Trijicon Scopes

Trijicon is an American optics company, founded in the early 1980s in Michigan. The founder, Glyn Bindon, was an engineer who had previously worked with the United States Navy and the Ford Motor Company before founding the company. Bindon also worked with NASA during the “space race” of the 1960s, helping to create the engines in the Lunar Lander famously used in the Apollo 13 mission.

Though Glyn Bindon lived and worked in the USA as an adult, he hailed from South Africa. While visiting a friend there in 1980, he was introduced to luminous gunsights the friend had developed and brought a few home to sell. This started Trijicon as a company, and Bindon began running the business out of his home. By the end of the 1980s, Trijicon products were already being used by elite law enforcement professionals such as FBI agents. The company later moved to a facility in Wixom, Michigan where it still operates today. Glyn Bindon passed away in a fatal plane crash in 2003, but his company continues to produce some of the most innovative sighting equipment on the market.

Trijicon use a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, known as tritium, to create the illumination in their sights. Tritium has been certified safe for use by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (or NRC). According to the NRC, it would take 10,000 times the amount of tritium in a Trijicon scope to cause even mild radiation poisoning or other health concerns. Trijicon was the first company to obtain distribution licensing from the NRC, meaning that buyers (whether distributors, dealers or direct consumers) do not need special permits or licenses to buy their sights

Among Trijicon's most popular products are their Advanced Combat Optical Gunsights, or ACOGs. These scopes are preferred among military personnel including US Special Forces, but are also available to civilians. One element that makes the ACOG special is Trijicon's Bindon Aiming Concept, which allows users to keep both eyes open while they shoot. The Bindon Aiming Concept is also unique in not using a typical cross-hairs for aiming. Instead, it uses a bright red dot. This helps the brain to focus on the target more quickly, allowing for faster, more accurate shots even while in motion. Not all Trijicon ACOG scopes are fitted with the Bindon Aiming Concept; some use regular, standard-style reticles.

In addition to serving the civilian public, Trijicon are also a favorite brand among law enforcement professionals. Their products are used by police, SWAT teams and the NRA's law enforcement activities division among many others. Trijicon products are also used by the USA's armed forces, as the company is a defense contractor for the United States Military. The company gained some attention in early 2010 for having added Biblical reference numbers to the side of scopes sold to the military. Trijicon has since ceased adding these numbers to military-issue products, though they are still inscribed on civilian models. This tradition was started by Trijicon founder Glyn Bindon, and the company has said that they believe the inscriptions reflect the company's values.