I have a love and hate relationship with Prism Scopes. I love them because I have an astigmatism and red dots look like blooming cloverleafs to my eyes – Prism Scopes are crisp for me and easy to identify when putting my sights downrange. I hate them because eye relief on early generation Prism Scopes often had unforgiving eye relief and resulted in disorienting follow-up shots.
That’s why I was excited to get my hands on one of the latest Prism Scopes from Primary Arms at their Range Day 2021 event this week. Primary Arms has cemented their place as a leader in developing innovative optics at an accessible price point and the new GLx 2x Prism with their ACSS Gemini Reticle only continues on this path.
Designed for ever-popular 9MM pistol caliber carbines, the ACSS Gemini has an etched reticle with AUTOLive motion activated illumination powered by a single CR2032 battery with up to 20,000 hours of battery life. The brightness can be adjusted across 11 brightness settings (Spinal Tap Approved) and it’s also NV compatible. Eye relief is forgiving at 3.5″ and with a fixed 2x magnifcation you get a 42 foot FOV at 100 yards. The optic weighs 11 ozs and felt quite comfortable on the AR pistol I tested it on. Windage and elevation are adjustable in 1/4 MOA clicks
Out of the box, the ACSS Gemini includes a ruggedized mount and 3 risers but it is compatible with any mini-ACOG style mount.
The ACSS Reticle
The ACSS reticle is beloved by shooters all over. The chevron gives a precise point of aim and the BDC hashmarks are pronounced without cluttering your view with too much information. ACSS Gemini BDC is set-up on 7.5″ or 16″ barrel PCC’s. The chevron is encapsulated by a vibrant horseshoe indexed to lead a target moving at 8.6 MPH.
My first few shots took a little getting used to because quite frankly, I was expecting a red dot. After about 4 rounds I got acclimated to the ACSS reticle in this configuration and quickly got into a natural rhythm. Eye relief was indeed more forgiving than previous Prism Scopes I’ve used from both Vortex and Primary Arms. The etched glass was pronounced and when illuminated, target acquisition was a breeze.
I ran thru 2 extended magazines shifting between slow precise shots, failure to stop drills and ready-up 5 shot bursts. Maintaining focus on the target was consistent due to the forgiving eye relief and crisp reticle. At $379, the ACSS Gemini continues in Primary Arms’ established tradition of providing tremendous value to consumers at a reasonable price. I’m really excited to get my hands on one of these for future testing on my CZ Scorpion.
Eye relief is 3.5 inches, but it appears that you’re at 5 inches. Aren’t you missing a lot of the FOV?