'Review' of Primary Arms 4-16X44mm IR Mil Dot scope

[n4ue]

Hi. A while back, I purchased a new Savage M12 SS 22-250. Gawd, it's beautiful!
I caught it as my LGS owner was putting it up on the wall. A bunch of guys looked at it, but I whipped out the old farm CC. This rifle will be used at my buddy's farm for predator control. The farm owner is not a gun guy. So, I was a little reluctant to buy a NF or USO scope for it, even though the owner can well afford anything. (He used to own 2 Zeiss Scanning Electron Microscopes!) So, I put one of my many spare scopes on it until I could see how it shot, etc. It is a Center Point 3-9X50mm. It's been on several rifles and has worked OK, but is certainly not a top of the line piece. Wasn't sure how much it would get used/abused.
I have seen many good things about Primary Arms products and although I had never heard of them, I did my research.
We purchased a 4-16X44mm (30 mm tube) model. Today, I brought 7 other spare scopes that fall into this price range.
I set up several colorful targets at 100 yards and had a couple of other guys look through them. There is also another fence line at 500 yards. Not scientific, I know, but the more eyes the better.......All the scopes have rings attached and all my rifles use rails and it's easy to swap them. These were all hand held, today. All scopes were first tested at 3X, then 9x and if possible at 16X, then at each scope's max power.Don't make fun of my collection, these are 'spares'... ha ha.... I didn't bother with the Barskas, NcStars, BSAs, etc.
The specimens were:

Sightmark 3-30X56mm (Yes, that is NOT a typo, 3-30 power, strange indeed) 30 mm tube
Tasco Mag IV 5-20X50mm 1" tube
Tasco 6-24X44mm 1" tube
Leapers 4-16X50 mm 1" tube
Center Point 3-9X50mm 1" tube (came off the Savage, as mentioned above)
Center Point 4-16X40mm 1" tube (wally World $70 special)
Weaver Kaspa 4-16x40mm 1" tube

First, I was surprised how good the Tascos performed. These are old but work....
These will be evaluated from worst to best:

8 th (Last place) = Weaver. Horrible flare and color reproduction, just awful, huge disappointment
7 th = CP 3x9X50 scope that came off the rifle
6 th = CP 4-16X40
5 th = Leapers 4-16X50
4 th = Tasco 6-24X44
3 rd = Tasco 5-20X50
2 nd = Sightmark 3-30X56mm (this is a HUGE scope!)
1st = (and the winner), Primary Arms 4-16X44.

The PA scope was bright, clear and had the best color reproduction. One thing that was commented on, was the fact that the far fence line at 500 yards was pretty clear without re-focusing. Eye relief was generous and not at all critical. Crisp all the way to the edges and no fish-eye. Nice field of view.
The only caveat that surfaced with the PA was the fact that at 16X, the target appeared smaller. In fact, when compared to the other scopes dialed up at 10-12X, the target appeared to be the same size. This probably enhanced FOV!
Obviously, there's a lot of subjective observation here, but it just did not magnify like the others at similar (?) settings.
The 30mm tube, Mil Dots, IR, and side focus make this an excellent value for the $. (IMHO)

ron

[wlleven]

Hi. A while back, I purchased a new Savage M12 SS 22-250. Gawd, it's beautiful!
I caught it as my LGS owner was putting it up on the wall. A bunch of guys looked at it, but I whipped out the old farm CC. This rifle will be used at my buddy's farm for predator control. The farm owner is not a gun guy. So, I was a little reluctant to buy a NF or USO scope for it, even though the owner can well afford anything. (He used to own 2 Zeiss Scanning Electron Microscopes!) So, I put one of my many spare scopes on it until I could see how it shot, etc. It is a Center Point 3-9X50mm. It's been on several rifles and has worked OK, but is certainly not a top of the line piece. Wasn't sure how much it would get used/abused.
I have seen many good things about Primary Arms products and although I had never heard of them, I did my research.
We purchased a 4-16X44mm (30 mm tube) model. Today, I brought 7 other spare scopes that fall into this price range.
I set up several colorful targets at 100 yards and had a couple of other guys look through them. There is also another fence line at 500 yards. Not scientific, I know, but the more eyes the better.......All the scopes have rings attached and all my rifles use rails and it's easy to swap them. These were all hand held, today. All scopes were first tested at 3X, then 9x and if possible at 16X, then at each scope's max power.Don't make fun of my collection, these are 'spares'... ha ha.... I didn't bother with the Barskas, NcStars, BSAs, etc.
The specimens were:

Sightmark 3-30X56mm (Yes, that is NOT a typo, 3-30 power, strange indeed) 30 mm tube
Tasco Mag IV 5-20X50mm 1" tube
Tasco 6-24X44mm 1" tube
Leapers 4-16X50 mm 1" tube
Center Point 3-9X50mm 1" tube (came off the Savage, as mentioned above)
Center Point 4-16X40mm 1" tube (wally World $70 special)
Weaver Kaspa 4-16x40mm 1" tube

First, I was surprised how good the Tascos performed. These are old but work....
These will be evaluated from worst to best:

8 th (Last place) = Weaver. Horrible flare and color reproduction, just awful, huge disappointment
7 th = CP 3x9X50 scope that came off the rifle
6 th = CP 4-16X40
5 th = Leapers 4-16X50
4 th = Tasco 6-24X44
3 rd = Tasco 5-20X50
2 nd = Sightmark 3-30X56mm (this is a HUGE scope!)
1st = (and the winner), Primary Arms 4-16X44.

The PA scope was bright, clear and had the best color reproduction. One thing that was commented on, was the fact that the far fence line at 500 yards was pretty clear without re-focusing. Eye relief was generous and not at all critical. Crisp all the way to the edges and no fish-eye. Nice field of view.
The only caveat that surfaced with the PA was the fact that at 16X, the target appeared smaller. In fact, when compared to the other scopes dialed up at 10-12X, the target appeared to be the same size. This probably enhanced FOV!
Obviously, there's a lot of subjective observation here, but it just did not magnify like the others at similar (?) settings.
The 30mm tube, Mil Dots, IR, and side focus make this an excellent value for the $. (IMHO)

ron

I bought this scope at the recomendation of one of the forum members here. I researched Primary Arms out and found many good things said about them......so I bought the scope.

It is the best scope that you can buy for $160.00 by far. You would probably need to spend 3 times as much to get the quality you get in this scope.

By the way, the finish is very tough and did not scratch even after slipping in my rings (I fixed that problem with double face tape).

Great scope for sure. I'm waiting on the 4x14 to come in, I will get two, one for my heavy H&S stocked .308 tactical rifle and one for my custom 6.5 Grendel that I'm building.


wll

[oneissuevoter]

Anyone using a FFP PA on a belted magnum?
How is it holding up?

I think my 7mm mag may need one of theses.

[6mmBR_Shooter]

Repeatability of the windage and elevation over extended use would be my biggest concern. Even if something passes the "box test" once, will it hold up over time?

That being said, I had one of their 4x ACOG knockoffs on my LAR-8 for a while, and it held a zero well and the clicks held up very well.