I'm looking for a decent, but not super expensive prism type optic I think for a 9mm Steyr AUG. Mainly just for fun shooting. So I want something that will hold up OK, but isn't ACOG prices. What choices am I missing?

Also a little magnification could be OK. But I don't need a bunch. It's a 9mm after all. And I won't be shooting it 200 yards or whatever.

So:
Burris AR-1x
Vortex Spitfire
(yet unreleased) Primary Arms Cyclops 1x.
Primary Arms 2.5x?

What else am I missing?

I suppose some type of LPV scope would be OK.

Bushnell "Lil" P (prismatic) due out this summer sometime

I love my Primary Arms 2.5x for out to 100 or so yards is pretty precise. It is great for CQB too. Nice glass and great reticle design. Fast on target.

I can vouch for the vortex spitfire for that very application.  I picked one up from the exchange and put it on my AR based 9mm.  I was always a fan of the EO Tech reticle  but not so much of that company anymore. The Spitfire is compact and with a very clear reticle that appears to be unaffected by my astigmatism.

Vortex also makes a 1x prism that’s pretty popular. Bullseye reticle.

If you can find one on the EE, the Leupold Prismatic (circle dot) and prismatic tactical (crosshair) are pretty awesome too. Battery life on them sucks, but if you’re good with electronics you can make/modify a module for much longer life for pretty cheap.

I have the PA 2.5 on my 9mm SBR and it's great.

I have the Primary Arms 3X Prism scope that has the ACSS reticle onn a 9mm AR and love it. I have a 5X also mounted on my 5.56 and like that as well.  I have interchanged them and found the 3x to be adequate on either , but with the 3 x , the reticle is noticeably bigger in the field of view. Nice glass

+1 - I also use this on my 9mm AR.

This.

I just wish it wasn't 2 circles.

The Vortex is much better than the Burris, but I want to be on the list for the PA 1x when it comes out soon.

Make sure you post what you get.  I'd love to pick up an affordable 9mm conversion kit for my AUG :(

I certainly will. Honestly, I think it's down to the Vortex Spitfire or the new PA Cyclops. Both reticles aren't perfect, but seem good to me. Though I do think the Cyclops looks better (to me). Silly, but I wish the Spitfire was swept more backwards than forwards.

The 9mm AUG kits were never affordable. I paid $1600 or so for mine a 2-3 years ago on GB. Not too bad I thought, since they went for new when the few hundred 6th gen kits came in for about $1300. They will never get cheaper. Heck, I remember when older gen kits. They could be missing pieces, or a barrel or it could be beat to junk. And it would still command over $1000.

I went crazy when I bought the kit. I couldn't find a stand along AUG receiver. So I ended buying a whole another M1 AUG to have a dedicated 9mm. As it stand right now. It the M1 long/high rail. The extended Pete rail wasn't available at the time.

Thanks Erik @VortexOptics . :)

I like that you included an adjustable ocular with the Spitfire. Soemtimes even etched reticles give my eyes fits. It's weird. I've got AUG scopes (3 different) that all work fine for me. But if I try to look through an ACOG even with great glass and an eteched. reticle, but no ocular adjustment. It looks like crap with my naked eyes.

lol that's gotta be the ugliest hunk of China junk I've seen in the past 10 years



Did they seriously name the other one "Big D" lmao wtfff

The new Meopta MeoAce 3x20 looks interesting
But for the ridiculously high price, I'd rather have an ACOG

I'm also buying another prism. I already have a Vortex but I have the original one with the dial as opposed to the new AR model that has the (probably cheaper) rubber buttons. I absolutely love the original Vortex 1x with the dial, but sadly like everything else made by everybody they had a good thing and chose to change it. I prefer the dial to the buttons and the older one seems more substantial than the new AR version. But alas, it's gone, it's not coming back so I will just have to move on.

So now I'm looking at the new Vortex AR or the PA Cyclops. The PA has no green color where the Vortex has both. The PA does have wheel as opposed to the AR rubber buttons which I like better, but it does put the massive wheel on the left side in the way of your right eye for some reason. Why they did not put it on top and out of the way of both eyes I don't understand. Haven't mad up my mind yet.

I kinda leaning toward the PA.

I think in the end it's probably gonna come down to whether I find a used Vortex for substantially cheaper than retail. Or I can order the Cyclops. Which ever comes first.

I think they are the same price, no?

Another for your list to research. They have red dots and prisms. Me personally, Id go with the RD11 red dot. That should sit low enough on the Aug. If the battery dies, who care, use the housing like a ghost ring and plug away. It's not hard to hit silhouette sized targets using this method out to 50 yards with little to no effort.

https://athlonoptics.com/product-category/red-dots/

Why isn't Burris being mentioned? I thought they were the go-to for prisms.

Not budget (but not terrible either) Trijicon 1.5 with ACSS reticle

Budget (but so far this stuff is really nice) Cyclops

Dumb question: It’s well known that a cheap red dot may lose zero, especially in harsh conditions. Is the same true of inexpensive prism optics?

I have a Vortex Strike Eagle (I feel like a guitar solo should play every time I type that) and it holds zero perfectly. My handful of super hardcore gunny friends who use weapons for a living all speak reasonably highly of Vortex’s scopes. However, they all pretty much agree that they wouldn’t trust their backsides to a Vortex red dot.

I bought an MRO because I want the optic on my trunk gun to always work. I therefore decided against any red dot that wasn’t bulletproof reliable, which led me to the MRO. Unfortunately, I don’t love the MRO and I discovered that I have an astigmatism. I can still see the red dot and use it, it’s just not crisp at all. So I’ve been considering a prism optic. Only, this leads me back to the original problem of needing reliability and consistent accuracy despite sitting in a hot trunk year round. Does a Vortex prism optic have that? Does the simplicity of etched glass avoid the reliability trappings of cheap red dots?

Cheap red dot (PA unit from late '15, $80ish) failed on my Ruger Mk II pistol, but it never lost zero.  Lost visibility, but if I could get a glimmer of dot it was there.   Other cheap red dot - Bushnell TRS-25 - did fine on my FAL through a few thousand rounds, and is not chugging along on top of my AR-9.

Ordered one of these - https://www.at3tactical.com/products/at3-tactical-rd-50-micro-red-dot-sight-w-optional-riser-mount to replace the dead PA unit, its been working great and since it has a lifetime warranty I'm about to order another one or two.