This is where I'm at. The difference in the 2x glx compared with the other PA prisms I've had is pretty noticeable. I thought these were going to be glx line....

Are any of these new $300+ "budget" prisms not made in China?

If you want non China, you have to pay more.

The sad part is I would rather have most of these new prisms on paper over an ACOG. Better reticles, better eye boxes, lighter weight, and in some cases, better mounting options. Unfortunately they are Chinese made, glass quality is pretty low bar, and quality is unknown.  

Trijicon is like Glock. Innovation be damned, and unfortunately China is who picked up the slack they’ve left since 1989.

I think there would be a market for a PA 'Platinum Prism' made in Japan like their Platinum LPVO's. Pair their excellent designs and reticles with top tier glass and 'top tier' ruggedization.

Because when it comes to 'Tier 1' or 'Combat Grade' or 'Non Chinese' (However we define this rarified height), there is really very few choices.

- ACOG (awesome but getting a little dated)
- Browe (basically a LED ACOG)
- Steiner (gigantic and heavy, poor RDS mount, but German.)

If PA could create a Japanese Prism in the $600-$800 range, that takes their excellent features of their GLX 2X and then adds a RMR/Holsun MRDS mounting option, I think they'd be very popular.

I think the micro prism design is fantastic and on paper the specs are great.

The fact that it has been said that there was no glass upgrade is a real bummer. The SLx line glass is potato glass, target resolution and light gathering are terrible. I’ve looked through / used SLx LPVO’s and prisms and they are fine if your only shooting a couple hundred yards on a nice range day but that’s it.

Now the GLx is a different story, much better glass, clarity and target resolution that I would call “duty grade”.

Take the micro prism design add GLx glass, sell it for $450 or so and the Acog would be in trouble.

PA is a good company and they probably ran the numbers and decided it would be more profitable to build to the SLx level. As evidenced in this thread there are a lot of cheap SOB’s out there.

Will you guys being doing a higher end line of these?

This. No interest in the Slx. GLx I would buy in a heartbeat .

I shoot steel regularly to 500 yards with my Gen II 3X prism all the time.  I used to have a 5x one on a scar 17 that would go out to 600 no problem.  That is basically the limit of the ammo I was using as far as still being stable/consistent.  It isn't super clear but its not like a dirty fishbowl.  Plenty capable out to the distances for the BDC.

I think capable versus proficient is the difference here.

With my Leupold at 4X I can clearly read a road sign about 250 yards away. With my PA 5X, I can’t read that same sign.

I forget what distance but at less than 100, I couldn’t see my hits on paper through the PA 5X. They were clear through the same Leupold at the same distance. (This was chromatic abberation.)

Will the PA get on a silhouette at 400 yards lightning fast? Sure will. Will it identify a person at 300 yards in a bad situation? Not guaranteed. Will you be able to see your shots at distance? Most likely not.

I don’t have first hand experience with the new Vortex, but if they increased glass quality I’d guarantee I wouldn’t be the only one to notice it compared to PA. End of the day you have to pick what’s right for you though, and there isn’t a damn thing wrong with that.

Was the Leupold set to parallax-free at 150yds?

That it is.

The new gen ii vortex spitfire is super clear/bright for the price point.  The battery life sucks and there's no shake awake but honestly it is not needed for daytime shooting.  I just got one and while I like my PA prisms the gen ii spitfire beats them out with how small, light, and clear it is.  Plus I like the reticle.

PA, can’t you source some Schott glass to put in these things?

I just wish it was not $300+!
I can't justify that for what I would put it on

We know Mrgunsngear has a video in the works, and we can hope Flannel Daddy will be doing a video as well, maybe a THIRD End Of The World Optic video?!?

Personally, I would love to see these MicroPrism optics coming with a bit more; include a flashkill honeycomb dealio and flip down covers, maybe even have a couple of punch-outs in the packaging; pop out the labeled reticle for your caliber (300 BLK) & pop it into the rear flip down cap, instantly available dope!

