The Foresight from Meprolight

Optics on rifles are nothing new. Heck, these days seeing optics on handguns is becoming more common than one might have expected. But how many readers have wished they could afford more optics? Having one for each of your rifles is never a bad thing. And unless you need a strongly magnified optic, i.e. 20x for long range precision shooting, you’re going to get generally the same performance out of whichever optic you choose. Well... that was true until Meprolight released the Foresight.

Meprolight formally announced the release of the Foresight at SHOT Show 2022. This author had the privilege of seeing one a couple months earlier at a writer’s conference Meprolight hosted. It was, and is, impressive.

How many times have you issued a colorful expletive as you tried to zero your new optic? How many times have you complained because you only had one optic and you had to re-zero it each time you put it on a different rifle? How many times have you missed a shot, an inch low or high, because you zeroed the optic/weapon at one distance but then were shooting and forgot to adjust? How many times have you missed a shot because you changed ammo weight and didn’t re-zero or take it into consideration?

If you’ve been shooting long enough, almost all of those scenarios will seem familiar. But let’s take a look at the Foresight. The Foresight pairs, via Bluetooth, with Meprolight’s proprietary app on any smart phone (iOS or Android). The app is free to download and uses an additional third party app (Doubt Shoot) to provide auto-zeroing functionality for the optic. While there is normally a cost for Double Shoot, it’s available at no cost when you purchase a Foresight. The optic comes with a QR code that enables the no-cost download.

So, you mount the optic and pair it with the app. Then you fire a three-round group at your chosen distance. You can shoot a larger group—say five rounds instead of three—but three is the minimum. Then you (safely) use the app to take a picture of the target. The Double Shoot app determines the mean center of your group and how far from the target’s center it is. Then it determines the adjustment—and sends that adjustment via Bluetooth to the Foresight optic. And just like that, your Foresight is zeroed for that weapon, with that ammo, at that range.

NOTE: “...that weapon, with that ammo, at that range.” As the example, let’s say that’s your AR-15 with a 16” barrel shooting 55g ammo at 100 yards. You can enter that information into the Meprolight app and save it as a profile. You can save up to 10 profiles.

That’s something that greatly enhances the value of the sight. Consider: You can save a profile for your AR-15 with 55g ammo at 100 yards. But you could also save a profile for that same combo at 200 yards and another for 300 yards. Then you can take that same Foresight off the AR-15, mount it on your lever action .30-30 and zero it for that weapon with your selected ammo at your specified distance. That’s the fourth profile.

But then the next week you need to put the optic back on your AR-15. So, you switch it over and (this is important!) you mount it back on your AR-15 exactly as it was before (in the same place on the picatinny rail). Then, in the app, you select the AR-15 profile you’re using and the app transmits the zero info to the Foresight. And that easy, the optic is ready to go for you.

As if that isn’t cool enough, the ability to save up to ten profiles theoretically means you could use this one optic on 10 different rifles/shotguns. So instead of having to buy several different optics, you just buy one (with an MSRP of $659.99) that can serve on up to 10 long guns for you.

The display on the Foresight has more than just a reticle shown. Within the display you will also see a compass (showing direction by degree dependent on which way the weapon/optic is pointed), a sight level, the reticle and a battery indicator.

The display is customizable via the app. The current version has 24 reticle options preloaded you can select from, and you can select which five to preset into the optic.

In a tactical environment, if you and other team members are using the Foresight, you can indicate the location of a target simply by giving your team members the direction on the compass that is displayed. “Target is at 112°.”

The sight leveler is easily used and necessary, as is the battery indicator since the Foresight is a rechargeable optic. The optic is delivered with the rechargeable battery already installed and comes with a USB-C cord needed to charge the optic when necessary.

With all of that information available in the optic, would you consider it distracting? If so, you have options. Thanks to the app, you can decide what is or isn’t displayed in the optic. If you want to only see the reticle, you can remove the rest. If you want to see only the reticle and the battery indicator, you can do that. Just remember: Use the optic in training just as you intend to in the field. Don’t train with minimal information displayed and then display everything when you’re actually using the optic for real life operations.

All of that is good to know and read but there is always someone who thinks, “But is all that real? Or is it sales pitch?” As mentioned, this author first saw a Foresight in action last October during a writers conference. It worked as advertised and was easy to set up/use if one only followed the directions. When provided with a test unit (back in October), it was mounted and zeroed with one rifle at two different distances (a Battle Rifle AR-15) and then put on a different rifle (Henry Rifles USA All Weather lever action .30-30) and zeroed on that one. The optic has now been moved back and forth several times and has held zero every time. For the MSRP of $659.99, there is a lot of value in the optic. It can be used to replace several and the versatility provided by the Meprolight app with it can’t be quantified for value.