7 Best 1X Prism Sights (Pros, Cons, & Suggestions)

In the world of optics, specifically optics designed for modern firearms, you have red dots, variable optics, low-power variable optics (LPVOs), and then you have the humble prism sight. The prism sight has fallen out of favor in place of red dots and LPVOs, but I’m still an ardent believer. In fact, I’m a fan of 1x Prism sights, which puts me in a small camp of shooters who can appreciate the smaller prism sights.

Today, we are going to dive deep into 1x prisms. We’ll discuss their pros, their cons, and give you a few suggestions to get you started on your 1x prism journey.

What’s a 1X Prism

Prism optics, or prismatic optics, use a solid glass prism to refract light, hold the reticle, and in most cases, provide magnification. With a 1x prism, the prism isn’t providing any magnification. In general, prism optics tend to be less complicated than variable optics, but also very robust.

Most prisms will institute a 3x to 5x degree of magnification. As magnified optics, their benefits are numerous, namely their robust design and how small they can be while offering magnification. With that said, you’re losing a big advantage by going to 1x, right?

Best 1X Prism Sights

1. Gideon Advocate		Aimpoint Mounts Huge Reticle Slim Design	See Best Price
2. Swampfox Raider		Micro Sized Design Bullet Rise Reticle Shake Awake	See Best Price
3. Primary Arms SLx 1X MicroPrism		Auto Live Motion Sensing Mini ACOG Mounts Multiple Reticle Options	See Best Price
4. Vector Optics Paragon X-Mini		Shake Awake Aimpoint Mounts Red and Green Options	See Best Price
5. Athlon Midas Flare 1X		Smart Power Management Red and Green Illumination Big Reticle	See Best Price
6. Zero Tech 1X Micro		Motion Sensing Comes With Multiple Mounts Night Vision Compatible	See Best Price
7. ACOG 1.5X		Powered By The Sun Super Tough Technically 1.5X	See Best Price

Benefits of a Prism Optic

The most commonly repeated benefit of a 1x prism is an important one. A 1x prism is a reflex sight, which means it’s designed to be used at close range, just like a red dot. If you have astigmatism, red dots appear blurry, or downright unusable. A prism sight uses an etched reticle, and that etched reticle will never appear blurry. This makes them a solid choice for close-range shooters.

An etched reticle doesn’t require a battery to work. Modern 1x Prism sights come with illuminated reticles, but if the battery dies, the electronics break, or you find yourself in the midst of an EMP, your reticle will still work. These are extremely robust optics that can take a helluva beating without being overly expensive.

Unlike a red dot, you can also get a fairly robust and useful reticle. Some integrate bullet drop, others give you a hold over for close-range shooting, meaning height over bore compensation built into the reticle. You can take a fairly complicated reticle and make a useful tool for shooting up close, at extended distances, and more.

Another benefit of that etched reticle is its use with weapon lights. If you’re in low light and you flash a modern, bright flashlight beam, you can easily wash out a red dot, requiring quick adjustment. That’s not a problem with an etched reticle. It’s always there.

Downsides of a Prism Optic

For reflex shooting, a prism optic has some flaws. It has a set eye relief and a smaller eye box when compared to a red dot. The eye relief on a 1x prism is fairly broad and long, but there is still eye relief to contend with.

The illumination of most prism optics is nowhere near as bright as a dedicated red dot. In bright daylight, most will not have enough illumination to grab your eye like a red dot. This can make them a little slower, and they require more practice to be quick with.

Prism optics tend to be heavier than red dots. They have shrunk a lot over the last few years and are roughly Aimpoint Micro size, but are still heavier all around.

1X Prism Reviews

The Gideon Advocate is my new favorite 1x prism. It’s modular with numerous mounting options. It has a great big, easy-to-see reticle, it’s compact, and it provides me with an excellent reflex optic. The Advocate is even an affordable option. A lot of thought was put into this optic, and it clearly shows.

First, let’s talk modularity. It comes with a standard AR height mount, which is great for ARs, but less so for other platforms. You can swap mounts with ease, and Gideon produces a low mount for other optics. If you want to go higher or find a specific height, no worries, it uses Aimpoint T1/T2 mounts. That opens up a massive aftermarket.

The Advocate’s reticle is huge. It’s a big segmented circle that’s thick with a thick triangle in the middle. The Advocate provides illumination with numerous settings, but it’s not quite daylight bright. That’s not a big deal because the reticle is big, with a thick design that makes it easy to see without illumination.