Any updates on a timeline for the 3x microprism yet?  I was really hoping to run one on an AK for a competition in October...

I’d really like to see an AK Operators Union abuse test on it since it’s an entirely new design.

This. Any company that doesn't just use a T1 mounting system/acog system or whatever the fuck it's called should get donkey punched in the nuts 3x a day, every day, for a fucking year.
It's beyond annoying.

I spent thousands upgrading from the PA 1x to the 2x.  Now you tell me the 3x is in the works?  

So manufacturers should stop innovating so you don't have buyer's remorse whenever a new model comes out?

I have a Burris 3x prism on my M70  7.62x39.
It is TOO high, as it was designed for an AR carry handle.
The Zastava mount is as low as you can go.

I was contemplating a Magpul stock with cheek risers.

However,  this could be worth waiting for.
Marshall,  do you have a pic mounted as low as possible on an AK ?

I grabbed the 1x Cyclops and been using it on a setup for about a month.

Outstanding optic for the price. Clear glass and daytime bright though I use it mainly off.

Word is the 3x will be out before end of the year.... I’ll be pre ordering

I’ve got NX8, Razor 2, T1&2, mini Acog etc... the Cyclops is right at home quality wise from what I can tell so far.

Attached File

A 3x in the Glx line would be nice, but I hope if they do one they keep the 2x and it’s outward design (I wouldn’t bitch about a larger reticle). The 2x is sleek and sexy and I’d hate to see it go away.

Hey, bumping this again - it's been over a month and we still haven't heard news RE: the 3X.

I'm interested!

Newest video I found on it:

https://youtu.be/BRFZ_y9DE5o

A few more weeks hopefully?

Oh damn! Guess it's coming soon. $269 is great! I'm super excited - going right on my CAR-15, guess I won't be getting a 2x ACOG!

EDIT: I spoke to the guy running PA's instagram account and he estimates that orders will be open in "1-2 months".

I absolutely agree with this, there is definitely a market for this type of prism. If PA could design a 4x prism in the GLx/PLx category with autolive, higher quality glass, 0.25MOA adjustments, RMR/MRDS mounting, etc... I would immediately give them my money!

I have a 1x and love it. I am really looking forward to the 3x. I would like a couple fo those for my rifles to replace red dots.

Same here.
I think a TA-33 and/or TA31 competitor, with comparable weight and quality, but running on a battery (>10,000 hr life and/or autolive), and with an rmr mounting pad similar to what Vortex built into their 5X (but RMR rather than Vortex venom footprint). And yes, I want the piggybacked RMR on the 3X too; every reason that it makes sense on a 4x+ also applies to a 3x.

After getting my GLX 1X last week and getting it zeroed/plinknig a bit, that became a lot less certain for me... the coming 3X is going to be a nice bit of kit.

The ACOG is already in trouble-the 1x Lil-P's I got this year have a larger FOV and brighter glass than the TA44-ACSS my wife has. Too bad the reticles on the LiL-P sucks so bad, they are great micro prisms.

I have both the 1x and 3x SLx micro prisms from PA and I have to say they are really nice optics for the money and really exceptional given how tiny and inexpensive they are.

I also have the Burris RT-3 here and Vortex Spitfire Gen2 5x, so I am kinda going over most of the micro prisms out there.

Burris RT-3 and Vortex Spitfire Gen2 3x (I do not have it, but I have seen it) appear to be made at the same place.

However,  PA's 3x SLx looks to be made in a different place since there are fairly obvious construction differences.

I am working on the side-by-side between the RT-3 and PA 3x microprisms.  The overall size and FOV are broadly similar.  RT-3 reticle is a bit too small. PA's reticle is sized better.  PA's prismatic also appears to be a little easier to get behind and comes with a bunch of different risers and offset plates, so it is easier to set up just the way you want it.  

Eye relief on the Burris is slightly longer and truthfully, both are fairly forgiving of eye position.

