I'm looking for an optic with some magnification. I would like to shoot around the 3-400 yard range. 

I have been looking at magnified prisms but last prism I bought had terrible eye relief. It almost caused me to cross my eyes while looking through it. 

I mainly use red dots and don't currently have anything magnified. 

I would like to keep the optic under or around 600. I think a 3x magnified would get me to the range I want to shoot but I'm not opposed to a good lpvo. 

I would like a one and done, but I may co witness with an offset red dot if I have to. 

A wise man on here once told me that magnification doesn’t help you shoot better, it helps you ID your target better. 
 

He also told me that a red dot will do you just fine out to those ranges as long as you learn your holdovers. 
 

He ain’t wrong. Just saying. 

10 minutes ago, Displaced Texan said:

A wise man on here once told me that magnification doesn’t help you shoot better, it helps you ID your target better. 
 

He also told me that a red dot will do you just fine out to those ranges as long as you learn your holdovers. 
 

He ain’t wrong. Just saying. 

I don't disagree with this, I just wouldn't mind being able to see better lol. 

Understood. 
 

My offer still stands if you want to borrow an ACOG to try it out. 

51 minutes ago, Displaced Texan said:

A wise man on here once told me that magnification doesn’t help you shoot better, it helps you ID your target better. 
 

He also told me that a red dot will do you just fine out to those ranges as long as you learn your holdovers. 
 

He ain’t wrong. Just saying. 

Lets say you have a 2moa dot. at 400 yards that limits you to an 8 inch target. That is if your dot gets no bloom. An etched reticle is going to be easier to get the hit with. As a dude with way less than perfect vision, I can tell you that with a LPVO hits on 8" targets at 300 are not terribly hard, and were really slow and difficult with a 3moa dot. I'll also say I've honestly gotten better with an LPVO as being able to see what your technique is doing in terms of relative motion/etc. between the gun and target is informative and you just can't see it with a dot unless you have got REALLY good vision. Like 20/15 or better.  

 

1 hour ago, raz-0 said:

Lets say you have a 2moa dot. at 400 yards that limits you to an 8 inch target. That is if your dot gets no bloom. An etched reticle is going to be easier to get the hit with. As a dude with way less than perfect vision, I can tell you that with a LPVO hits on 8" targets at 300 are not terribly hard, and were really slow and difficult with a 3moa dot. I'll also say I've honestly gotten better with an LPVO as being able to see what your technique is doing in terms of relative motion/etc. between the gun and target is informative and you just can't see it with a dot unless you have got REALLY good vision. Like 20/15 or better.  

 

My vision isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination. However, I can make consistent COM hits in a man sized target at 400yds. 
Not precision shooting mind you, but solid hits. It’s not terribly difficult. 
 

Of course I do better with magnification….the vast majority of us will. I have optics (ACOG/VCOG) for that purpose too. 

4 minutes ago, Displaced Texan said:

My vision isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination. However, I can make consistent hits in a man sized target at 400yds. 
Not precision shooting mind you, but solid hits. It’s not terribly difficult. 
 

Of course I do better with magnification….the vast majority of us will. I have optics (ACOG/VCOG) for that purpose too. 

And you will note I didn’t mention man sized targets. I went with a 2moa threshold which shows up in a number of contexts as a target threshold. 

I have a 1-8 Vortex strike eagle mounted on my AR and like it, being able to dial in the focus was a tremendous help for me, the only down side is their weight. On my AK I have the Primary arms 3x micro prism and love it, the 3x is just enough to stretch the shots, I would feel comfortable with the MP at 300-400 yards. Eye relief doesn’t seem to be an issue with either, if I was to do it again I would go with the 1-6 strike eagle, when I bring the AR to NC and shoot on my buddies property we set up at 300 yards and I set the LPVO at 4x and we shoot at 10-8-6 inch plates. The MP will be with me on the next trip, excited to give that a run at 300 yards. You’re welcome to try both if you like. 

5 minutes ago, Redeye65 said:

I have a 1-8 Vortex strike eagle mounted on my AR and like it, being able to dial in the focus was a tremendous help for me, the only down side is their weight. On my AK I have the Primary arms 3x micro prism and love it, the 3x is just enough to stretch the shots, I would feel comfortable with the MP at 300-400 yards. Eye relief doesn’t seem to be an issue with either, if I was to do it again I would go with the 1-6 strike eagle, when I bring the AR to NC and shoot on my buddies property we set up at 300 yards and I set the LPVO at 4x and we shoot at 10-8-6 inch plates. The MP will be with me on the next trip, excited to give that a run at 300 yards. You’re welcome to try both if you like. 

How fast can you find the sight picture on the prism? I feel like that's more what I'm looking for. The faster the sight picture the better.  I really feel like I'm between that and an acog. If I do an lpvo, I'll probably throw on an offset red dot. 

The MP with the horseshoe and chevron is very quick to acquire, as is the LPVO. For me, the MP and LPVO are quicker and easier to acquire simply because there is more there than just a dot.

To be honest, I’m thinking of putting the MP on the AR and shedding the LPVO weight, it is that noticeable, the etched MP I can acquire easily and don’t feel the need for BUIS if the battery fails, it also has the shake awake feature.

Bumping for more opinions since I'm not sold one way or the other yet!

I like LPVO. Not a fan of magnifiers behind a red dot, or fixed mag optics on ARs.

I had an Aimpoint 3x magnifier in a flip to side mount, I ditched it after a year of use.

I had a 4x Trijicon ACOG - traded it for a Trijicon SRS red dot sight.

I started with a 1-6 Strike Eagle and found I liked the concept, but not that specific optic.

