Folks - looking for a recommendation on a prism in the 3-5x range for a 14.5 or 16” 5.56. Will likely run it with and extra RMR I have. Have a TA11 on something else at the moment that I like quite a bit but looking for lighter weight and something less expensive than ACOG territory.

Was excited for the new Spitfire 3x Gen II and picked one up only to discover they are not daylight bright.

Have the PA GLX2 on a Galil ACE in 7.62x39 and like it quite a bit other than weight (it’s also an ugly duckling) and would want more mag for this 5.56.

Has to be daylight bright.

TA31 would be ideal other than price and who wouldn’t want a bit more eye relief?  

Recommendations?

The PA 2X is only 2 ounces more than the Vortex 3X. A little chunkier but not too bad.

I’m personally looking forward to the upcoming Primary Arms 3X replacement. Super light and compact like the Vortex and claimed to be daylight bright.

Burris or a Swampfox trihawk.

Swampfox Trihawk is a smidge heavier. I doubt it's daylight bright, but should be visible.

Burris RT-3 is lighter.

I have the PA SLx 5x prism it can be seen in daylight but I would not call it bright.  It does not bother me because the reticle is perfect in bright sun just using the black no illumination.  As the sun dips and more shadows start taking over I turn the illumination on and it is nice having red and green.  I just wish they had made the illumination dial where the brightest settings for green and red were separated by the off instead of the highest setting for one color, off, and then lowest setting of the opposing color.

I would recommend the Stiner T332, it's not super lightweight but it is 14.2oz , 2.7" eye relief, and has a pretty awesome and easy reticle that DOES get daylight bright.  https://www.steiner-optics.com/sites/default/files/Specifications/datasheet_t-sights_536-432_332_en.pdf

I have personally used the S332, S432 and T536 (I currently have a T332 on order).  The S series prisms from Steiner are what I would consider the gold standard, they are phenomenal, I personally think they blow the ACOGs out of the water.  Unfortunately they are large and heavy, unacceptably so if you are used to the ACOG.  

The T series from Steiner is less porky and smaller overall and therefore drops a bit of FOV and eye relief and is "only" rated to handle 600Gs compared to the S series 900Gs.  The S series was designed for a European military and were therefore designed to be overly durable hence the massive weight and size difference.  Both are also made in Germany using Schott glass.

Just wanted to provide an actual competitor to your ACOG experience instead of the commonly referred Chinese trash offerings.

EuroOptic lists the T332 as “approx. 15.9oz” and eye relief of 2.56”

OP, if you consider PA 2x as big and heavy, I say forget about Swampfox, Burris or Steiner.  Their 3x are even bigger and heavier.  And often with much less eye relief.  

I would consider a light weight LVPO like leupold.  With an Aero mount, it is super light.

The ACSS reticles > anything else out there. Whether its in an ACOG or PA optic.  It's the sole reason why I run PA prisms on everything.

MEH

I like the ACSS reticles in some optics but they get carried away. Ranging a man running at 600 yards on a 3X optic is just completely unnecessary clutter.

I’d add to that many of their reticles are just confusing blobs since the reticle is so small at low magnification levels.

I have a sig sauer bravo 5 prism i can talk about. It has a bdc ret with half horseshoe/dot in the middle. I like it and think it is easy to deal with. It is on the heavy side, but i think the glass is good and the field of view seems better than most of the lpvo's i own. Eye relief is short, as it is for more prisms i hear. It's a keeper for me. The only issue is fighting my wife over what weapon it goes on.

First thing I thought about when I got my Swampfox Trihawk was that it had a very similar FOV to a Sig Bravo3, but a better eyebox and better (for me) MOA reticle, at about the same weight, and a lower MSRP.

I liked 5x but had trouble inside the 25 to 50  yard range with my contacts. No problem when I wear my glasses that correct my astigmatism.  That's why its up for sale.

I'll back this statement up.  Have an ACOG TA11 and a Steiner S332 which I am in the process of selling.  The Steiner S series is built like a fucking tank.  Just as good as the ACOG but with better eye relief, slightly better glass, but the tradeoff is they are large and heavy.  My AR feels much lighter with the TA11.  As I am sure someone may ask why I praised the Steiner but am selling it... it's mainly due to the LOP on my rifle not fitting me with the Steiner on it.  With the TA11's rear lens being far back in relation to where it is mounted I get a more comfortable LOP with it.  But I am tall and prefer a longer LOP.  For a lot of people it probably won't matter.

As a Trijicon fanboy but having owned both; I'd take the Steiner over the ACOG as a do-it-all optic.  The coolest part is OpticsPlanet has the S332 on sale for $700 right now.  So you're getting an ACOG quality optic for $300-400 less than an ACOG.

I e been very patient and was able to pickup a ta33 for $700 from the EE here and a ta31 with acss brand new for $800 locally (came with 150 m855 as well).

I’m a huge fanboi but I love the acss reticle so much I’d go with PA or trijicon just for the horseshoe and chevron combo reticle. It’s amazing

All this talk of 2X or 3X or even 4 or 5X prism sights makes me wonder!!!

Why not a 10X prism???  With a small offset red dot. With a mount and sight all in one. No need to fiddle with a tube and scope rings.

Asking for a friend!!

It would be huge, and/or have a finicky eyebox. There is one that exists, but the short eye relief is meant for PCP air guns.

I think Dark Lord of Optics has explained why. Look at his site/channel.

Would be too much for 200 yards and in, where most of us would likely engage and which can be too far for a 1x dot and concealed targets.

On one of the Primary and Secondary Modcasts over the last year there was a guest speaker who mention his ideal magnification on a fighting carbine was 2+the yardage in hundreds. So a 100 yard ideal would be 3x, a 300 yard ideal would be 5x. Seems like a pretty reasonable rule of thumb, but it's very much up to the person I think.

This 10x works on an LPVO because there is in between settings. And then they can have the tight eyebox issue. 10x would be great for 4-500 yards but most people are shooting within 100-300 IMO.