^{Continued from Part 2. Primary Arms PLxC LPVO shown on a different carbine mounted on a Primary Arms GLx 30mm 1.5″ mount.}

My Critiques Of the Primary Arms PLxC LPVO     

Overall, I have a good impression of the Primary Arms PLxC, and I really like its build quality and attention to detail. The scope’s field of view at low power is quite generous, and the fact that Primary Arms Optics was able to compress the functionality of a larger full-size 34mm LPVO into a shorter and thinner 30mm body is quite impressive in of itself.

I like the quality of its optical glass and the way it transmits light. Chromatic aberration was minimal and not out of line with what I’ve seen with other—even more expensive—scopes. I also suspect that its “tight” eyebox and having to adjust the focus differently for shots with full magnification, as opposed to none, are part of the compromise of fitting all that glass into such a small package.

Twisting a focus ring and working on indexing the rifle and stock relative to the face more efficiently are not the end of the world. On top of that, the spinning magnification adjustment has a solid, quality feel to it.

In summary, the PLxC LPVO gets a solid thumbs up with regard to its physical qualities.  

The Chevron

I really appreciate the effort and thought behind the ACSS Griffin Mil M8 reticle, which does its best to take advantage of the best attributes an LPVO brings to the table. However, I’m personally not crazy about the floating chevron used as the central aiming point. After trying out the chevron with an open mind, I found it wasn’t for me.

The central aiming chevron is approximately 1 mil tall and 2 mils wide while its body is roughly ½ mil thick. This doesn’t matter much when shooting at large targets at shorter distances with the magnification on its lowest settings. But I find that the chevron is a compromise for finer precision aiming, especially with its ½ mil thickness.

At ½ mil thick, 1 mil tall and 2 mils tall, I think the ACSS Griffin’s chevron is too chunky and obstructs the target more than I’d like it to. For example, using my carbine with a 100-yard zero and M193 ammunition, I took it to the Cornerstone LPVO class. I know that my come-up for 200 yards is around 0.31. Yet, while shooting off a barricade with a bag during that course, I routinely missed more shots at the 200-yard 8-inch steel gongs than I care to admit.

I kept “losing” the steel target within the ½ mil maw of the chevron without having a clear reference point. I’m of the opinion that the central aiming point on an optic like the PLxC should be no larger than 0.20 mil. Anything bigger runs the risk of obscuring specific points on a target in spite of the fact that LPVOs aren’t sniper scopes.

The Horseshoe Ring And Illumination

I think the horseshoe ring in the ACSS Griffin Mil M8 reticle is an element that shooters will either love or hate. Factors would depend on the shooter’s needs and style of shooting, along with whatever they’re trying to accomplish with the PLxC.

In a twist of irony, I thought I would end up disliking how thick the horseshoe ring is on 8x. However, after seeing for myself how handy it could be when shooting Steel Challenge targets quickly on 1x, and also taking some shots at steel targets placed further back, I wouldn’t hesitate to bring this optic to a 2-gun or 3-gun style match.

It is true that due to the first focal plane design of this PLxC variant, the horseshoe becomes quite prominent at full magnification. Measuring horizontally from outer edge to edge, the horseshoe ring is 10 mils wide. I estimated the thickness of its “line” to be approximately 0.75 mils wide.

There’s no doubt that some shooters will find the thicker line, along with its 10 mil wide span, to feel “busy” and with the potential to block or crowd out the field of view downrange. Ditto for the wind-shaped auto-ranging stadia.

The Horseshoe Ring is a Good Fit

After some internal deliberation, I finally decided on the horseshoe ring and its place in the ACSS Griffin Mil M8 reticle. It’s a good fit, especially in the context of this optic.

I’ll elaborate: the illumination on the highest setting is visible in daylight but it’s not daylight bright. And the lack of nuclear cherry-red brightness is probably the most common complaint I’ve seen about the Primary Arms PLxC.

Truthfully, the internal components necessary to illuminate a first focal plane reticle to those extremely bright levels are so much more expensive. My educated guess is that if Primary Arms had gone that route, chances are that the PLxC would actually be in a different and more expensive price bracket.

Michael Branson from Gideon Optics (whose resume includes Primary Arms, too) goes into some detail about this in the podcast he recorded with our friends at Big Tex Ordnance. Therefore, I think the placement of the horseshoe ring in such a manner that makes it clearly useful and visible at 1x helps bolster the daylight visible illumination while still remaining useful.

