Review - Primary Arms Advanced Micro Red Dot

[Naytwan]

This is more of an overview than a full review. I will be taking the optic out and doing some shooting and hopefully a carbine class in the beginning of the year.

First the box contents.



They included a fair amount of stuff needed to start with including some thread locker.

The optic itself seems about the same size as the older red dot but looks like it has a bigger opening in the front. Glass also looks less blue than the original. Note the cheap mount seems legit but may be a tad tall. It's on the older model red dot.













I really wanna see if the 50K battery life is legit. I have had it on since I opened the box. I set it to about 2 clicks blow where it came from the factory. That seemed about right for indoor/home defense use. I’m hoping to get to the range tomorrow and zero it. Will report back once I get a few rounds threw it. So far I'm liking it.

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[DutyUse]

One issue I have with my last gen is it washes out really bad in bright sun. Have you got to shoot this one outdoors yet?

Thanks for the review. Keep us posted.

[KevinBLC]

Thanks for the quick overview. This one is definitely on the "to-buy" list for sure.

[voodoo_man]

sweet review!

[FortTom]

It appears that the emitter (blob in lower right at approx. 5 O' clock) is still apparent. I had read in a review that many found this annoying, and it was supposed to have been reconfigured so it's not in ones field of view. Maybe that is the way you took the photo? Is it still apparent when looking at it from the perspective of being mounted on a rifle? That would be a deal breaker for me. I was seriously considering one of these, over another H1, but now I'm not so sure. So, do you still see it when looking through it in a shooting position?

Thanks,

FT

[GOST]

FT the emitter on the new ones is hardly noticeable, far from the glob in the previous versions. Did not realize that the front lense was larger. Thanks for the great review.

[Naytwan]

One issue I have with my last gen is it washes out really bad in bright sun. Have you got to shoot this one outdoors yet?

Thanks for the review. Keep us posted.

I have not. Hopefully I can get it out this weekend outdoors.

[Naytwan]

It appears that the emitter (blob in lower right at approx. 5 O' clock) is still apparent. I had read in a review that many found this annoying, and it was supposed to have been reconfigured so it's not in ones field of view. Maybe that is the way you took the photo? Is it still apparent when looking at it from the perspective of being mounted on a rifle? That would be a deal breaker for me. I was seriously considering one of these, over another H1, but now I'm not so sure. So, do you still see it when looking through it in a shooting position?

Thanks,

FT

You can barely see it. Its much smaller than the older model. The reason it looks big in the photo above is due to the angle it was taken at.

[FortTom]

You can barely see it. Its much smaller than the older model. The reason it looks big in the photo above is due to the angle it was taken at.

Thanks Naytwan. The older one was actually distracting to me, and that was going to be a deal breaker for me. I'm looking to buy another H1, but considering a PA, or a Vortex SPARC II. Don't know anyone that has either, except the older model PA, nor does anyone around here have one in stock that I could "play" with for a few minutes. The H1 (I own one) is a proven entity while the PA and the Vortex, I'll have to rely on someone who has one. Be sure to let us know how you like your PA, when you get a chance to get it to the range. Your review looks promising so far, but I'd like to hear the rest of it.

Thanks,

FT

[Naytwan]

I took this photo as close to the same angles as possible. You can really see the difference in the emitter size. Still running for over 24 hours now BTW.

[FortTom]

WOW!! Naytwan... that is a major difference!! Thanks for taking and posting these pics. Primary arms really did address that issue. Old version looks like it's got a wad of chewing tobacco in it

That was really my only issue I had with it, and now it looks like a non-issue.


Thanks,

FT

Still running after 24hrs. ? Only 49,976 hours until that test is over...

[Naytwan]

I finally got a chance o take it to the range. Just indoors at 25 yards but I needed to get a 50 yard zero. I still need to go to 50 and confirm but its on now. One thing I noticed is the smaller opening and my 38 year old laser corrected eyes agree with it. The dot didn't bloom as much as on my aimpoint pro. Oh and the site has been on since the day it arrived and its still running fine. Hopefully in a couple weeks I will be able to take it out in the daylight and see how the dot looks in bright sun. I have taken it out doors but its a different ball game mounted to a rifle and trying to pick up a dot against a target.

[FortTom]

I finally got a chance o take it to the range. Just indoors at 25 yards but I needed to get a 50 yard zero. I still need to go to 50 and confirm but its on now. One thing I noticed is the smaller opening and my 38 year old laser corrected eyes agree with it. The dot didn't bloom as much as on my aimpoint pro. Oh and the site has been on since the day it arrived and its still running fine. Hopefully in a couple weeks I will be able to take it out in the daylight and see how the dot looks in bright sun. I have taken it out doors but its a different ball game mounted to a rifle and trying to pick up a dot against a target.

Maybe you can put a dot on the neighbors cat? Seriosly, keep us posted, been watching this and waiting for your conclusions.

FT

[MoxyDave]

I had the older model out last weekend on my Sig 522. On the highest setting with fresh batteries, the dot was visible at High Noon in the bright Colorado sun, but it was easily lost.

My Aimpoint Micro has a much brighter dot.

For the price Primary Arms makes a solid red dot and this new one looks even better. Great sight for a plinker/range toy but I would not want to use one on a duty gun. Battery life and dot brightness are far below the Aimpoint Micro.

Also I tend to accidentally leave it on after every range trip, killing the battery by the next time I take it out. I'm used to the Micro which I just leave on all the time, seems to last forever.

[Naytwan]

I had the older model out last weekend on my Sig 522. On the highest setting with fresh batteries, the dot was visible at High Noon in the bright Colorado sun, but it was easily lost.

My Aimpoint Micro has a much brighter dot.

For the price Primary Arms makes a solid red dot and this new one looks even better. Great sight for a plinker/range toy but I would not want to use one on a duty gun. Battery life and dot brightness are far below the Aimpoint Micro.

Also I tend to accidentally leave it on after every range trip, killing the battery by the next time I take it out. I'm used to the Micro which I just leave on all the time, seems to last forever.

That's the beauty of the new dot. Its supposed to have 50K hour battery life. Its been on for 2 weeks now.