Leupold 1x14 Tactical Prismatic Rifle Scope?

[Tomac]

Trying out a product is far different from having 110% confidence in real world, SHTF situations. Please find a military unit, swat, or private contractor company with men in the sandbox using the Leuplod prismatic as an issued unit, then your reference would have merit. Until then, it's just a fanboy favorite, turkey hunting optic, or perhaps oddity.

With that said, if someone likes it and uses it for non-critical use such as ipsc matches, have fun.

In light of Leupold's reputation and real-world proven reliability of their other optics in LE/Mil, is there any reason to expect less from the Prismatic?
Tomac

[Canonshooter]

Please find a military unit, swat, or private contractor company with men in the sandbox using the Leuplod prismatic as an issued unit...

Is this the only measure used to determine the fitness of a piece of gear for "serious" use?

Does this mean that any other piece of gear that does not meet this criteria is NFG?

And of course, using this narrow go/no-go criteria assumes that every piece of gear adapted by the military has been a resounding success - is that true as well?

[Alaskapopo]

There is lots of good gear not used by the police or military. Sometimes it takes us a while in the LEO field to adapt to new technology. Not saying the Prismatic is the way to go but I am saying its not junk just because no LEO or MIL units have not picked it up yet.
Pat

[Canonshooter]

Not saying the Prismatic is the way to go but I am saying its not junk just because no LEO or MIL units have not picked it up yet.

Pat, exactly my view as well.

I'm not a fanboy nor do I have a dog in the fight, but short of widespread documented defects, failures, poor quality control, etc. (which to the best of my knowledge does NOT exist) I think it deserves consideration. If a potential buyer can get fair and objective feedback on the pros and cons of any product - which I think is a reasonable expectation on this site - they can make an informed decision based on their needs/expectations.

Certainly the Prismatic is a unique product, some of whom will find fits their needs well while others will not. The design/feature set may be questionable to some, but IMO the quality of the product itself and the company behind it is not.

[Tomac]

Battery life update: Just finished a test w/a new battery and the illumination module left on 24/7 at the lowest setting, checking every 12 hrs.
Got the low battery warning at appx 270hrs and the brightness began to dim noticeably right after that. At the 360hr mark I had to bump the brightness level up to 5 of 8 to approximate the original lowest brightness setting (obviously the battery wasn't going to last much longer at this point). The 25%-remaining low battery warning appears to be right-on.
Note: There appears to be at least two different versions of the illumination module.
One has a brighter lowest setting, can be turned off w/a single push of the button or a continuous push of 10+ seconds.
The other can be turned off w/a continuous button push of appx 5 seconds and flashes when reaching either the maximum or minimum brightness settings. My battery life test was done w/the first module w/the brighter lowest setting.
Tomac

[olds442tyguy]

I can understand it not being your preference, but why the argumentative completely over the top foot stamping hate from a couple people? The dramatacized assumptions show an obviously unfounded pessimistic approach.

The people complaining about needing illumination, have you ever shot a 1x optic with no illumination? If the reticle disappears over dark targets in daylight you're either using unfit optics, made a poor reticle choice, need to have your vision checked, need to have a third party make sure you're using your gear properly, or you're fabricating things. Especially thicker reticles present on most 1-4's and the Pris. And since when is the upper spectrum of brightness so important at night?

I'm standing by for the torture test. My eyes aren't as good to me as they used to be and blooming has become an issue. I can still use a RDS fine, but I also like not having to rely on batteries which is very appealing. I would be a fool to doubt Leupold's ruggedness as other's have, but will wait just for peace of mind before I try one myself.

[Barry in IN]

I bought a used Prismatic, and will see.

I love Aimpoints and bought my first one in 1985 (MKIII) but as my eyes age, red dots are becoming red splatters. OK, It's not that bad yet, but I am finding I turn them down a lot of the time to kill the bloom, when before, I'd just leave it on all the way.

I was thinking low-power scope, but some of the discussion here made me consider the Prismatic. I know there are negatives, but I don't think they are all that bad for me. The only time I expect to use batt power is when there is a bump in the night, and the batt life should cover quite a few bumps.

If I had to pay full price for one, I might not have taken the chance. As it was, I snagged a used one for under $300, and was willing to give it a shot for that.

Then again, my last optic experiment failed. I bought a Nikon P-223 for a coyote rifle, and it lasted less than a day before it came apart inside and looked like a kaleidoscope. I didn't expect much for the money, but I did expect more than that.

[Failure2Stop]

Just to update this, we received our 2 models for testing. There are some things that my scratched eyes appreciate.

That being said, the mount that comes with it is below par for the type I an used to. I might simply need to remount and Loctite it (I didn't use any initially just to see), but I had zero shift.

More to come.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[spring1271]

The Prismatic was the most economical way for me and my aging eyes to go. I have at least seven aimpoints I no longer can use due to eyesight. When my eyes were under 45 years old i loved them!. But i dont find the Prismatic slows me at all and the illumination i only use in low light conditions. The dot is larger , 6 moa I believe but for CQB work s well and the fiel of view and glass quality is better to me than aimpoint. For more versitility on my most carried rifle i am now using a US Optics 1x4 DFP and it rocks! But again battery life for some would be a problem and it washes out in bright light but no need for Illum in bright light with a reticle. So until someone makes a diopter adjustable RDS the Prismatic is the way i have found to go. But the bomb is the 1x4 DFP . Yes it weighs more but it does more.

[R600]

Failure2Stop,

Any updates on your testing. I'm actually interested in the Prismatic since my Aimpoint dots are constantly distorted in some way or another with my eyes. I love my T1, like my Pro, and do okay with an EoTech, but I'm very intersted in this sight.

Thanks