Hey everyone.  I’ve been building my ar and I’m almost ready to shoot it but it has no sights.  I’ve wanted to use a 3 gun type scope and have seen a few.  I’m torn now with the primary arms 1-4x24 scope and the bushnell ar 1-4 scope.  The primary arms is a bit cheaper but unsure which would be better.  I liked the PA 1-6 as well but didn’t want to spend the extra if it’s posssible.

What is the primary purpose of the rifle?

It’s really only going to be used shooting at the range.  In a pinch could be home defense but I have a few shotguns set up for that plus a saiga rifle that I would do for that role If needed

I just bought the Bushnell on the recommendation of a friend that is an armorer/former Marine/Nat'l Guard. I won't be mounting it till next month, but while finger fucking it, I think I'm gonna like it.

My Son in Law has a Bushnell AR 1-4 second focal plane scope with bullet drop reticle.   The cross hair is kind of thin and the hold over dots are small.  The glass is very clear and the scope has decent eye relief.   My Son in Law got a deal on this scope and purchased it for about $100 or less.   For the money it was a good buy.

I saw where Brownell’s had a Bushnell AR 223 front focal plane scope on clearance sale with a Brownell’s 30 mm one piece mount for $220.   I’d been wanting to test a FFP scope so I bought it mainly because the SFP scope was very clear and the price was right.    The scope my SiL bought does not have an illuminated reticle but the FFP scope has a lighted reticle but is not daylight bright.

The scope I bought is a discontinued model and the newer model has a different reticle.   Overall I like the FFP scope even though on 1X the reticle is really small.   I’ve been testing it on a 22 LR AR-15.   One disadvantage of the Bushnell AR FFP scope is the fixed front sight post is more visible on 3-4X  than with my Vortex 1-6 Strike Eagle.   I would not use the Bushnell AR 223 FFP scope with a fixed front sight tower.

In very low light if you turn the illumination up to high with the Bushnell you see a red ring around the exterior of the objective which tends to distract from the horse shoe style reticle.    The Bushnell scope I bought has the extended throw lever on the magnification dial and I like this feature.    In most daylight shooting situations I have no difficulty finding the reticle for snap shooting on 1X.   I have not experienced any fish eye effect with Bushnell.  The reticle is small enough on 1X to make quick precision shots on small varmints at relative close range.   There are better optics for three gun but for a FFP LPVO I think you really need a daylight bright reticle.   On a SFP optic a daylight bright reticle is a non issue for me.

If I were only going to buy one low power variable optic I would recommend spending a little more and buying the PA 1-6 or the 1-6 Vortex Strike Eagle.   If your wanting a cheap optic for a 22 rimfire to practice using a LPVO or rarely shoot the Bushnell can get you by.   The 1-4, 1-6 & 1-8 optics are handicapped by size and weight.  If you don’t have to have 1X I think the 2-7, 2.5-10 and 3-9 scopes are very versatle as I have no trouble shooting them on the lowest magnification with both eyes open at close range targets.

I’ve been contemplating maybe going with a red dot with a magnifier but my issue is the way the rifle is set up I would need a very low mount as my check is on the buffer tube so I doubt a standard ar mount would be comfortable.  The only one that would seem doable would be the primary arms micro dot that’s very popular.  I was considering there 30mm aim point pro knockoff but I think it will be too highly mounted.

Why would a standard height AR mount be too high on your AR?

It’s a featureless rifle for the state of NY.  I don’t have a stock just a buffer tube so I would assume that throws off optic height as well