The eye relief is listed at 3.35 inches, which is nice and broad for a prism optic. That’s the eye relief for a perfect view, but if you find yourself outside of that range a bit, then you can still use your optic. Scope shadow barely creeps in, even with my eye 5 inches from the lens. The Gideon Advocate is easy to use for snapshots and getting lead quickly on target.

The Advocate’s biggest downside comes from one of its strengths. The thick reticle and big triangle are harder to use at longer ranges on smaller targets. It tends to obscure small targets at 100 yards. For deer, hogs, or typical self-defense, it’s not an issue, but it’s not great for hunting small game.

Swampfox makes some of my favorite prism sights, and the Raider is their entry into the uber-compact 1x prism market. It shares modularity with the Aimpoint T1/T2 series, making mounts easy to find. The Raider has multiple reticle options, with the BRC being my preferred option. Like many of these optics, it even falls into the realm of affordable.

What I love most about the Raider is the BRC reticle. It’s a ¾ circle with an arrow in the middle and two dots under the arrow. Use the horseshoe for close-range shooting; fill the big circle and let it fly. If you’re within five yards, use the bottom dot to compensate for height over bore and make precision shots. If we step back to longer ranges, the dots can be used for elevation adjustments.

If you don’t like that reticle, they make one that just has a 6 MOA dot. It’s much more red-dot-like and provides a less distorted view of the target. For inside the home, this makes a lot of sense and still provides a reticle that’s big enough to see.

The Raiders’ use of Aimpoint mounts makes the optic customizable for any platform. Swampfox includes both an AR height mount and a low mount, so out of the box, you can set the Raider up to succeed on most platforms. With an eye relief of 3.35 inches, you won’t struggle to get behind the optic and start shooting.

The big problem is that, like most prisms, the optic doesn’t get bright enough, and the reticle isn’t big enough to make up for it. This means you’ll need a little more training, but who doesn’t like to shoot?

The new GLx line of prism optics represents a significant step up from the SLx lineup. The Primary Arms brand provides a lot of value for your dollar. These optics are robust, feature-filled, and some of the brightest prisms out there. The GLx 1x gives you the ACSS reticles you love in a platform the size of a micro red dot.

The brightness of this prism is impressive. For less than 400 dollars, you are getting about the closest you’ll get to daylight bright from a battery-powered reticle. It’s impressive, and while not red-dot bright, you can see the distinct red illumination in bright sunlight. The ACSS Cyclops reticle is a horseshoe with a chevron, which is an intuitive and fast shooting design.

The GLx 1x is a slim and small setup with a clean appearance, with little to block your peripheral vision. Everything is trim and slim, fitting nearly flush with the optic. The Auto Live feature will automatically shut off your optic when it sits still for a period of time, and fire right back up when moved. A generous eye relief of 4.4 inches makes it fast and easy to get behind the optic and on target.

Primary Arms uses a modular mount that allows you to adjust the height and even the position of the optic in relation to the mount. It can sweep back a bit. You can even add a red dot to the mount and have an offset dot. Sadly, the mount is an ACOG mount, and there aren’t as many options out there.

Vector Optics might have one of the worst websites on the internet, but their optics are surprisingly good. I thought they were a fly-by-night brand, then I used their Prism Optic and was thoroughly impressed. The Paragon X-Mini truly is mini; it’s one of the smallest prism optics on the market, and one of the lightest. If size and weight are a concern, the Paragon X-mini is an outstanding option at a low price point.

The Paragon X-mini is 2.39 inches long and weighs only 6.28 ounces. It’s uber-small, but still made from 6061-T6 aluminum. It’s IP67 rated and can withstand recoil up to a .300 Winchester magnum. It’s tough, it’s well-made, and simple. I like the clean look of the optic without a ton of crap hanging off the side.

The reticle is a segmented circle with a dot in the middle. Each circle segment has an arrow that helps direct your eyes toward the center. It works like a crosshair, without the reticle being obstructive for close-range shooting. The bottom segment of the circle is designed to act as a height over bore reticle for close-range precision shooting.

The illumination comes out to about what you expect from an affordable prism optic. It’s fine, but not quite eye-catching in bright light scenarios. The Paragon X-Mini provides a great field of view, solid clarity, and a nice, large reticle that’s easy to see. Outside of the dim illumination, the mount is also fixed, which means you’re stuck using an AR height optic.

