Vector Optics Paragon 3x18 Micro Prism Scope

juststarting · June 23, 2024, 2:40pm

Okies, I got to use it today properly and decided to do a bit of a review…

Splurged a little, but I felt like it was time, I was eyeing something like this for quite a while.

I played with Vortex version of this and I liked it. I also played with a few Vector optics and I also like them. Glass is comparable to Vixen, which is very nice. So, at almost half the price ($371) I took the plunge. The pickup with click&collect is pretty close, so I ordered in the evening and had it my hands at lunch time the next day.

Positive adjustment clicks. This is my first test. Cheap stuff, including Vector has a very mushy feel. This has positive tactical feedback on a click. Good.

Now… Why?! This is for my CZ 515 which I use to compete with. It has a use case and purpose and I know how I use it based on previous experiences. I shoot it to about 50m and rarely further. Typically I use an LPVO on x2 - 5x - this is fixed 3 with illumination.

Why?
Smaller! A lot smaller, making the gun a lot lighter. A few hundred grams doesn’t seem like much, but it’s actually quite a bit when you are trying to be fast and shooting from weird positions.

This is how it looks mounted compared to LPVO. Lol, no, this is not photoshopped

The eye relief is not huge, so this (at the rear) is where it needs to sit.

At 50m:

Blah, blah, inch group, blah. I thought I would use something more practical.

Of the bench with support I could see the orange sticker. However, the centre dot covered the sticker at 50m and it was hard to see/shoot consistently. I think if I had a black sticker like that it would have been a lot more comfortable. I thought, no point torturing myself here and I used a larger (black) sticker.

So, at 50m with x3 I could see both. I was a lot more comfortable shooting the black sticker. No issues, consistently group into that, so let’s call it 20c although all groups could be covered with 10c.

Sacrifice, some zoomies for manoeuvrability. Is it worth it? For me, for my use case - yes. Very comfortable, very clear, points well and does as advertised. Yet to see how it goes on the clock, overall, I am not experiencing buyer’s remorse (yet).

Looks nice, I think.

Illumination is great.

Solid, some sort of alloy unit, feels solid. Somewhat durable (yes, I already dropped it).

Cons:

Comes with high mount only. Which is fine, my scope sat high anyway and riser is adjusted for it. However, it would have been nice to have a low mount option in the box. I did notice that Vortex Crossfire red dot low mount has similar foot print and can be fitted to be used as a low mount, but I didn’t see the point.
Reticule, the actual etched image is reasonably small (not a con per se, but could be, depends on the individual). Fine for me, sort of like Holosun’s “circle of death”, makes it a lot easier to shoot instinctively. If it’s in the circle - send it, but I can see how it could be very annoying for people who are used to shooting different targets; or used to something larger.

Parallel universe view:
Would I buy it again… I would for a very specific use case. Larger (PRS, IPSC style) hit or miss targets within 50m, maybe a little further, depends on the target size in a practical/dynamic match. I wouldn’t buy it if my primary use case involved shooting for bullseye supported or at anything at distance (this is where LPVO would shine).

Will compete with it next month, see how it goes on the clock. So far, pretty happy with it.