Primary Arms?

[jk636]

In my efforts to find the perfect optic I have looked at eotech, aimpoint, trijicon and many others. Then a guy shows me an m3 clone made by primary arms. Has anyone had any experience with these? After looking at the website the price seems to be TO good at around 70 dollars USD for the optic. He seems to like it, but anything that is a "clone" much less "made in china" makes me nervous. Just hoping to get some reviews before i try one out.

[Hmac]

Those cheap Chinese units will likely work fine for awhile, aren't likely to be in it for the long haul. If you only shoot a few hundred rounds a year, aren't going to use it to take any carbine training courses, aren't going to get it wet, and don't depend on your rifle to save your life, those cheap RDS at Primary Arms may well work just fine for you.

[CC556]

Primary Arms optics don't belong on a defensive rifle. They're fine for plinkers and range toys where if they fail it's just a bummer. If you intend to use your rifle for anything serious spend the money on a quality optic.

[HeavyDuty]

I currently have two Primary Arms M3 clone RDS and sold a third Micro off last year.

They're probably the best of the various inexpensive RDS out there. I use them on a pair of .22LR rifles, one an AR and the other a SIG. They will hold up to a moderate amount of centerfire use, and will probably last years on a light recoiling rimfire. They hold zero well in this usage.

However, I have no illusions that they are appropriate for a duty rig or even a self-defense gun. The owner of Primary Arms is very up front about these being intended for recreational use only. Failures are uncommon, but they do happen - and they are nowhere near as durable as an Aimpoint.

One thing they are very good for (IMO, anyway) is proof of concept. I bought one of their Micro clones with riser back when they first came out to try the concept of a small body RDS before I took the plunge with a T1. I toyed with it on several carbines with the intent of leaving it on a rimfire if the concept worked out for me. As it turned out, I do not care for the smaller diameter RDS - but I was only out a few bucks after I resold the PA. I would have lost a lot more if I had bought the T1 without first trying the functionally equivalent PA Micro.

Clone sights aren't inherently evil, but they have a very specific place.

[jk636]

Well said. I am looking for an RDS for one of those "evil" 16" DPMS rifles that is used for range time and small varmint hunting use. Is it a Defensive rifle? Um...no. My Defensive rifle is a shotgun! Anyhow, I will get one and see how it works and will post the results. Thank (you) for the positive feedback.

[Whootsinator]

You hear what you want to hear. You want to hear us say that it is a great idea to not get ripped off by Aimpoint for a lesser product, that it's fine to buy a cheap Chinese clone of an Aimpoint because it will do just as well if not better.

It's not the truth... but it doesn't matter, because you've already made up your mind. Don't waste our time if you don't care.

All of that aside, Primary Arms makes a decent optic for being a Chinese clone. As previously mentioned it doesn't belong on a hard use duty carbine, but it would do very nicely on a .22lr training upper, or as a cheap alternative on a non 'go-to' carbine.




EDIT - previous posts in this thread by various users have been deleted by the moderating staff, and my post now seems pretty unwarranted. I assure you it was justified.

[Hersh]

HeavyDuty pretty much nailed my thought process on the PA. I wanted to see if I liked the micro rds before dropping the coin on a T1 too and haven't been disappointed with the PA.

So far it's held zero after 1k or so rounds of .223. Now I'm saving up for a T1 and the PA will move over to my Tac Sol .22 upper.

[GLOCKMASTER]

The OP asked an honest question about an optic. No need to drag anything else into this thread.

[dcgallim]

I bought one just to try it out. I got it zeroed then took it off my rifle, threw it on the ground, kicked it around in the dirt, Put it back on the rifle and it held zero. Your not gonna be able to be as rough on them as you would an Aimpoint, you can't leave the batteries on because the battery life will never be up to par of an Aimpoint (But still better than my EoTech). The dot isn't quite a dot more of an oval shape. The brightness settings are plenty bright even in direct sunlight. The mount seems pretty sturdy. It is what it is. It's a cheap knock off of a Micro BUT it is the highest quality knock off your gonna find. Get one try it out, if you really like it then save your cash and buy the real deal.

[Tycho]

I have the multi reticle m3 since it has a 2 moa dot and it works very well. Over 1000 rounds and still no loss of zero and no issues at all.