Tag Archives | Optics

Primary Arms 1-6×30 Scope with ACSS Reticle

Primary Arms has shown an ability to bring a solid optic to market at a reasonable price. Their optics are especially popular on training carbines where you may not want to spend top dollar on the exact same optics to match your go-to carbine. Their most recent announcement, a 1-6×30 optic for just $250, is sure to find its way onto a carbine near you.

Primary Arms 1-6X ACSS

It will feature what Primary Arms is calling the ACSS reticle. The ACSS incorporates bullet drop compensation, range estimation, wind, and leads. The reticle is illuminated and located in the second focal plane. See the video below for more information about the reticle.

This optic will be available with a number of optional accessories like mounts, scope caps, and mini reflex optic mounts.

Check out the new 1-6×30 at Primary Arms.

Review: Leupold Yosemite 6×30 Binoculars

The word is out on the Leupold Yosemite binoculars (bins). If you read any forum dedicated to optics you will find people praising these bins for their brightness, clarity, and ergonomics. Their performance is unmatched by bins costing two to three times as much money. So how good can a pair of $80 bins be? In this post, we will take a look at what makes the Leupold Yosemite 6×30 binoculars special and we will learn a little about binoculars along the way.

Porro Prisms

The Yosemites use porro prisms instead of roof prisms. Porro prism bins will generally cost less than roof prism bins. They will also generally outperform low priced roof prism bins. The old rule used to be that you would have to spend three to four times as much on roof prism bins to get equal performance to a good set of porro prism bins. That rule is not quite as true today thanks to the proliferation of quality, low cost imported glass, but it is still true that inexpensive porro prism bins will outperform similarly priced roof prism bins. If you are on a budget, porro prisms will yield the best bang for your buck. Porro prisms will generally offer wide field of view, great depth of field, and a more three dimensional looking image than typical roof prisms.

The biggest drawback of porro prism bins is that they are typically larger because of how they are constructed. Roof prism bins can have straight barrels which means they can be more compact. Porro prism bins have two 90 degree turns incorporated into the construction. This makes the barrels larger. Even with these larger barrels, the Yosemites are still quite compact at only 4.6 inches long and 6.3 inches wide.

Exit Pupil

The Yosemite is also offered with 8x magnification and the same 30mm objectives. These are also quite clear but will be dimmer than the 6x model. This is due to exit pupil. Exit pupil is basically the virtual aperture that is created by your bins. Only light that passes through this aperture can be transmitted to the eye. The human eye is dilated to about 4mm in bright light and opens to 5-9mm in low light situations. The larger the exit pupil of your bins, the more capable they will be in low light. If the exit pupil is too small, the bins will appear dim because they are not transmitting all the light that your eyes can receive.

Exit pupil is calculated by dividing the objective size by the magnification. In this case, 30mm divided by 6 magnification, equals an exit pupil of 5mm. Using the same formula on the 8×30 model we get an exit pupil of 3.75mm. So, as the magnification increases, the objective size must also increase in order to provide the same amount of light. As objective size increases, so does the size of the binocular. The 5mm exit pupil of the 6×30 Yosemite bins mean that they will provide enough light to work very well at dusk and dawn while still being compact.

Magnification

Some of you may be thinking that 6x magnification is not enough. However, most binocular users are surprised to find that they can actually see more detail with lower power bins! Bins with higher magnification not only magnify the object you are viewing, but also the shakiness of your hold. Sometimes you can even see your heart beat. Most users would get more out of their bins if they stuck with 6-8x magnification.

Other Features and Specs

  • Rubber Armor for toughness and improved grip
  • Available in black, tan, and camo colors
  • Center focus wheel
  • Right eye diopter
  • Waterproof/dust proof
  • Comes with lens covers, soft case, and neck strap
  • Leupold Lifetime Warranty
  • Eye relief: 20mm
  • Field of view: 420 feet at 1000 yards
  • Weight: 17 ounces

So What?

Everything above may not mean much to you so I will break it down. These bins are light weight and compact. They carry very light and don’t take up much space in a pack. I have found them to be very durable and very easy to use. The focus wheel is stiff enough without being too stiff and the diopter stays set. The eye cups work well and seem well made. These are constructed very well, but the real story here is the optics.

If your only experience with bins are cheap compact models from the grocery store, these will blow you away. They are extremely sharp and bright. They offer excellent low light performance. The colors are bright and true to life. The optics are just excellent. To put it in perspective, they are slightly brighter, clearer, and sharper than my $250 8×42 Nikon Monarch bins. I can actually see more detail with the 6x Yosemites in some scenarios than I can with the 8x Monarchs. That is impressive for a $80 pair of bins.

Trijicon, Please Make This Optic!

Trijicon, you have the technology, ability, and experience to make a great multi-purpose optic for a fighting rifle. All you have to do is combine technology from two of your current offerings.

The ACOG is an amazing optic. It has some of the best designed reticle options on the market today. The way the ranging/BDC (bullet drop compensation) system works is nearly perfect. The biggest thing holding it back is the fixed magnification which slows target acquisition at shorter engagement distances. Yes, even with the BAC (Bindon Aiming Concept), it is still slower than a true 1X or non-magnified optic.

The TR24 Accupoint offers the ability to adjust magnification from true 1X up to 4X. It has glass that is similar in quality and clarity to that of the ACOG which is excellent. It also has the very handy adjustable fiber optic cover to adjust the amount of the light that reaches the reticle on sunny days.

Neither of the optics are reliant on batteries for illumination. This is a strong point on most Trijicon products.

I would be in line for one (or maybe 5) tomorrow if Trijicon were to combine these two optics into an optic that was essentially an 1-4x Accupoint with ACOG like reticle and BDC.

The reticle could be a simple cross hair with a larger circle around the intersection. The circle would serve to draw the eye. If this reticle were to be placed in the first focal plane (FFP), it would appear as a smallish dot when the optic was on 1X which would be advantageous for faster acquisition at shorter distances. The crosshairs would be more usable for precision at longer distances on 4X when the reticle appears larger. Typically, FFP reticles are used to make ranging/BDC systems work at all magnifications. However, I really only suggest the FFP reticle for the reticle scaling reasons listed above. A reticle like the circle-dot, already in use in the ACOG, might also work but it would give up some precision to a reticle with crosshairs.

Add the usual ACOG ranging/BDC hash marks on the bottom stadia line of the reticle and watch this optic fly off the shelves. The simplicity of this ranging/BDC system can not be beat. I would personally like to see it set for a 50/200 yards zero but the standard ACOG 100 yard zero would be fine as well.

Recap:

  • 1-4X with true 1x on the low end (while you are at it, a 1.5-6x might be nice too)
  • First focal plane crosshair/circle reticle
  • ACOG ranging/BDC
  • TR24 Accupoint form factor (covered finger adjustable knobs, fiber optic cover, etc)

Trijicon, if you are listening, please make this optic!

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