While the horseshoe’s 0.75 mil thick ring can potentially block the field of view downrange when fully magnified, in my experiences shooting past 275 yards, it wasn’t a concern for me.

With regards to the illumination issue, this could either make or break the optic, depending on the end-user and their specific needs. In my case, as a “regular guy” using the range during the weekends, the occasional carbine class, or at a match, the lack of daylight bright illumination isn’t a deal breaker.

I’m sure a patrol or SWAT officer employing an LPVO on his duty carbine might have different requirements and considerations as far as the brightness level and busy-ness of the optic’s reticle are concerned.

The Takeaway

Primary Arms Optics has staked its reputation on offering products that work quite well for the money—the “value proposition” as it goes. However, over the past few years, Primary Arms has also been ramping up its product development among its higher-end offerings, and this new crop of compact LPVOs is part of these efforts.

Even though one may not agree 100% with the execution of the PLxC LPVO, it’s evident that Primary Arms put a lot of thought into the design and development of the optic. Physically, it’s well-made and has a great size and weight, clear glass, and a fairly “strong” magnification level.

I think reticle design and implementation ought to be its own philosophical field or even art form. Again, I appreciate the ingenuity, thought, and effort put into the ACSS Griffin Mil M8 reticle. But perhaps the reticle is trying to be a “jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none.” I think paring down the chevron or using a different type of central aiming point would have gone a long way.

I’m not defending the lack of brightness on the first focal plane PLxC, but this most likely entailed keeping costs competitive, as I explained above. And keeping that in mind, I don’t think it takes away any of the other wonderful qualities exhibited by the PLxC.

It’s also worth mentioning that at the beginning of summer 2024, Primary Arms also launched a second focal plane version of the PLxC LPVO—one that uses the ACSS Nova Fiber Wire reticle and has that cherry-red daylight bright illumination.

Read Part 1 here…

Read Part 2 here…

Continued from Part 1

ACSS Griffin Mil M8 Reticle 

At 1x Zoom

The Primary Arms Optics ACSS Griffin Mil reticle is probably best described as a jack-of-all-trades multi-purpose reticle. And Because the PLxC is a first focal plane scope, the reticle will shrink or grow depending on the level of zoom adjustment. This means that shooters will naturally perceive and see the reticle differently at 1x magnification than they would at the full 8x magnification.

On its lowest setting, the ACSS Griffin reticle looks nearly like a traditional duplex crosshair, with very thick outer stadia lines that taper and then disappear leaving only a floating horseshoe-ring with a centrally placed aiming chevron. 

At 8x Zoom

On the flip side, when adjusted to higher levels of magnification, the thick duplex crosshair lines disappear, and both the horseshoe ring and aiming chevron are greatly expanded. In fact, this chevron is the nucleus of the ACSS Griffin reticle. It measures 2-mils wide and floats over a milliradian-based grid while being enveloped by that outer “CQB” horseshoe ring. 

At 1-mil beneath the aiming tip of the chevron, the ACSS Griffin has a vertical stadia line that bisects a grid of points spaced out 1-mil apart. This vertical stadia line itself has its own markings spaced at ½ mil and 1-mil intervals that extend all the way down to 15 mils.

Distance Ranging with the ACSS Griffin Reticle

The ACSS Griffin reticle features some quick-and-dirty distance-ranging tricks. For example, at 300 meters, the 19-inch width of an IPSC/USPSA paper target will fit flush with the central aiming chevron. At 400 meters, the same common 19-inch wide target fits flush against the slightly wider horizontal line found 2 mils below, on the vertical stadia line.

Furthermore, the design team at Primary Arms Optics also incorporated a pair of symmetrical “ranging wings” to the left or right of the principal horseshoe. These lines are also vertical and can be used to range 170 cm tall targets from 300 to 600 meters. In essence, with its thick horseshoe ring, a regulated central vertical stadia line, the grid of 1×1-mil spaced dots, and these “ranging wings,” it’s evident that the ACSS Griffin Mil M8 reticle was created to fully take advantage of the versatility of a riflescope with this level of variable magnification.