Reticle illumination on the PA is clearly brighter with a larger and thicker horseshoe.  I also like having the wind holds in the reticle.  The illumination of the horseshoe does appear bright enough that I can use BAC with this scope, but I need to spend more time on that.  Burris' reticle is, unfortunately a bit on the thin side, so it relies on having illumination more than I like.  The illumination is day visible, but not as bright as on the PA.  Without illumination, in low light, it is a bit easier to lose this reticle than I would have liked.

Interestingly, objective lenses looks to be of slightly different size with PA 3x appearing to have slightly larger objective lens and slightly larger exit pupil.  I will need to make some measurements to be sure.  The apparent magnification looks very similar between the two.

Vortex's Gen2 prismatics seem to be compatible with various Aimpoint Micro mounts.  PA uses a compact ACOG type mounting system.  Burris's mount is integrated.

From a ruggedness standpoint, PA's mount is probably a little more durable, than Vortex', but I have not really had issues with either.  Burris' integrated mount is, obviously, going to have the fewest failure points, I suppose.  As a practical matter, I do not anticipate mount issues with any of these.  After some consideration, I think I will put the I do have a Geissele Aimpoint Micro mount somewhere, so I will probably use that for the Spitfire.  I do not know if it will give me any better performance, but it looks prettier.

Beyond that, I need to spend some more time with them.   Stay tuned.

ILya

How did you get a hold of the 3x Micro Prism?

If it's the same guy I'm thinking of from the other 3x microprism thread, he has the older bigger 3x prism and mistakingly thought it was the same one.

Still?

It's ILya (DLO), I'm sure he received a porotype to evaluate like Mrgunsngear, Grand Thumb and our resident MRW.

He has a long and well respected record of objectively, (probably more so than anyone else) evaluating optics.

He even specifically refers to the " PA 3x microprisim".

Not the same guy...

tag

OST

Oh yeah!

@MARSH1

Are these gonna be out by Black Friday?

My bad.

Notice I said ***IF*** it's the same guy I'm thinking about.  So you can keep your retard emojis to yourself.

There was a guy in the other 3x microprism thread who swore he had one already, then finally realized he had the old PA 3x prism and mistakingly thought it was the same one.

I tried finding that thread, but I guess it's too old to show up in search results now.

It is indeed the new microprism sent to me by Primary Arms.  With this whole onslaight of new prismatic scopes from several manufacturers, I have been trying to map out where they all stand.

I sorta take my time (which drives the manufacturers bananas), but I have been slowly releasing my impressions, mostly during the bi-monthly livecasts.  I have one tonight, but not on prismatics (more about general rifle scope optimization problems).  I did talk about the 2x GLx a little while back:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqnIkIJ688Y&t=2s

Here is another video with a look at micro vs not-so-micro 3x prismatics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KUmet_wSk8

I'll probably do the 3x micro prismatics in a similar format.

ILya

Ilya does lots of detailed optic reviews and is going to often get optics early or before they are released publicly.
It was pretty derpy to try to call him out when you’ve barely been here. But that’s already been covered.

I’m interested to see how these new prisms are optically, a 3x of that size and future set is pretty great if the lenses and clarity are pretty good,edit-glx level or so anyway.

My bad AGR556 is the guy I was thinking about.

https://www.ar15.com/forums/AR-15/Primary-Arms-3x-microprism/18-766220/#i8311650

It would be easier to keep track of these things if the half a dozen different PA 3x microprism threads were combined into 1.

Please stop making things up and stating them as facts.  If you don't know what you're talking about please don't talk

And what exactly are you trying to accomplish by following me around in every thread in this forum, quoting days old posts that have already been addressed and discussed?  Get a life.

Bump for any sort of update from PA.

How is the glass quality on the new 3X compared to the old model? Maybe it’s just in my mind or the lack of magnification, but I think my 1X micro prism has clearer glass than my 3X or 5X prisms.