Vector Optics Paragon 1x18 Micro Prism Scope — Full Review

Quick scene-setting: this was our second or third video of the day at the ranch, it was up to a whole 12 degrees, and I was freezing my ass off — so cold I couldn't even see my breath because it froze before it came out. Into that mess came the Vector Optics Paragon, a 1x18 micro prism scope, and full disclosure: I had never shot with any Vector Optics before this. No relationship, no expectations. They asked if I'd take a look, and I said sure.

The hardware: it's got an etched reticle — I'll call it a circle dot for all intents and purposes, though it's more of a modified circle with some gaps in it — plus a diopter adjustment so you can focus the reticle to your eye, brightness controls on top, windage and elevation adjustments, and a little shroud sticking out front in case you're jamming the gun down on something. It runs a CR2032 in a side housing. Best of all, it comes with two mounts in the box — a riser and a flat mount — which not many of these micro prisms are doing.

We ran it on one of our favorite test guns: a Rosco upper on a ZRO Delta lower with an SBA3 brace and an Otter Creek Labs Polonium-K can, which sounds absolutely phenomenal, by the way. I'd bore-sighted the Paragon the night before, made a couple of adjustments on the fly, and got to work.

Here's the thing about prism optics: I've shot a bunch of them and never been a huge fan, because there's always too much fisheye. This one? When I first pulled it out of the box the diopter was screwed all the way in and there was considerable fisheye — but backed almost all the way out, it's the tiniest bit imaginable. During transitions you genuinely can't tell it's there. Target acquisition was real crystal clear, and I was a little worried about that chunky housing being distracting in the window — it wasn't. I was having so much fun we kept shooting after the review was done, frozen hands and all.

Eye relief deserves its own paragraph. I mounted it further back than I normally place optics because I was worried about picking up the prism, and it turns out there's about six inches of definitive eye relief — no blacked-out edges, no scope shadow. I could have pushed it forward and still been fine.

The one downside: the etched reticle is really, really hard to see when it's not illuminated. To be fair, that's about the same with any etched reticle, and out here it was actually easy because the black stood out against the snow — but know that going in. The flip side is that etched reticle is exactly why this might end up on my truck gun: it's the fail-safe all you red-dot skeptics worry about. Battery dies? You still have an aiming point. And when the illumination is on, if anybody tells you this thing isn't daytime bright, they'd be lying to you.