I now have three LPVO:
• Two Steiner P4Xi 1-4 - each on an AR
• One Trijicon Accupower 1-4 on a Ruger American 5.56 boltgun

I got each of then on sale and each cost me under $400 without a mount (expect to pay another $100-$200 for a quality mount).

If you break out of the $300-$400 optic range (base price, not sale price), you get a better optic for less weight.

I found the budget LPVO are nice to dip your toes  into the category as you get a lot of value for little cost. It lets you experiment a bit and see what you like. Then, if you find yourself seeing them as a benefit, research what options you want and look for an upgrade. You will get better glass, better eye relief, better focus range, and lighter overall weight, with the higher quality options.

I just realized I never clarified the gun it'll be on. I purchased the henry long ranger in 5.56. I was thinking i would use it for longer range shooting since I don't have anything that has a scope (red dots on all my ars). 

I'd like to keep it in the $6-900 range at most. Eye relief and durability are probably towards the top of my list. 

4 minutes ago, Cheflife15 said:

I just realized I never clarified the gun it'll be on. I purchased the henry long ranger in 5.56. I was thinking i would use it for longer range shooting since I don't have anything that has a scope (red dots on all my ars). 

I'd like to keep it in the $6-900 range at most. Eye relief and durability are probably towards the top of my list. 

You just answered your own question, LPVO..

The MP is going to be a red dot with magnification.

Does it need to be an LPVO? So many nice scopes out there that will work just fine.

7 minutes ago, Redeye65 said:

You just answered your own question, LPVO..

The MP is going to be a red dot with magnification.

Does it need to be an LPVO? So many nice scopes out there that will work just fine.

I'm ignorant towards scopes. I like the idea of being able to use it at all distances but mainly longer. 

I think High Exposure really gave the best advise, figure out what you want out of the optic, what you want it to do and go from there.

I only mount the LPVO when I’m in NC and shooting out at 300 yards, when it’s home and for self defense it’s my Holosun green dot mounted.

My 30-30 lever has a Leopold 1.5-4x mounted on it and that would suit you well also, but that is a dedicated deer rifle, which didn’t need high magnification.

Mission drives the gear. What are you doing with the rifle? 
 

I have ARs with ACOGS and red dots, depending on what I’m doing. 
My hog rifle is a .308 AR with a LVPO.

Deer rifle, bolt action .270 Weatherby with a 3-9x. I’ve taken deer out to 600 yards with that. 

 

I use the rifle/optic combo that best matches what I’m doing. 

What did you go with?

3 hours ago, Redeye65 said:

What did you go with?

I actually went with a trijicon 2.5x10 accupoint. 

I purchased 3 different lpvo and picked the one I could see best through. I'm actually blown away at the eye relief on it. I bring the rifle up and immediately find my sight picture. 

It's a touch heavy but it's the only thing going on this particular gun. 

 

The Trijicon Accupoint is a great choice. 
 

Then again, I’m kind of Trijicon’s whore..

1 hour ago, Cheflife15 said:

I actually went with a trijicon 2.5x10 accupoint. 

I purchased 3 different lpvo and picked the one I could see best through. I'm actually blown away at the eye relief on it. I bring the rifle up and immediately find my sight picture. 

It's a touch heavy but it's the only thing going on this particular gun. 

 

Good choice. I love my Trij Accupower 1-4. Great scope for the $. Especially when it’s on sale.

1 hour ago, Cheflife15 said:

I actually went with a trijicon 2.5x10 accupoint. 

I purchased 3 different lpvo and picked the one I could see best through. I'm actually blown away at the eye relief on it. I bring the rifle up and immediately find my sight picture. 

It's a touch heavy but it's the only thing going on this particular gun. 

 

2.5-10x56 scope?  That's not a LPVO technically...    1-4x24 or 1-6x24 are the LPVO's

3 minutes ago, Krdshrk said:

2.5-10x56 scope?  That's not a LPVO technically...    1-4x24 or 1-6x24 are the LPVO's

Agh interesting. I figured scopes were fixed magnification.

11 minutes ago, Cheflife15 said:

Agh interesting. I figured scopes were fixed magnification.

Prism optics are fixed mag.  LPVO = Low Power Variable Optic.  Scope is just short for Telescopic sight - and they can be varying magnification.  

Would it matter if I put this on a different rifle of a different caliber? It doesn't seem to be just for a 5.56 rifle. I know some reticle have markings that will handle bullet drop and windage based on caliber but I don't see anything saying that's the case here. 

https://www.trijicon.com/products/details/tr22-2g

With scopes like this, do you have to just generally learn the holds from shooting it a million times since there are no markings?

The link you posted brings you to a mil dot scope, is that the reticle you have?

This may help explain it a bit.

 

48 minutes ago, Cheflife15 said:

Would it matter if I put this on a different rifle of a different caliber? It doesn't seem to be just for a 5.56 rifle. I know some reticle have markings that will handle bullet drop and windage based on caliber but I don't see anything saying that's the case here. 

https://www.trijicon.com/products/details/tr22-2g

With scopes like this, do you have to just generally learn the holds from shooting it a million times since there are no markings?

The dots are markings for drop and windage.

Perfect. I didn't know if these were caliber specific. I feel like I've seen acogs that were specifically 5.56.

That video will clear things up more. Thank you

First - not a LVPO. That’s a scope.

Second - That optic is SFP. An integral BDC reticle wouldn’t be ideal across that range of magnification as the reticle stays the same size regardless of the magnification. You’ll have to do math in whenever you change magnification in order to fully use the BDC.

21 minutes ago, Cheflife15 said:

Perfect. I didn't know if these were caliber specific. I feel like I've seen acogs that were specifically 5.56.

That video will clear things up more. Thank you

Yes. BDC reticle dare caliber specific. Some are even barrel length, projectile, and velocity specific.