Long ramble about a dull topic, sorry,…
But I I used to be the usual Leupold, Nikon, Burris and Redfield of Denver or nothing optics guy.
But now the US companies are really getting their act together and enforcing QC from their Chinese and Filipino manufacturers. Ten years ago I wouldn’t touch a Primary Arms scope if it was free (which actually happened once, but a story for later), and Vortex really didn’t impress me either.
But when I switched to MIL/MIL scopes from MOA, my shooting improved vastly because I understand MILs easier than MOA, and I am horrible with judging distance.
The major problem for me was American companies who produced these type of scopes were too rich for my blood. Finally after a decent tax return a Weaver Tactical scopes at Midway USA were on sale ($800.00), made it to my collection, and I was the happiest old geezer vet in Oklahoma.
About two years ago a friend sent me a url for PA with some FFP scopes and LPVOs on sale, and a link for Arkin too. After a bit of digging around the web I took a chance. And now almost all of my optics are PA/Arkin.
I know they aren’t ‘top tier’ scopes, but with the amount of thunder sticks I have I feel I am doing well. Kinda of settling quantity vs. quality.
And so far none have failed me, they hold zero remarkably well considering my clumsy butt making boo-boos hunting or at the range they are holding up quite well.
Anybody want to give their 2 cents?
Always down to hear everybody’s opinion…about anything, except football.
Most of my LPVOs/MPVOs are Vortex or PA and I have zero complaints. The more I learn about scopes the more I realize it’s yet another area where diminishing returns start coming in big time once you get past the most barebones low-end options, and even then, the cheap to midrange stuff today is so much better than the expensive stuff was 20-30 years ago. It’s similar with dot sights, a $100 Romeo 5 today will suit almost everyone’s needs whereas 30 years back you’d be going for an Aimpoint 5000 that was 2-3x as long, and had worse brightness, battery life, and viewing size. It’s all about perspective.
In full agreement on PA/Vortex not being “the best,” but I’m also not a fan of paying huge premiums for things that give marginal (if that) returns for my money. The difference between a $500 PA and a $2000 Nightforce (as an example) is not worth $1,500 in my eyes…I’m all about getting the best performance out of my dollar and right now those two brands are doing it for me, similarly to how PSA is for ARs.
(edit: forgot to mention their fantastic warranties as well. Pretty much made it so you don’t have anything to worry about if something even does go wrong with them.)
I have a $200 Monstrum on my rifle right now and love it. It’s probably made in the same sweatshop as the PA’s are made. My eyes aren’t good enough to tell the difference so I’m happy. The thing is, it has never malfunctioned and it does it’s job… so far. In fact, when I was choosing an optic for this rifle it came down to a PA and the Monstrum and I chose the Monstrum, money wasn’t a big factor either. I wanted FFP and locking ,marked turrets.
P.S.- I just remembered, I was looking at a Swampfox at the time too.
I have a Monstrum prism scope (I posted a topic about it a while back) and directly compared it to a similar PA prism I have.
The PA is better in a few different ways, but don’t get me wrong, the Monstrum cost $50 and the PA was $300, and for that extra $250 you get better eye relief, a better reticle, and a little more brightness. Good stuff and a real difference, yes, but if you consider the context of the price, the Monstrum is a very good performer for what I paid for it and there’s no reason why you couldn’t use it regularly if you wanted to.
Yep, I hate to say it but a lot of the China optics are getting better. If I could afford some of these American and European optics I would go there. I don’t do any long range hunting or target shooting past 200 yards so the clarity in the glass that I have with these “budget” optics is just fine for me. The G3 1-6 lpvo I have on my 5.56 might get moved to the x39 … I’ve been drooling over a 4-16x50 Hornet from them that I think would be pretty hot on my 5.56.
Love them all. I’ve been really impressed with the PA prism scopes. Etched, light weight, fine clarity.
Are they “just as good” as the $xx,xxx scope? No. But they’re “good enough” for what we’re doing with them. Not too mention covering all the toys with glass is better than having a single piece of glass and nothing but irons on all the rest. My vision is awful so I can barely use irons anyway.
Vortex & PA for me. I briefly played with a Burris and it was nice, but it was a loaner. That was actually the first time magnifying a rifle. I’ve always done irons till that point. I have the PA SLx3x prism scope on my 14.7 psa/fn. Not much to say other than Love It! The Vortex’s are on my LR-308 and my first psa ever, which is a mid length freedom upper on a 80 am-15 aluminum block. The things a tack driver with the vortex on it, so it’s my daytime “just-in-case a coyote” rifle. Super smooth too with the AB warthog
PA certainly isn’t as quality at Nightforce or Schmidt & Bender but my eyes aren’t good enough to utilize better glass. I guess if I were shooting longer distance then it might matter, but I try to keep it under 300 yards so PA and Bushnell work fine.
I recently purchased a Holosun red dot with PA’s ACSS Vulcan reticle. Couldn’t be happier with it.
PA his a military discount that works for vets as well, so that helps my cheap #$% save money.
Switching to MIL/MIL scopes seems to have really paid off, huh? I get what you mean about finding the right balance between quality and quantity. Sometimes, those lesser-known brands surprise you with their performance and durability.
