One of the best-kept secrets in the optic world, Meprolight is well-known for quality and reliability within professional circles. The company has been the primary sighting system and battle optic provider to the Israel Defense Force (IDF) since 1990. In fact, Meprolight was founded for that very purpose.
I discovered Meprolight over two years ago with their F/T Bullseye tritium front pistol sight. My son and I now own several Meprolight products, and I remain impressed.
I most recently got my mitts on the new MPO-F open emitter red dot for my home defense pistol. Here’s what I found.
Meprolight MPO-F Red Dot Specifications
- Footprint: RMR
- Objective Lens Diameter: 0.95-inch width x 0.7-inch height
- Reticle Type: User Selectable 3 Segment
- Reticle Size: 3 MOA Dot; 33 MOA Bullseye; 33 MOA Ring
- Reticle Color: Red
- Brightness Settings: 10 Daylight; 2 Night Vision
- Automatic and Manual Brightness Control
- Weight: 1.4 ounces
- Battery Type: 1 CR1632 (included)
- Battery Life: 20,000+ Hours
- Power Saving Sleep Mode
- Shake Awake Capability
- IP-X7 Waterproof Rating
Meprolight MPO-F Features
The Meprolight MPO-F is an open emitter red dot pistol optic. The RMR footprint provides wide handgun compatibility. It is also a feature-rich optic that should probably cost way more than it does. The precision-machined aircraft-grade 7075 T-6 aluminum housing is solid and up to being knocked around. The anodized matte black finish adds durability and cuts glare.
The streamlined, low-profile housing is designed to minimize snags. The MPO-F also has a rear sight notch, allowing me to co-witness my front iron sights. That’s pretty standard now, but I like it.
You get 10 daylight brightness and two night vision settings. I don’t have night vision gear, but I like that my optics can handle it if I ever hit the lottery.
Brightness can be controlled manually, which is the default setting, or you can choose the automatic mode. The brightness controls are large, tactile, and easily accessible. I like that the dot blinks twice when I hit the brightest and lowest settings. Automatic mode means the reticle brightness will automatically adjust based on the amount of light in your immediate environment.
The brightness buttons also control mode selection. The sleep mode saves battery life by turning the optic off after one hour of inactivity, and the shake awake feature brings the reticle back when the optic is moved.
The side-mounted battery tray makes changing batteries easy. I hate hard-to-access battery ports.
The 3-Segment Reticle
Meprolight offers MPO-F owners a choice of three reticles, all in the same optic. You get your choice of a 3 MOA red dot inside a 33 MOA bullseye ring; a single 3 MOA red dot; or just the 33 MOA ring. The brightness controls make it easy to choose the one you want.
I’ve tried all three, and I like them. I currently run the bullseye reticle for reasons I’ll explain below. The reticle is also a low battery indicator, blinking every half second when your power supply is drying up.
Running the Meprolight MPO-F Red Dot
I’ve been running the MPO-F for a couple of months now. It rides on my IWI Masada, which is my dedicated home defense pistol. Meprolight and Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) are sister companies. That’s cool and all, but I have other reasons for wanting the MPO-F for that gun. I’ll get to those.
But first, how did the optic perform? I have numerous pistol optics lying around. I use most of them to test various firearms, but I’m not yet sold on optics for all my handguns. I’ve run a bunch of them, and the MPO-F quickly became my favorite.
The 3-segment reticle lets me dial in what I want, no matter what I’m doing. It zeroed easily, and it held that zero through 400 test rounds. The generous objective lens has plenty of room and I can acquire my targets cleanly.
The multiple brightness settings give me what I need in any lighting condition. I will say, however, that you should remember that the automatic brightness setting will adjust based on the light where you are standing, not the light where your target is.
If you’re shooting from a darker area into a lighter area, the automatic setting may make the reticle harder to see. That’s the main reason I prefer to manually adjust my brightness. Plus, I’m a control freak. The large, tactile brightness buttons make that easy. I operate them with my support hand’s thumb.
My Personal Reticle Choice
I chose the bullseye reticle for a reason. I wanted to make the MPO-F my dedicated home-defense optic, assuming it performed well in tests. I’m not completely sold on handgun optics across the board, but I want one on my nightstand gun. My vision isn’t great. I’ve worn glasses and contact lenses since I was a teenager. It’s only gotten worse with age.
I can’t guarantee that I’ll have time to don my glasses if the excrement hits the oscillating wind device at 2 AM. The bullseye reticle gives me a central dot surrounded by a 33 MOA ring. It’s clear as day with my glasses on, and a big red blob without them. But it’s a big red blob that I can actually see. What’s more, I can accurately place that blob on a target if I have to.
A single dot is tough for me under normal circumstances. It would be tougher under stress. I could do iron sights, but they’re fuzzy. I want the advantage of an illuminated reticle in the dark. And yes, I also have a good weapon light to identify a potential target. My vision is adequate to discern friend from foe.
Final Thoughts
The MPO-F passed my evaluation with flying colors. It’s now my official nightstand gun optic, and why not? It’s rugged, reliable, and has all the features I want.
The reticle choice just leaves my other optics in the dust. I like a plain red dot on certain guns and the MPO-F gives me that. I like a bullseye on others, and I have that option too. And I can see the efficacy of just the ring in certain situations. I get all that in one optic, even though I’ve assigned this one to the bedroom.
I can absolutely see myself buying MPO-F red dots for other guns, especially as my vision steadily pushes me to adopt them whether I want to or not. Which leads me to another point. This optic is affordable. You can easily find them for under $300, but don’t mistake affordability for cheapness. There’s nothing cheap about Meprolight products. They share that feature with IWI firearms, for which I also have great respect.
So, if you haven’t tried Meprolight, or maybe not even heard of them, consider giving them a look. The MPO-F red dot continues the company’s history of quality products at reasonable prices. I bet you won’t regret it.
