Alaskapopo
01-02-2014, 12:55 AM
I know this is Chinese glass but please continue to read below. This optic really surprised me for its price point.
Primary Arms 2.5X Compact AR15 Scope with CQB ACSS Reticle Review
I recently received a Primary Arms 2.5x Compact scope for testing an evaluation.
I mounted it on a Noveske Rogue Hunter I have which has been my back up three gun rifle.
On 12-22-13 I took the rifle and optic out and sighted it in at 50 yards. My groups at 50 yards were in the .75 to 1 inch range which is typical of what this rifle will do with that ammo as its generally shooting 2 to 2.5 moa with the ball ammo I tested with (25 grains of H335 behind a Hornady 55 grain FMJ my standard 3 gun load in my JP this load averages 1.25 moa but that’s another topic).
During sight in I was impressed with how clear the glass was. Glass like this is generally not seen on optics lower than $500. I also liked the reticle although I would like to see the bullet drop configured a bit different. Its set up for a 50 yard/200 yards zero with the next mark down being 400 yards next being 500 yards and the next being 600. I would like it to be set up for the zero being 100 yards and the next mark down being 300, then 400 then 500. But that is just a preference issue not a fault with the optic. The reticle illumination is excellent. Very bright. No issues with it washing out at all.
The next day on 12-23-13 I took the rifle out to a 400 yards range the longest one I have access to. Hitting 10 inch steel plates at 200 yards was easy. Hitting ½ size steel silhouette targets was easy at 300 yards. At 400 yards Hitting full sized steel silhouette’s was also easy. Could not test further than this as this was as long as the range was.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/010_zpsee2eda44.jpg (http://s59.photobucket.com/user/355sigfan/media/Product%20reviews/010_zpsee2eda44.jpg.html)
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/011_zps045b0ee6.jpg (http://s59.photobucket.com/user/355sigfan/media/Product%20reviews/011_zps045b0ee6.jpg.html)
On 12-24-13 the temperature dipped to 5 degrees but I still wanted to work this optic out in some practical shooting drills at close range and some positional shooting on steel targets at 100 yards. So me and a friend went out and braved the cold. The range was very icy so I did not want to do any drills that required movement as I would have ended up cracking my head open.
Drill once was simple. Three paper targets were placed in front of the shooter, one at 7 yards one at 10 and one at 15. The drill was simple start from low ready and fire 2 rounds into each target as fast as possible.
My friend Greg averaged 3.85 seconds on this drill while I averaged 3.32 seconds. For comparison I ran the same drill with my rifles off set red dot sight and the time was 2.26. I ran this drill at the end with the front scope cover closed and my time started out faster but I ran out of ammo and was not able to fire the last shot. I was at 2.50 when that last shot broke however so with my splits being around .24 or so that would have put the last shot at 2.74. While with this type of optic (fixed power) I prefer to run an off set red dot you could do nearly as well for up close shooting by just closing the front cover and shooting it as an occluded gun sight.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/th_MeCQBDrill_zps4b740004.jpg (http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/MeCQBDrill_zps4b740004.mp4)
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/th_gregCQBdrill_zps2df62528.jpg (http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/gregCQBdrill_zps2df62528.mp4)
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/th_Gregbarricadedrill7inchsteel_zpsf929e300.jpg (http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/Gregbarricadedrill7inchsteel_zpsf929e300.mp4)
Then we moved over and did some simple drills using a shooting barricade and two steel targets placed at 100 yards. One was a 7 inch piece of hanging steel and the other was a C zone steel target (roughly 12 inches wide by 18 inches tall)
The first drill was simple shoot the big target from teach step on the barricade. The second drill was to shoot the small steel from each step on the barricade and the third drill was to shoot both pieces of steel from each step on the barricade.
Greg’s run on the large steel was 13.69 while mine was 10.05
Greg’s run on the small steel was 23.56 while mine was 22.04
Greg’s run on both steel targets was 37.82 while mine was 21.49.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/th_barricadedrill1_zps0bb4cfab.jpg (http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/barricadedrill1_zps0bb4cfab.mp4)
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/th_GregCQBdrill2_zps776f2145.jpg (http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/GregCQBdrill2_zps776f2145.mp4)
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/th_Mebarricadedrill_zps1e0807ed.jpg (http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/Mebarricadedrill_zps1e0807ed.mp4)
This optic shines from 25 yards to about 300. I will be bringing it to some three gun matches and exposing other shooters to it for more feedback. I am very impressed with this sight. For the money you can’t do better in a fixed power multipurpose AR optic. I am really hoping Marshall can put this glass and reticule illumination into his 1-6 variable power scope. This is the best glass I have shot in this price range. I also hope Marshall expands this line and offers a 3.5x or 4x version of this sight down the road. I can’t say enough good things about this optic I am very impressed. If you’re looking for a fixed power scope for simplicity and ruggedness on your AR or similar rifle and don’t have a lot of money to spend this is the optic for you. I will update you guys as I get more time behind this optic.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/013_zpsda6ff20c.jpg (http://s59.photobucket.com/user/355sigfan/media/Product%20reviews/013_zpsda6ff20c.jpg.html)
Main down side to this optic overall is the size and weight. It is 14 ounches and about as large as an Aimpoint M4. That said for $250 is a great deal. I took it out again last Monday and ran it through a bunch of drills from short to medium range (7 yards to 180) on paper and steel. I was able to hit MGM auto poppers even from difficult shooting positions out to 160 yards or so. I do wish it had a touch more magnification but I am told that the may be expanding the line to include a 4x version later. Right now this optic is on my Noveske Rogue hunter which serves as my back up patrol rifle and truck gun. I am going to be running it in some local three gun matches to wring it out more. For those on a limited budget that want the most for their money this is a good choice.
