Hey guys~ridiculous amounts of freezing rain and an aversion to housework drove me onto YouTube this morning, and while checking out 22 scopes (22 Plinkster) one of the models that popped-up was a Primary Arms, fixed 6X with an interesting dot/BDC reticle calibrated to 22LR ammo. I'd never heard of this brand at all, let alone this scope..but I could see the combination being a fun one to use. Before I consider nabbing one, I wondered if anyone here has one...and would care to comment on the scope..? Pros/Cons/experiences/what gun it's on, etc.
Thanks!
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Alright! So, I've had one...very windy/cold day to try the scope and get some photos. It wasn't a comprehensive test, nor was I doing it off a bench/steady rest like I'd hoped. It was a last minute run out to my friend's farm to squeeze-in an hour of shooting. All shooting was done from either an improvised rest, or off-hand. If you don't care to read past this, I will say that I really like it, and it's very much worth the $200 price. (before tax/shipping).
Is it a high-end optic? No, but it is an affordable way to try a very interesting, 22LR-specific reticle. It would be much easier to hit YouTube and watch reviews/descriptions of the reticle than it would be for me to describe it, so I'll skip past that.
Mounting~I've recommended WARNE rings for CZ/BRNO lots of times, and had both high and medium on-hand. The medium's would have been my preference, but bolt clearance (=lack of) prevented me from using them. Too bad, as the scope is short enough in length for the rear sight to not be an issue. It looks fine/functions fine with the highs...so all good there. Maybe in prolonged shooting it might feel too high, but hard to say. Felt good to me. I think it was YouTuber 22 Plinkster who made mention of making sure you get the scope level, and while I'm not sure I knew what he meant at the time..I think I do now. Unlike standard "Crosshair" reticles, there is very little to reference (very small, verticle section only) on this scope to get it mounted squarely on the gun. In fact, I mounted it the night I got it..looked perfect, locked it up. Got up the next day, took it out of the safe and shouldered it~looked crooked! If there is a downside to these WARNE rings, it's difficult to make fine adjustments. They seem to grips scopes solidly even when the screws are backed all the way off. Anyhow, I readjusted...put it away. The morning of the test shoot, I shouldered it again before heading out and guess what...still looked slightly crooked. Made a tiny adjustment, locked it down=all good. Now, I've mounted lots of scopes in almost 30 years of pretty serious rimfire shooting and I've never had one that was this tricky. Again, the reticle is small...and the only reference point is a very small, verticle line.
Adjustments~about what I would expect from a scope in this price range. Felt a little spongy, but seemed to work fine. They're 1/4 MOA, but the documentation suggests you zero @ 25-50 yards using high velocity ammo. Keep the size of adjustments @ 50 or under in mind. It went smoothly, but the lack of a solid rest and huge wind gusts made things more challenging than they needed to be. I set-up @ 40 yards and by the time I was done, I was hitting 12ga hulls with zero issues/zero misses. Without a bench/rest...and with the wind issues...I decided it would be a waste of ammo to try and test the reticle at the longer distances it's set-up for~as fun as that will be. I even had some clay pigeons on hand (again, read-up on the reticle ) but busted those @ 40 yards...then chipped away at the smaller chunks. With groundhogs needing attention soon, I'm not sure how soon I'll be getting out for a dedicated "22" day again, but when I do, I'll update on how well the reticle works when I start trying to hit sitting clay pigeons well past 100 yards.
Final word for now~fun scope, would be ideal for a semi/reactive targets...but very fun on a bolt gun too. Basically, it's a scope with a dot reticle...only the dot is centered like a red dot. Unlike anything I've ever used (except a red dot). I also think it would be a fun one for young, or inexperienced shooters. Lots of eye relief if that matters to anyone. Like most fixed-power scopes I've tried, you seem to get slightly better optical quality for the price you pay. This scope is no exception.
Not sure what else to add, but please fire away if you have any questions you think I might be able to help with.
Cheers,
.22LRGUY
Thanks!
_________________________________________________
Alright! So, I've had one...very windy/cold day to try the scope and get some photos. It wasn't a comprehensive test, nor was I doing it off a bench/steady rest like I'd hoped. It was a last minute run out to my friend's farm to squeeze-in an hour of shooting. All shooting was done from either an improvised rest, or off-hand. If you don't care to read past this, I will say that I really like it, and it's very much worth the $200 price. (before tax/shipping).
Is it a high-end optic? No, but it is an affordable way to try a very interesting, 22LR-specific reticle. It would be much easier to hit YouTube and watch reviews/descriptions of the reticle than it would be for me to describe it, so I'll skip past that.Mounting~I've recommended WARNE rings for CZ/BRNO lots of times, and had both high and medium on-hand. The medium's would have been my preference, but bolt clearance (=lack of) prevented me from using them. Too bad, as the scope is short enough in length for the rear sight to not be an issue. It looks fine/functions fine with the highs...so all good there. Maybe in prolonged shooting it might feel too high, but hard to say. Felt good to me. I think it was YouTuber 22 Plinkster who made mention of making sure you get the scope level, and while I'm not sure I knew what he meant at the time..I think I do now. Unlike standard "Crosshair" reticles, there is very little to reference (very small, verticle section only) on this scope to get it mounted squarely on the gun. In fact, I mounted it the night I got it..looked perfect, locked it up. Got up the next day, took it out of the safe and shouldered it~looked crooked! If there is a downside to these WARNE rings, it's difficult to make fine adjustments. They seem to grips scopes solidly even when the screws are backed all the way off. Anyhow, I readjusted...put it away. The morning of the test shoot, I shouldered it again before heading out and guess what...still looked slightly crooked. Made a tiny adjustment, locked it down=all good. Now, I've mounted lots of scopes in almost 30 years of pretty serious rimfire shooting and I've never had one that was this tricky. Again, the reticle is small...and the only reference point is a very small, verticle line.
Adjustments~about what I would expect from a scope in this price range. Felt a little spongy, but seemed to work fine. They're 1/4 MOA, but the documentation suggests you zero @ 25-50 yards using high velocity ammo. Keep the size of adjustments @ 50 or under in mind. It went smoothly, but the lack of a solid rest and huge wind gusts made things more challenging than they needed to be. I set-up @ 40 yards and by the time I was done, I was hitting 12ga hulls with zero issues/zero misses. Without a bench/rest...and with the wind issues...I decided it would be a waste of ammo to try and test the reticle at the longer distances it's set-up for~as fun as that will be. I even had some clay pigeons on hand (again, read-up on the reticle
) but busted those @ 40 yards...then chipped away at the smaller chunks. With groundhogs needing attention soon, I'm not sure how soon I'll be getting out for a dedicated "22" day again, but when I do, I'll update on how well the reticle works when I start trying to hit sitting clay pigeons well past 100 yards. Final word for now~fun scope, would be ideal for a semi/reactive targets...but very fun on a bolt gun too. Basically, it's a scope with a dot reticle...only the dot is centered like a red dot. Unlike anything I've ever used (except a red dot). I also think it would be a fun one for young, or inexperienced shooters. Lots of eye relief if that matters to anyone. Like most fixed-power scopes I've tried, you seem to get slightly better optical quality for the price you pay. This scope is no exception.
Not sure what else to add, but please fire away if you have any questions you think I might be able to help with.
Cheers,
.22LRGUY
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