Vortex Strike Eagle 1-8 vs Primary Arms 1-8

Vortex Strike Eagle is a legendary series from Vortex. The Strike Eagle series is well-loved by the community. You can find proof of that in the Amazon review section and various forums. Coincidentally the Strike Eagle series was also the first rifle scope that we reviewed.

Today’s comparison is between Vortex Strike Eagle 1-8 vs Primary Arms 1-8. Both of these scopes have a lot in common. Let’s try to find the differences between the two. We will also try to help you make your decision about which one to buy.

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Specs	Strike Eagle 1-8	Primary Arms 1-8
Magnification	1-8x	1-8x
Objective Lens	24 mm	24 mm
Eye Relief	3.5 Inches	3.5-3.2 Inches
Tube Diameter	30 mm	30 mm
Linear FOV @1000 yds	109 -14.4ft	110 – 14.5ft
Length	10 Inches	10 Inches
Weight	17.6 LBS	16.9 LBS

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Vortex Strike Eagle 1-8x Rifle Scope

Made out of aluminum the riflescope has an anodized black finish. If you are a long-time follower then you know how much I love matte black finishes. This $300 scope looks a lot better than some $500 scopes.

It’s lightweight and durable. You can throw it in a bag and it won’t even have a scratch or any problems with the lenses. The lens cover comes with the scope for free.

The scope has fully multi-coated lenses and they are wonderful to look at. Even at the lower-end Vortex never compromises in terms of their lenses.

These are some of the best lenses you are going to find in a budget scope. The scope is shockproof, waterproof, and fogproof.

AT THE LOWEST MAGNIFICATION, the scope has no distortion at all. But when you max out the magnification the scope tends to have some distortion. Nothing major, but noticeable. But the scope stays accurate up to 300 yards.

You can’t adjust the MOA on the fly. Because a cap is protecting the knob from harm. You need to open that cap to adjust MOA & You won’t be needing any tools to adjust this. You can do it with your hands.

But there are some cons to this scope too. Such as you can’t adjust the parallax on this scope. Slight distortion past 6x. And there is fisheye at 1x magnification.

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Primary Arms 1-8x Rifle Scope

Primary Arms 1-8x is a direct competitor of the Vortex Strike Eagle.

Constructed from 6063 aluminum. The Primary Arms 1-8x is built like a tank. This scope also has an anodized matte black coating. So, when it comes to color I can’t be biased in this review.

The housing is nitrogen-purged. That gives you the green signal to use this scope even in cold conditions. As it is fogproof. The lens cap is pre-installed and you can remove them if you want. But why would you?

A lot of variable magnification scope tends to have 1.25x instead of true 1x. But the case here is different. This scope has true 1x.

Just like the strike eagle, Primary Arms also has distortion at max magnification. That was expected in this price range. The lenses are fully multi-coated and the scope is waterproof. The aluminum body is also shockproof.

The adjustment knobs here too have caps. Just like the strike eagle, you can adjust MOA here with your hands. But you can’t do that on the fly. Need to open the cap first then adjust the MOA.

But this scope has its cons too. Like Strike Eagle, you can’t adjust the parallax here. There is distortion at max magnification but compared to Strike Eagle the distortion is lower.

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Vortex Strike Eagle 1-8x vs Primary Arms 1-8x

In my opinion, as much as I love the Vortex Strike Eagle I have to go with the Primary Arms 1-8x with this one.

I have two reasons for it.

• First, the reticle. Again, in my opinion, the ACSS reticle is easy to understand compared to the BDC reticle.
• Second, the distortion at max magnification on Vortex Strike Eagle is more noticeable compared to the Primary Arms.

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Conclusion

Once again, this is my opinion alone and I am not getting paid to say this. You are here to hear what I have to say and I did. The rest is of course, in your hand. Whatever you choose you can’t go wrong with either one of them. Both of them are great mid-range scopes.