Rusty Odom

July 27, 2024

Review, Optics

Primary Arms SLx 1-6x24

Rusty Odom

July 27, 2024

Review, Optics

Primary Arms SLx 1-6x24 SFP ACSS Aurora Gen IV

In for review is something I think is the coolest thing since sliced bread, electric car windows and air conditioning. As you can guess we have an optic from Primary Arms (PA). This is their SLx 1-6x24 second focal plane scope. This is a Gen 4 version of their Low Power Variable Optic (LPVO). Primary Arms sent this to me and I have been sitting on it until I had just the perfect rifle to put it on. After some soul searching, I bought a Mossberg MVP Patrol rifle in .300 black out (BO). This scope is made for the .300 BO or 7.62x39 cartridges.

A little about the optic before we get into how it performed. It has their illuminated ACSS reticle. This optic was designed with the carbine user in mind. It has an integrated throw lever, clear glass, and a BDC reticle. It also has a 30mm tube, click values of 0.1 mil, and a generous eye relief of 4 inches. It runs off of a CR 2032 battery and the magnification is 1-6 power. If you run night vision it will work with that as well. It has 120 mils of adjustment for windage and elevation. The turrets are capped and low profile.

So mounting this optic is pretty straight forward, especially if using one of Primary Arms mounts. I adjusted the reticle to align with my cant and eye relief. The first thing I noticed was the clarity of the glass. The second was the ease of adjustment of the throw lever. Adjusting the brightness is easy and tactile. There are 11 settings of brightness and 2 are night vision. The field of view at 1x is 120 feet at 100 yards and at 6x is 20 feet.

Now on to the reticle, this is where things got interesting and fun. The optic comes with two manuals, the first is your basic setup and the second is how to use the reticle. You will notice that when you first look into the optic, there is an illuminated upside down V or chevron. The Aurora reticle is a BDC reticle for the .300 BO and has a ranging reticle out to 600 yards. Now I have no notion of trying to shoot my .300 BO out that far, but it is nice to be able to zoom in and range your target based on a 5’10” person. The stadia marks are easy to read and are clear at any magnification. If you read the manual, it will help you understand how the reticle works.

The reticle is based in 25 yards increments, assuming you dialed it in at 50 yards. It has a chart in the manual with all the common loads from most of the major ammo makers, both supersonic and subsonic. If you don't happen to have one of these particular loads, it is still pretty easy to get on target and paper. I dialed the PA 1-6 in at 50 yards. I ran a bunch of Ammo Inc 162 gr loads through the bolt gun and had a suppressor on the end of it. It was an absolute tack driver at 50 yards and the optic made it very easy to see the holes at that distance. At 100 yards picking up an 18” target was easy and you could definitely see the bullet impacts. The overall clarity was great. I went to subsonic rounds next. I used the chart to re-zero my optic to what the chart indicated, and it was spot on to within an inch or so out to 100 yards. I figure for a 300 blackout, that is pretty good shooting with subsonics. So if you use the chart in the manual, you will be close on target. This also depends on your barrel length and so on.

For the overall quality of the Primary Arms scope, and user ability, I have to say that this is probably one of the easiest and most natural scopes you can use. Now I did most of my shooting on 6 power and from a bench. I did shoot some at 1 power standing. I intend to do more this way because this is going to be my new hunting rifle here in Tennessee. The optic lends itself to be friendly close up and at hunting distances, especially for myself in a thicker wooded area. I also believe this optic would be great on a MSR. You can run it like a red dot or you can shoot for distance, if you so choose. With the right ammo, the 300 blackout is capable of 300 yard shots with this optic. With the ranging ability of the Primary Arms SLx 1-6 gen IV, it would be just fine for that purpose.

Firearms Insider Reviews - Key Points

Claim to Fame:

LPVO with a reticle specifically made for the 300 black out or 7.62x39 rifles

Target Market:

Those wanting a dedicated .300 blackout or 7.62x39 LPVO

FNBs (Features & Benefits of this product):

Fully Upgraded Optical System
Integrated Magnification Throw Lever
ACSS Aurora 7.62 Yard Reticle
Magnification: 1x – 6x (Min – Max)
Focal Plane: SFP
Objective Lens Diameter: 24mm
Exit Pupil: 10.6mm – 3.8mm
Eye Relief: 4 in.
Total Windage/Elevation Adjustment: 120 MOA
Field Of View @100 Yards: 120 ft. – 20 ft. (Low – High)
Illumination: Red, 11 Illumination Settings
Click Value: 0.1 MIL
Length w/o Lens Covers: 10.4 in.
Weight w/ Included Battery w/o Lens Covers: 17.9 oz.
Scope caps included

What other aesthetic options or finishes are available?

