AR optics
 

Bought a AR-15 while I was home on leave early July. Came flat top with M16 style front post sight. Added a flip up rear sight from magpul as a temporary item so that I could shoot it. Also my future father In law added magpul MOE hand guards to it for me with rail sections. Now I'm looking for some sort of scope/red dot sight to add up top. It's looking a little bare. It's a rifle carbine with the mid length gas system and a full stock

Want to be able to tell a scope is on top.

A few choices are aimpoint, compM4 (M68 in the military, upgraded CompM2), compM2.
Or even the acog type scope we top our M16A4s and M4s with if I had the money.

Looking for something that I can reach out and tag a target at 300 yards and maybe even beyond but not spend a arm and a leg on.

I can speak for Aim point they are pricey but very clear and accurate.
Attachment 55521

Which model is that? Not the magnifier

aimpoint pro and dont look back if you are looking for a red dot(~$350-400) and will perform equally as well as the aimpoint m4, the difference will be the battery life in the M4 will be far superior but for practial use, you will never know the difference. if you want a variable (1-4x) the Vortex is the way to go at ~$500, beyond that you will pay much more $ for other 1-4's that are no better in quality. Nightforce is an example, if you plan on using your optics as a hammer then I would reccomend the nighforce as it is built like a tank as is SWFA's super sniper line of scopes but they are wayy overbuilt, for the $ the Leupold VX-R 1-4 is another great choice.