Athlon Optics is criminally underrated. They produce a wide range of products, including prism optics. Their 1x prism is the Midas Flare. They make the Midas in 1x as well as 3x and 5x, so make sure you’re looking at the right one. The 1x model is considerably smaller and cheaper than the other two options.

What drew me to the Midas Flare was the reticle. It’s called the APX1 reticle, and it comes in both green and red. I think red appears brighter, but options are always nice. The reticle is made up of a horseshoe that occupies the outer reticle. Inside the horseshoe is a 6 MOA dot flanked by two subtensions. Beneath the dot is a 22 MOA ladder.

The circle makes the reticle easy to see, even without illumination. The big 6 MOA dot is an excellent aiming point for close-range shooting, and the two subtensions and bottom ladder draw your eye to the center dot. The ladder provides range estimation for longer shots if you feel frisky with a 1x prism. It’s very intuitive and easy to use, and well-suited for short to moderate range shooting.

The brightness is impressive. It’s not red-dot bright, but I was impressed that it didn’t wash out at high noon. It’s still distinctly red and easy to see. The Flare namesake seems to be an accurate description of the reticle. Digital brightness controls are smooth to use, and I prefer it over a dial any day of the week.

The downside is a lack of available mounts. You are stuck with a standard AR height mount. Price-wise, it’s still a budget-worthy optic, but it’s a little pricier than other options on the roster.

The ZeroTech brand is remarkably underrated. I’ve been using one of their red dots on my competition PCC for years, and it’s been a stellar performer. ZeroTech makes a variety of optics, and that includes a 1x prism. The 1x Micro series prism sight is super small, value-priced, and comes with a ton of features that make it incredibly attractive.

The ZeroTech 1x Micro comes with a variable mounting system. You get three different mounts and four different heights. I’m talking super high mounts because you hate a cheek weld, and mounts low enough to fit on AKs, MP5s, and similar platforms. Those mounts are all Aimpoint T2 compatible, so if, for some reason, the four included don’t work for you, then you can find one that will.

The Micro comes with a simple reticle that is a circle with a dot and stadia. The reticle design reminds me a lot of the EOTech style reticle. It’s just much larger, so it’s easier to see inside a prism optic. The center dot is 3 MOA, and the big circle surrounding it ushers your eye to the dot. It’s not fancy, but it’s effective and easy to see. The brightness is on the better side for 1x prisms, but it’s not red-dot bright.

The illumination has an auto sleep mode that shuts the illumination off after 3.5 minutes of inactivity. As soon as it moves again, the optic fires right back up at its previous brightness level. It’s these nice little features that make the ZeroTech Micro stand out. The one complaint I have is the small bolts that attach the optic to the rifle. I like a great big bolt that I can torque down.

I’m breaking my rules. I always try to include a bit of a wildcard on my lists that can break the rules, or at the very least, bend them. The ACOG 1.5X is not a true 1x prism sight; however, the low level of magnification still keeps it in that reflex prism world. The ACOG 1.5X is a professional-grade optic designed for the most destructive of users. ACOG durability is out of this world, and it’s a proven performer.

The ACOG 1.5X optic’s 1.5X magnification increases your view just a little, but it’s still easy to use at close range. The downside is the tighter eye relief. It’s only 2.6 inches, which makes it shorter than the rest of the optics on this list. What makes it attractive to me is true daylight brightness that’s equal to a red dot. The optic is powered by the sun via a tritium/fiber optic illuminated reticle.

This pushes a lot of power to the reticle to the point where it’s too bright at times. Speaking of reticles, there are several options, but the circle and dot is my go-to for close-range shooting. I don’t need a lot of compensation for making long-range shots with a 1.5X prism sight. With this reticle, I can shoot fast and straight, and that’s critical for close-range shooting.

The ACOG 1.5X is a beast. It is a “go-to-war” optic. A “go-to-war” optic with a defense contractor price. Be prepared to spend over a thousand dollars for this thing. ACOGs are pricey, but they are the most proven prism sight in the world.

The World of 1X Prisms

1x prisms are oddballs. They aren’t red dots; they lack magnification, and they just seem to be a weird choice. With that said, there is a time and place for the 1x prism, and we’ve provided more than a few options that perform above par. Do you like 1x prisms? Let us know below!