.
The 2 lowest emitting settings are for use with night vision equipment…
The next 5 settings are for daylight brightness, and the final setting is for use in super bright daylight conditions like you’d find out in the desert.
I find that keeping it on setting 3 is just fine in the daylight, and according to Trijicon, you can keep the Patrol turned on for five years on setting 3 (using 1 CR2032 battery).
In this day and age, I think ultra-long battery life like this is an absolute must on a red dot sight.
I won’t even consider a red dot that doesn’t have thousands and thousands of hours of battery life…
The reason why is because you can keep your optic always turned on, which means it will be ready to go if you need to grab your rifle in an emergency.
So for example, if you heard a bump in the middle of the night, you wouldn’t have to grab your rifle and then fiddle around with the buttons on your red dot to turn it on.
It would already be turned on… So you could just pick up your rifle and be ready to go.
In the end, that super long battery life makes this red dot a simple to use (set and forget) optic which is exactly what I’m looking for in a red dot sight.
Reticle and Clarity Of The Optic…
The sight picture and clarity of the MRO Patrol is very good… To start off, Trijicon puts multiple coatings on their sight lenses…
…which makes them very durable but also allows them to gather more light and gives you, the shooter, good contrast when you’re acquiring a sight picture.
In addition to that, I mentioned before that the MRO Patrol is a bigger red dot than many of its competitors… and one of the major advantages of that is the 25mm Objective (front) lens.
Having this very large objective lens gives you a very large viewing area when you’re looking through this optic.
I like micro red dot sights and use them on many of my rifles, but sometimes it’s nice to have a larger viewing area so you can see more and be more aware of your surroundings.
The trade-off again is that the optic is bigger and more weight is added to your rifle, but I think it’s kind of a fair trade off…
…and it all depends on what you’re looking for out of your choice of optic.
So I really like the large viewing area that you get from the 25mm objective on this optic, and it really is a feature that sets this sight apart from almost all of its competitors.
In addition to that… because the Patrol is a red dot sight you have unlimited eye relief, which means your eye doesn’t have to be in the perfect position to acquire a sight picture…
…and the reticle is a crisp 2 MOA red dot (you can also get it with a green dot, but I prefer red).
I’m a big fan of a simple 2 MOA dot reticle on my red dots because it allows you to acquire your target quickly, but at the same time…
…it’s small enough to aim with a great deal of precision at small targets in the distance.
Extra Goodies That Come With The Sight…
There are several free goodies included with your Trijicon MRO Patrol…
First, you get lens caps for the front and rear lenses that are specifically fitted to the MRO Patrol and which make the whole sighting system even more rugged than it already is.
In addition to that, it comes with a kill flash that covers the front lens of the optic… A kill flash is useful for several reasons:
- it reduces the reddish glare that comes off of the front lens of any red dot sight
- it reduces light being emitted from your red dot in low-light situations
- it reduces the glare that you might see on a bright day
Aside from the lens covers and kill flash, you can also choose to include a mount with your MRO Patrol.
I recommend getting the mount because you’re going to have to get a mount anyway, and the mount that comes with the MRO Patrol is pretty high quality.
It’s also a quick detach mount which means you can remove it quickly and when you put it back on, it will return to zero.
I typically don’t take my sights off my AR-15s very much, but it’s nice to know that if I did have to take it off for some reason, I wouldn’t have to re-zero my optic when I put it back on.
Now you can get the mount as an absolute co-witness mount or as a lower 1/3 cowitness mount…
Personally, I’ve always preferred an absolute co-witness with my BUIS (back up iron sights), and if you’re unsure between the two, that’s what I’d recommend you go with.
Pros And Cons…
Pros
- Super durable red dot sight
- Waterproof up to 100 meters
- Ultra-long battery life (you can set it and forget it)
- HUGE viewing area!
- Reticle is a 2 MOA dot (perfect in my opinion)
- Lenses are strong and give great contrast
- Comes with lens covers
- Comes with a kill flash
- Comes with a quality mount
Cons
- It’s a little larger and heavier than some of its competitors (If this is a problem for you I recommend this sight)
- It has a mid-range/high price tag (totally worth it in my opinion, but if you’re looking for a great red dot that costs much less check out this sight)
Trijicon MRO Patrol Review – Final Thoughts
In the end, I think the Trijicon MRO Patrol is a fantastic red dot sight…
- It’s super strong and durable
- It’s got a huge viewing area
- It comes with some really cool extra goodies
I highly recommend it, and as I mentioned before, if you’re looking for a tough-as-nails optic for your rifle, shotgun, or carbine, you can’t go wrong with the MRO Patrol.