Primary Arms even ships a separate booklet focusing on only this reticle with useful information and excellent diagrams. I briefly touched on this in Part 1, but PA even ships an exposed elevation turret knob for those who would like to shoot and dial as if they were using a traditional riflescope. I don’t think it’s necessary on any LPVO but I appreciate the thought and detail once again.

Shooting Experiences With the Primary Arms PLxC 1-8 LPVO 

At the time of this writing, I’ve fired a few hundred rounds of 5.56 NATO ammunition along with scores of .22 LR cartridges with the aid of this LPVO. I can’t comment on what it’s like to jump out of a helicopter with the PLxC mounted on a SOPMOD Block II carbine, but its quality construction suggests that it would hold up just fine….with “regular-guy” use at the range, classes or matches anyway. This is all I can personally speak for anyway. 

At 1x Zoom 

The product page on the Primary Arms website for the PLxC mentions the scope’s generous field of view when cranked down to 1x. I think it checks out. With an eye box that measures approximately 3.5 inches, looking through the PLxC at its lowest magnification setting feels similar to looking through the Vortex Razor LPVO series. At this magnification, one perceives the edge of the scope to be extremely thin and the eye mostly sees a generous field of view. I included a picture of the Vortex on the right to show what I’m talking about.

I’ve noticed that regardless of scope mount height, when using both eyes open, the shooter’s eyes have to sit squarely with the PLxC’s eyebox for a crisp and clear picture. Otherwise, one might find some slight scope shadow. I’ve found that the best way to prevent this is by staying focused on the target and simply bringing up the carbine to one’s face. 

Running the Primary Arms PLxC

In addition to dry-fire around the house or the backyard, I’ve been taking this LPVO mounted to a Smith & Wesson M&P 15-22 (pictured in Part 1) to a Steel Challenge match and participated with it under the “rimfire rifle open” division.

Steel Challenge is all about shooting bigger, close-distance targets as quickly as possible. It was a good exercise to put this optic through. These are summer matches held in the evening, with the sun shifting over the horizon at twilight. With the uneven lighting I find that “duplex-esque” outer stadia lines do help to ensure that my reticle is properly aligned with the steel plates from the match.

In bright daylight, the ACSS Griffin’s horseshoe abets the shooter by granting them a good-sized “quick” targeting ring. This is why many shooters opt for these—especially on low-zoom magnified optics like LPVOs or prismatic sights—when shooting targets like IPSC/USPSA paper targets or A/C-zone steel plates.

I can definitely understand why the appeal is there, and in the case of Steel Challenge—well, a red dot is always going to be faster. However, I was able to hold my own using this LPVO, too.  

Zoomed In At 8x 

In the world of shooting, everything is about trade-offs and compromises, and shooting LPVOs adjusted to their higher magnifications is no exception. In short, LPVOs don’t mirror the exact functionality that standard riflescopes have. Instead, LPVOs are stuck with fixed parallax settings and tighter-than-normal eyeboxes at full magnification, among other things.

LPVOs aren’t precision riflescopes, but they certainly work better than red dots and magnifiers, especially on general-purpose carbines. This is why many others, including myself, consider LPVOs worth the hassle.

Proving Grounds

I’m extremely glad that in the previously mentioned Cornerstone Performance LPVO course, we students had ample chances to shoot at different size targets from barricades at distances of 275 yards plus. These are very healthy distances for general-purpose 5.56mm carbines shooting A/C-zone-sized targets. This afforded me the opportunity to spend some time shooting with the PLxC’s reticle at full magnification, mostly off bag and barricade.

One of the first things I had to do was readjust the diopter’s prescription and twist the focus ring to a different setting than how I had adjusted it for the best 1x view. While I haven’t reviewed every currently available LPVO ever made, this is the first scope that I’ve used extensively that needed its focus ring set differently at low and high magnifications for the clearest picture.

My educated guess is that it may have something to do with the manner in which the lenses are stacked inside the optic with respect to both the size and length of the optic. After adjusting the focus ring for the right prescription, I didn’t have too much trouble shooting at 8x magnification with a proper index off the carbine stock.

The Magpul STR (shown on the rifle below) is a heavy but comfortable stock. Its sloped surface allowed me to get comfortable while fully zoomed in. From a physical standpoint, I have no real complaints about this LPVO. However, I do have some critiques of the reticle, which I’ll cover in Part 3.  

Review to be continued in Part 3…

Read Part 1 here…