Various reticles

What others are saying?:

GREAT OPTIC FOR A REASONABLE PRICE

by Noah S.

Have a little over 2100 rounds on this optic between four different shooting sessions because I really wanted to give it a good test for the average shooter. The glass is very clear and crisp compared to most other optics of this price range. The reticle brightness settings give you a good range of options for different weather and daylight conditions. It’s ran right along side my ACOG also purchased from Primary Arms. Obviously I’m not betting my life on this optic that same way I would an ACOG, but if you need an optic that works and is affordable to the average shooter and is made by a company that stands behind its, work this is it. This isn’t a paid add and is my honest review for the short time I’ve had it.

GREAT VALUE

by Joe

Bought this to go pig hunting with a .300 AAC BLK. Worked like a champ. I dropped it on the ground and no loss of zero. Rugged scope for the price. Illumination works well. The reticle could be a bit larger but that is personal preference. Overall I am very pleased and can recommend it.

Link to other reviews:

Pew Pew Tactical

Price point:

MSRP = $339.99

Retail = Same, but PA runs sales sometimes

I need it now! Availability:

Primary Arms or Your Local PA Dealer

Our Rating:

Pros:

Quality made
Lifetime warranty
Easy of use
Clear glass
Great reticle

Cons:

None

Score: 9.00 Great

Chad Wallace

May 9, 2024

Review

Primary Arms GLx RS-15

Chad Wallace

May 9, 2024

Review

When it comes to mini reflex red dot sights, everyone seems to have one or more in their catalog. Primary Arms has them also. The difference is that Primary Arms has broken the “same old dot” mold by designing and using an innovative reticle called the ACSS Vulcan. They have put this reticle in their brand new GLx RS-15 mini reflex sight. I tested the GLx RS-15 on a shotgun and a pistol just to see how it worked.

For everyday purposes, the Primary Arms GLx RS-15 is a reflex red dot sight. That is only the beginning of the story. First, the RS-15 is in Primary Arms’ GLx line. The GLx line is Primary Arms’ mid-tier optics line. That means you get a higher class of technology and materials at a fair price. The RS-15 comes in at $359 dollars, which isn’t bad when you count how many features are in it. In this line you tend to get new and innovative reticles and sharper glass, leading to a crisper dot. It also has the ACSS Vulcan reticle. Which I will explain, at length, later. Some of the other features it has include: A top load battery, 7075 aluminum housing, and Autolive technology, just to name a few.

Camera is closer to optic, to give an almost complete view of the reticle

The GLx RS-15’s ACSS Vulcan reticle is an innovative design. For simple explanation, it is essentially a 3 MOA red dot. Then it has an outer ring around that dot. That outer ring is 250 MOA. So what happens is that when you hold the RS-15 at arms length, the outer ring is not seen if the dot is in the center of the window. If you move the sight up/down or left/right, the outer circle starts to come into the window's view. This allows the shooter to see which way the gun needs to move, so you can get back to having the dot centered. Take for instance you see a curved line in the right or left side of the window. Just move the muzzle of the firearm toward the direction of that curved line, and you should then see the aiming dot. Same with up or down. If the curved line is on top, move the muzzle up, if it is toward the bottom of the window, move the muzzle down. The ACSS Vulcan reticle is a great reticle to learn how to shoot red dots on pistols. Yes, it even helps out seasoned shooters like myself. After you use the Vulcan reticle for a while, and want to try just a normal dot sight picture, it has an option to turn off the outer ring so that it is just the 3 MOA dot. Just hold down the brightness down button for 3 seconds and it will cycle between the two modes. I’ve been really impressed with the ACSS Vulcan reticle.