Pat
Primary Arms 2.5X Compact AR15 Scope with CQB ACSS Reticle Review
I recently received a Primary Arms 2.5x Compact scope for testing an evaluation.
I mounted it on a Noveske Rogue Hunter I have which has been my back up three gun rifle.
On 12-22-13 I took the rifle and optic out and sighted it in at 50 yards. My groups at 50 yards were in the .75 to 1 inch range which is typical of what this rifle will do with that ammo as its generally shooting 2 to 2.5 moa with the ball ammo I tested with (25 grains of H335 behind a Hornady 55 grain FMJ my standard 3 gun load in my JP this load averages 1.25 moa but that’s another topic).
During sight in I was impressed with how clear the glass was. Glass like this is generally not seen on optics lower than $500. I also liked the reticle although I would like to see the bullet drop configured a bit different. Its set up for a 50 yard/200 yards zero with the next mark down being 400 yards next being 500 yards and the next being 600. I would like it to be set up for the zero being 100 yards and the next mark down being 300, then 400 then 500. But that is just a preference issue not a fault with the optic. The reticle illumination is excellent. Very bright. No issues with it washing out at all.
The next day on 12-23-13 I took the rifle out to a 400 yards range the longest one I have access to. Hitting 10 inch steel plates at 200 yards was easy. Hitting ½ size steel silhouette targets was easy at 300 yards. At 400 yards Hitting full sized steel silhouette’s was also easy. Could not test further than this as this was as long as the range was.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/010_zpsee2eda44.jpg (http://s59.photobucket.com/user/355sigfan/media/Product%20reviews/010_zpsee2eda44.jpg.html)
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/011_zps045b0ee6.jpg (http://s59.photobucket.com/user/355sigfan/media/Product%20reviews/011_zps045b0ee6.jpg.html)
On 12-24-13 the temperature dipped to 5 degrees but I still wanted to work this optic out in some practical shooting drills at close range and some positional shooting on steel targets at 100 yards. So me and a friend went out and braved the cold. The range was very icy so I did not want to do any drills that required movement as I would have ended up cracking my head open.
Drill once was simple. Three paper targets were placed in front of the shooter, one at 7 yards one at 10 and one at 15. The drill was simple start from low ready and fire 2 rounds into each target as fast as possible.
My friend Greg averaged 3.85 seconds on this drill while I averaged 3.32 seconds. For comparison I ran the same drill with my rifles off set red dot sight and the time was 2.26. I ran this drill at the end with the front scope cover closed and my time started out faster but I ran out of ammo and was not able to fire the last shot. I was at 2.50 when that last shot broke however so with my splits being around .24 or so that would have put the last shot at 2.74. While with this type of optic (fixed power) I prefer to run an off set red dot you could do nearly as well for up close shooting by just closing the front cover and shooting it as an occluded gun sight.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/th_MeCQBDrill_zps4b740004.jpg (http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/MeCQBDrill_zps4b740004.mp4)
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/th_gregCQBdrill_zps2df62528.jpg (http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/gregCQBdrill_zps2df62528.mp4)
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/th_Gregbarricadedrill7inchsteel_zpsf929e300.jpg (http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/Gregbarricadedrill7inchsteel_zpsf929e300.mp4)
Then we moved over and did some simple drills using a shooting barricade and two steel targets placed at 100 yards. One was a 7 inch piece of hanging steel and the other was a C zone steel target (roughly 12 inches wide by 18 inches tall)
The first drill was simple shoot the big target from teach step on the barricade. The second drill was to shoot the small steel from each step on the barricade and the third drill was to shoot both pieces of steel from each step on the barricade.
Greg’s run on the large steel was 13.69 while mine was 10.05
Greg’s run on the small steel was 23.56 while mine was 22.04
Greg’s run on both steel targets was 37.82 while mine was 21.49.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/th_barricadedrill1_zps0bb4cfab.jpg (http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/barricadedrill1_zps0bb4cfab.mp4)
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/th_GregCQBdrill2_zps776f2145.jpg (http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/GregCQBdrill2_zps776f2145.mp4)
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/th_Mebarricadedrill_zps1e0807ed.jpg (http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/Mebarricadedrill_zps1e0807ed.mp4)
This optic shines from 25 yards to about 300. I will be bringing it to some three gun matches and exposing other shooters to it for more feedback. I am very impressed with this sight. For the money you can’t do better in a fixed power multipurpose AR optic. I am really hoping Marshall can put this glass and reticule illumination into his 1-6 variable power scope. This is the best glass I have shot in this price range. I also hope Marshall expands this line and offers a 3.5x or 4x version of this sight down the road. I can’t say enough good things about this optic I am very impressed. If you’re looking for a fixed power scope for simplicity and ruggedness on your AR or similar rifle and don’t have a lot of money to spend this is the optic for you. I will update you guys as I get more time behind this optic.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/355sigfan/Product%20reviews/013_zpsda6ff20c.jpg (http://s59.photobucket.com/user/355sigfan/media/Product%20reviews/013_zpsda6ff20c.jpg.html)
Main down side to this optic overall is the size and weight. It is 14 ounches and about as large as an Aimpoint M4. That said for $250 is a great deal. I took it out again last Monday and ran it through a bunch of drills from short to medium range (7 yards to 180) on paper and steel. I was able to hit MGM auto poppers even from difficult shooting positions out to 160 yards or so. I do wish it had a touch more magnification but I am told that the may be expanding the line to include a 4x version later. Right now this optic is on my Noveske Rogue hunter which serves as my back up patrol rifle and truck gun. I am going to be running it in some local three gun matches to wring it out more. For those on a limited budget that want the most for their money this is a good choice.
Pat