Aimpoint Square: An Ambitious Failed Prototype

Between 1990 and 1993, Aimpoint experimented with a red dot optics that was pretty ambitious on several fronts. It used a rectangular window to maximize field of view for hunting rifles and shotguns (this was still Aimpoint’s main market at this point). It used a solar panel on top as a backup power source, and it was almost entirely made of plastic, including the main collimating lens. Unfortunately, the project proved unsuccessful, largely because of manufacturing challenges with the plastics. The body was difficult to keep properly rigid, and it was difficult to make a sufficiently precise main lens out of plastic.