If an EoTech XPS and an Aimpoint T1 Micro got sloppy in a hot tub during a SHOT show rooftop party, nine months later a cutthroat custody battle would ensue over the resulting RMR-A optic from Trijicon.

The RMR-Adustable is the third of the RMR series, the scrappiest little family of sights we’ve seen. Each is barely bigger than a Dokter sight, but packs the features we’d expect from a primary combat sight. The news with the latest is its adjustable brightness. It’s two older siblings didn’t offer manual control of the illuminated reticle. The always-on RMR LED offered an automatic brightness setting mode that got the 4 or 8MOA red dot in the ballpark for the ambient lighting. The RMR-Dual uses batteryless fiber-optics during the day, and tritium at night to illuminate a 7, 9 or 13MOA reticle.

The RMR-A brings two button brightness control to the series and makes it a serious competitor in the carbine primary sight market. It still retains the automatic adjustment as one of the settings, but it now gives the shooter 3 night vision and 6 daytime settings while retaining the auto brightness control for those shoot-first-adjust-stuff-later situations. The buttons are big and easily manipulated with coarse motor skills, which is important when the adrenaline is pumping. Just reach up over the weapon and pinch the sight between thumb and index finger to raise or lower the brightness. We photographed the RMR-A on a business card to give some idea of scale. Check the gallery below.

The body of the sight isn’t changed from damage deflecting shape of the original RMRs. The scalloped top is not an aesthetic swoop but a way to make sure that the glass lens is protected from impact no matter how the rifle is oriented when it hits the ground. By protected, we mean that the impact forces are transmitted around the glass and through the body of the sight where it can be absorbed by the mass of the weapon. If you look closely at the images we shot, you can see the the aluminum is scored from Trijicon’s drop testing. They claim no loss of zero after a drop, too. Adjustments are made in 1 MOA clicks with a spent cartridge.

We saw a prototype, so until Trijicon releases the RMR-A officially, everything below this line, including the name of the optic is subject to the whims of their engineering and marketing staff. Trijicon plans to announce the RMR-A at AUSA, so we won’t have to wait too long to see if anything changes.

From what we understand, the RMR-A will come in two reticle choices, 3 or 6 MOA run for a couple of years of ‘normal’ use on a single CR2032 battery. It weighs about 1 ounce bare. It will be priced around $550 and will not include a rail mount/adapter. You’re going to to pony up anywhere from $70-100 more for a co-witness height mount. (The mount on the prototype we photographed is more of a handgun mount since it’s too low to work on an AR or SCAR platform.)

UPDATE: We just talked to Trijicon and got the DL on battery changes. Just unscrew the two bolts on top with the included wrench and the battery is right there. It should hold zero, but Trijicon suggests putting a few rounds through it before getting back on line.