It's not nearly as good with a magnifier as a red dot is. You have to monkey with the adjustable diopter ring on the Cyclops and also the adjustable diopter ring on the magnifier until by sheer luck they align for your eyes so that the reticle is sharp AND the background is sharp. For some people's eyes this never happens at all. Then, when you pull away the magnifier on it's flip to side mount, you have to monkey with the Cyclops diopter AGAIN to set it to work with your eyes at 1x. If you wanted to, you could mark the two Cyclops diopter positions with a dab of paint to quickly switch back and forth, but this is a slow and clunky arrangement that I really can't recommend.

If you want 3x magnification we have our 3x prism scopes available at a great price in both black and FDE colors. These are great little scopes for the money and stupid tough-- we are thinking about putting a picture in next year's product catalog of a Toyota Tundra with it's tire standing on top of one.

If you want great 1x performance and you have astigmatism that makes red dots problematic, and you also want some magnification, the best answer is a low power variable optic like our 1-6x ACSS SFP or our 1-6x ACSS "Raptor" FFP. They are more bulky than our red dots, and a bit more expensive, but by the time you add a magnifier and the magnifier mount you have caught up to the low power variable in both price and size/weight, and the increased capability that a 1-6x gives you is WELL worth it in my opinion.

Anyway, this thread is kind of all over the place, so I haven't stepped in yet, but you guys know I'm always available with honest answers to your questions.

Yeah, technically they CAN, usually.

But I have to be honest about how slow that setup is, and for me it's all about speed. If I want to switch from 1x-3x on my personal setup, I just bump the throw lever on my 1-6x Raptor a smidge. I had it out to 300 yards on Sunday on my "recon" build and it was easy peasy even with bulk pack M193 55gr ammo. If I need more magnification, I just bump the throw lever again and BAM I've got 6x, and oh look an awesome smart reticle with BDC and wind holds built right in. So much faster and more effective than a red dot + magnifier or a Cyclops + magnifier. I do run a red dot + magnifier on my double-stamper 10.5" SBR, but that's because the chopped barrel doesn't line up with anyone's 5.56 BDC worth a darn. Too much velocity loss, the trajectory is too different. So I consider my SBR a CQB specialist, I want ultimate speed at 50 yards and never intend to take it past 200 yards no matter what.

So, it comes back to the old "what's the best tool for the job at hand" question. Define the job you want to do first, then choose the tool that matches it best. Cyclops + magnifier is pretty much never going to be the tool that's best at 200-400 yard engagements, even if technically it CAN be done.

Ya'll can't say I'm not honest about this stuff. But the way I'm looking at it, I'm not costing PA a sale here by dissing the Cyclops. As a 1x CQB prism scope it's the best on the market, I really believe that. But I'm pointing out better medium-range options that we ALSO make, and helping real shooters have rewarding experiences when they choose the product that matches their expectations, so they become fans of us and what we are doing.