Primary Arms’ Autolive function is also built into the GLx RS-15. However, it works a little differently than their normal Autolive version. After around 10 seconds of no movement, the RS-15 shuts off the 250 MOA ring and leaves just the 3 MOA dot. Then after around 4 minutes of no movement, it shuts down the dot reticle. Have no fears, just barely move the RS-15 and the full Vulcan reticle will come back on. This helps aid in longer battery life. Battery life is pretty good. Primary Arms states 25,000 plus hours on medium setting with just the dot, and around 5,000 hours with the Vulcan reticle. It may sound substantially less, but 5000 hours is still 200 days of continuous “on.” And with the Autolive, it will not be continually on for 200 days. I’m a big fan of Autolive, or any of the auto on/off systems.

Mounting the GLx RS-15 might lead to some hassles. The RS-15 uses a C-More mounting footprint. Trying to find an actual C-More footprint optics cut is not easy. Slides with these optics cuts are available, but not nearly as prevalent as a RMR footprint cut. However, If you have a slide cut for a Delta Point Pro (DPP), and it doesn’t have the recoil lug bosses built in, the RS-15 will mount right up. This is because the screw hole spacing is the same for a DPP or a C-More footprint. This mounting footprint is the GLX RS-15’s biggest flaw. First I mounted the RS-15 up to a shotgun, with the help of a Warne Red-dot Shotgun Rib Reflex Mount. On a side note, the Warne mount is fantastic. It mounts to the shotgun's rib, securely, and has options for just about any red dot footprint imaginable. I then proceeded to put it on a P320 with a Grey Ghost Precision (GGP) slide. I did this because the GGP slide is cut for a DPP and doesn't have any recoil bosses to make the RS-15 not bolt up. That is where it stays. Not because it didn’t work on the shotgun, but because I like it better on the pistol.

Besides the ACSS Vulcan reticle and Autolive functionality, the GLx RS-15 has some other great features. First up is the actual window size, which is 26x20mm’s. The window size is decently large and seemed easy for me to get on target with. Next is the RS-15’s top load CR2032 battery. Which also comes with a combo wrench to make removing the battery cover easy. The 7075 aluminum housing is stronger than comparable sights that use 6061 aluminum. Probably most notable, is that the RS-15 has 0.5 MOA click adjustments. Almost all mini reflex sights use a 1 MOA adjustment, and some do not have clicks. Lastly, the buttons on the right side control brightness. It has 13 brightness settings, 3 of which are night vision compatible. The top brightness settings are super bright.

The GLx RS-15 is one of the clearest red dots I have used. The clarity is just amazing. I say this because with my astigmatism, red dot’s are usually a little starred out for me, making them a little blurry. Not the RS-15. I don’t know what Primary Arms did to get this red dot so clear, but I like it. Maybe it is the very slightly tinted blue lens. Either way, it works. In fact, it is the first time, in a while, that I can turn the brightness all the way up and not have the dot look distorted.

I mentioned running the GLx RS-15 on a shotgun. I wanted to try out a non conventional use for it. I really liked shooting trap with the RS-15. However, the 250 MOA outer ring didn’t really do anything for the shotgun. Something about looking down a long gun barrel that tends to line up the sight. I am not sure if it helped me shoot trap better, but I see how having something like the RS-15 on a field shotgun could be immensely useful. The dot just made aiming at a moving target easier.

After the shotgun try out, I proceeded to go conventional. Using the GLx RS-15 on a handgun is where it really shines. This is where the ACSS Vulcan reticle can be used to its full potential. I ran some drills with the RS-15 to test it out. I am a little faster, shot to shot, under recoil thanks to the Vulcan reticle. One because it is so clear, and the other because the reticle just helps you find the dot faster. This is definitely a more useful sight on a handgun.

If you are looking into a red dot that can help you shoot better, the Primary Arms GLx RS-15 might be a good option. Partly due to its innovative ACSS Vulcan reticle. For new red dot shooters, it helps you find the dot and get used to it. For seasoned shooters, it helps you to find the dot faster. The GLx RS-15 even works for non-conventional uses like a shotgun. I have a hard time deciding what would be my favorite feature of the RS-15. Is it the Vulcan reticle, or the sights' clarity? Go check out the Primary Arms GLx RS-15 and see for yourself.