What is a prismatic scope?

This would be an example of a "prismatic" scope a "Warner Swasey"

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It's a scope that uses one or more prisms to erect the image rather than two lenses. They were popular before WWI, but pretty much disappeared after.
 
RRCo. said:
It's a scope that uses one or more prisms to erect the image rather than two lenses. They were popular before WWI, but pretty much disappeared after.
Click to expand...

Yeah but I mean the Burris AR332, and Sig prismatic CP1, some are 3x some are 1x, some have illuminated reticles, like the leupold tactical 14mm... the objective seems to be inline with the eyepiece, in contrast with the previously mentioned apparatus.
 
Personally think use of the word "prismatic" in relation to the Burris or Sig (or Leupold prismatic) is a marketing bastardization of the word. I think Bushnell was more accurate when they referred to this type of illuminated (and projected image) reticle scope as a "reflex" sight or a "holographic" sight ... anyway a standard scope invariably uses a wire or etched reticle in the optical path of the scope; in order to ensure that the reticle is reasonably sharp it is placed at the same "apparent" distance as the image appears to the eye (ideally as close to "infinity" as possible with a fixed low power scope) ... the type of aiming device you are interested in typically projects an image of the reticle on a partially reflective/semi transparent surface that is in the optical path.
 
Maybe they're closed to the "reflector gunsights" used in WWII and later aircraft. So let's call them "reflector rifle sights" then?
 
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