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- Jul 29, 2020
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TLDR: I went with the US Optics TS12 for its affordability and compactness while offering good features and OK glass.
I had a .22 in need of a scope and my criteria were:
I identified three contenders, bought them all, tried them out, and picked one. The following is the summary
Primary arms at 10x at 150 yards. License plate easily readable
Athlon at 12x at 150 yards. License plate easily readable. You can see the amount of CA just in the picture, and it pops more when shooting at bright white paper.
US Optics at 12x at 150 yards. License plate easily readable (not the specific one shown in the image due to the slant). You can see the distorted "fish eyeing" at the edges of the image. Note how thin the stadia are even at max power.
For reference, the US Optics next to the Athlon. USO is really compact, which I came to appreciate
I ended up keeping the US Optics 3-12 because of its light weight, compactness, and affordability. For my use on a .22, it performs just what I need it to. The parallax is set up to focus close. The parallax only goes to 200 yards before it moves to "infinity".
It does have mounting "challenges" because of how short it is., especially on a T1X if you want a direct mount. Sportsmatch didn't offer anything that would work. I ended up finding a single-piece $20 mount on amazon that moved it back far enough for comfortable eye relief
The other two optics were not bad by any means. I like them both in their own way, just not what I need for a .22
I really wish Primary Arms offered normal MIL reticles
Hope this helps any that are interested in these MPVO's and especially any looking for a dialing 22lr optic
I had a .22 in need of a scope and my criteria were:
- ~2-10x magnification range
- FFP Mil reticle
- Exposed and/or locking Mil turrets
- Not over $1k
- Parallax adjustment to 10 yards or closer
- Healthy amount of elevation travel for those elr gophers
I identified three contenders, bought them all, tried them out, and picked one. The following is the summary
| Primary Arms GLx 2.5-10x | Athlon Helos BTR 2-12x | US Optics TS12 3-12x | |
| Weight | 22.5oz | 25oz | 18oz |
| Price | $500 - $600 street price | $400 street price | $350 street price |
| Elevation adjustment | 37 MIL adjustment | 32 MIL adjustment | 30 Mil Adjustment |
| Illumination? | Yes | Yes, entire tree lights up | No |
| Glass quality | ABSOLUTE best image of the three options. Not even close. Excellent eyebox. Perfectly usable at all mag ranges. | 2nd best glass. CA was really bad on this at 12x. Glass is decent under 10x | 3rd best glass, but not really far behind the Athlon at all. CA is better, eyebox is a little tighter, the image fisheyes badly at 12x. Glass is decent under 10x |
| Manufacuring origin | Phillipines | China | China |
| Turrets | Turrets button-lock at zero. My favorite | Super tactile. Push-pull lock | Mushy turrets (who cares). Push-pull lock |
| Reticle | Hated the reticle. Chevron is really thick. Chevrons in general don't do it for me. Worst thing about the scope for me, and ultimately why I didn't go with it. Put standard stadia in it and I'd love it for a even my hunting rifle. | The reticle was OK, but the center dot is 0.3MIL diameter. That's over 1 MOA, and the shear size of it was annoying when aiming at small targets. That, in addition to the size/weight was why I didn't go with this one. | Reticle is extremely thin at low power. I wish I had bought the SFP version of this scope for that reason, but it's not a big enough deal for me to care |
| Size | 12.5" Average | 11.8" Average | 9.6" TINY |
Primary arms at 10x at 150 yards. License plate easily readable
Athlon at 12x at 150 yards. License plate easily readable. You can see the amount of CA just in the picture, and it pops more when shooting at bright white paper.
US Optics at 12x at 150 yards. License plate easily readable (not the specific one shown in the image due to the slant). You can see the distorted "fish eyeing" at the edges of the image. Note how thin the stadia are even at max power.
For reference, the US Optics next to the Athlon. USO is really compact, which I came to appreciate
I ended up keeping the US Optics 3-12 because of its light weight, compactness, and affordability. For my use on a .22, it performs just what I need it to. The parallax is set up to focus close. The parallax only goes to 200 yards before it moves to "infinity".
It does have mounting "challenges" because of how short it is., especially on a T1X if you want a direct mount. Sportsmatch didn't offer anything that would work. I ended up finding a single-piece $20 mount on amazon that moved it back far enough for comfortable eye relief
The other two optics were not bad by any means. I like them both in their own way, just not what I need for a .22
I really wish Primary Arms offered normal MIL reticles
Hope this helps any that are interested in these MPVO's and especially any looking for a dialing 22lr optic
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