David shares his sentiments in this field review of the F1 Aimpoint Micro Mount from Fortis Manufacturing.
Aimpoint red dot sights have been known for their quality and durability since their beginning in 1974. In 1997 they were awarded the first multi-year contract for a red dot sight ever. There are over 500,000 Aimpoint sights in military service throughout the world and many, many more are used by sport shooters, hobbyists, hunters and law enforcement as well. They have proven to be bomb proof (sometimes literally) for a lot of years. When a product has this kind of presence in the market it is not uncommon for there to be a lot of aftermarket mounts for them.
I recently picked up an Aimpoint T1 for a very good price and already had the Fortis F1 in mind for the mount. In addition to durability the T1 is extremely light and I wanted to compliment that with a very lightweight mount. The F1 weighs it at a mere 1.1 ounce for a total package weight of 4.3 ounces when combined with the T1. The mount is made from 6061-T6 aluminum with a one piece billet construction and the two outside supports are good and thick to allow for good durability while maintaining the extremely light weight.
The F1 is finished in Military Specification grade III Hard Coat Anodizing that is a good deep black color that matches both the T1 and the Rev series rails perfectly. This type of coating lends itself well to corrosion and abrasion resistance as well as increased wear and flame resistance.
As you can see the F1 has a forward cant to it which allows the T1 to be pushed out a little further without bridging the gap between upper and your handguard. This is an excellent feature as it helps you to pick up that reticle and find the target quicker without having to worry about the possibility of the handguard coming loose or getting knocked out of adjustment and affecting your zero.
The F1 is only offered in the height that provides you with a lower 1/3 co-witness. To me this has both advantages and disadvantages. I am a fixed iron sight kind of guy and outfit all my rifles with the Daniel Defense irons. Previous optics I have had have always ended up having an absolute co-witness so that when looking through the irons the red dot was the same height and essentially sat right on the top of the front post. This makes shooting with irons nearly second nature for me if the optic was to go down, this is the only disadvantage. The advantage of the lower 1/3 co-witness is that you have a much wider and open field of view, making it easier to see targets or potential threats when scanning. It also gives you the ability to still use the irons by simply tucking the chin towards the chest a little bit and getting a good sight picture. At first I was not crazy about the lower 1/3 co-witness but after running it for a while I am starting to become very fond of it and seeing better times when transitioning targets, especially if I am going from a high target to a low one. It also gives you the ability to sight in the red dot for one distance and then sighting the Irons for another, if that is your thing.
I have been very happy with the choice of the Fortis F1 for use with my micro. It has stayed very solid and maintained zero very well even after dropping the rifle and normal usage. The two slotted machine screws that provide tension to the upper do and excellent job of eliminating side to side play while the bottom lugs fit between rail pieces to retain a solid front to back locking. I would love it if they were to do a quick detach version The weight, or lack thereof, makes the optic and mount unnoticeable when mounted on the rifle and if you are doing a lightweight build I cannot think of a better option that can stand up to the abuse that this pair will. I would certainly be interested in an absolute co-witness version but having ran the 1/3 version I am growing very fond of it. The overall quality of this piece, and every other Fortis accessory I have had my hands on has been very good quality and if the F1 fits your needs I absolutely recommend picking one up. The Fortis Aimpoint Micro Mount is just $75.95 over at Rainier Arms and its definitely worth every penny.
