Primary Arms Micro Reflex Sight

The newest release from Primary Arms comes as a pistol red dot sight, the Primary Arms Micro Reflex Sight. They have released two new pistol red dots and we have both! The Micro and the Mini Reflex sights are hot off the production line and we are lucky enough to have them and get to review them.

The micro is the smaller of the two and build for slim-frame pistols like the Glock 48, which is what I’ll use on this review.

First Impressions

When I first pulled the Micro Relex out of the box I honestly expected polymer or plastic for this sight. Given the sub-$200 price point, I was not expecting it to be this solid.

When I first picked it up I was shocked at how good it felt and the weight was surprising.

Materials

The body of the Primary Arms Micro reflex pistol sight is all aluminum with the exception of the brightness adjustment membrane pads.

The aluminum is 6061-T6 aluminum and while I’m not a metal expert it feels durable. The numbering of aluminum alloys identifies the primary alloying agents and the other active chemical elements in aluminum.

The 6061 aluminum is often referred to as the “The Workhorse Aluminum” due to its corrosion resistance and its high heat welding properties.

The “-T6” is the thermal and heat-treated tempers measurement and the T6 means that it has been solution heat-treated and artificially aged.

Weight

I’m not sure how Primary Arms was able to do it but they killed it when it comes to weight.

.97 oz is all this pistol red dot sight weighs.

This red dot sight is crazy lite! If it’s not the lightest on the market it’s got to be close. Holding it in your hand really helps you understand the accomplishment that this pistol dot is for Primary Arms.

Reticle

There isn’t a ton of conversation to be had about a red dot sights reticle. But this 3 MOA Dot is crisp and the 10 brightness settings provide a good range of dot options.

My only complaint so far is that the brightness does not auto-adjust for the ambient light. You can leave this on the medium setting for 40,000 hours according to Primary Arms specifications.

Adjustment

Primary didn’t go and reinvent the wheel on the red dot adjustment. The elevation adjustment is on top and a clockwise turn will move the point of impact up.

The windage is on the right side of the optic and a clockwise turn will move the point of impact to the right.

Battery

The Micro Reflex sight is powered by a single CR 2032 battery and is located under the optic.

The battery life is impressive at 40,000 hours on the medium setting. While it isn’t the longest battery life for a pistol red dot is the price difference between the Primary Arms Micro Reflex Sight and something like the Holosun HE407C is nearly $100.

Durability

I still have yet to develop a true, scientific, good way to test durability on optics.

I haven’t done a true “durability” or abuse test on this optic but from normal everyday carry and wear and tear on the PA micro pistol sight has done very well.

Will it hold up as well as the Trijicon RMR? Not sure, but without some more shock resistance I think the RMR will edge it out on durability but at almost 4x the cost.

Sight Picture

The sight picture on this is really good. It has really thin walls which are one thing I like about Primary Arms’ classic series of pistol optics.

Having really thin walls on the optic allows you to focus on your target and not focus on the sight.

You don’t need to be focused on the dot. You need to be focused on your target and the thinness of the optic walls really helps not distract you and not get in the way of looking at and seeing your target.

I can’t speak highly enough about how much I like the sight picture on the mini reflex sight. I think it’s a great option for a Glock 45

Operation

The operation is dead simple. You have two buttons on the whole thing.

You have a plus on the left side, you have a minus on the right. That took a little getting used to, I don’t know why, but in my mind, the plus should have been on the right.

I tried to turn it up to adjust the brightness on a sunny day when I was shooting, and I was like, “Did I just turn it off?” And I did.

I turned it down. You have to know where your adjustments are.

If this is your carry gun and you shoot it a lot you’re going to memorize it and you’ll not have to worry about it and be silly like I did.

But I have used a ton of different pistol optics from doing all these reviews and so I assumed it was on the right and it wasn’t, but no biggie. It works great. Adjustment’s super easy and had no problems getting it sighted in and adjusting the brightness.

Mounting

I’ve had trouble with mounting in the past, including with the Primary Arms Mini sight.

Most of that came down to the screws, and I was very iffy about how this was going to go.

So, when I started to mount this on the Glock48, I thought, surely I’ll need some kind of plate or adapter.

Well, fortunately, they used the same footprint as the Holosun and the Trijicon RMR for this gun, and it mounts directly to the slide and sits right on the slide.

I wish you could mount every gun directly. I wish there were one standard for mounting. For pistols, there’s not, but the Primary Arms Micro reflex sight will mount directly to the Glock 48 out of the box.

So, to reiterate, you don’t need any adapter plates. It goes straight on, and it’s a wonderful $150 price point, and it mounts right to the gun. That’s insane.

Now, let’s talk about my final thoughts, Primary Arms Micro Reflex sight final thoughts.

Micro Reflex Sight Final Thoughts

How did they pull it off for such an affordable price? For the price, I expected less.

It is an extremely pleasant surprise to go in with an expectation based on price and be pleasantly surprised with a higher quality product than what the price leads you to believe.

Is this the best thing since sliced bread? No, but it’s a damn good option for people that need to save a buck or want to dip their toes into the pistol red dot world.

Some of the best red dots for pistols are very expensive and can lead to first-time pistol red dot buyers getting cold feet.

The Primary Arms Classic series just opened the door to so many customers to show them that pistol dots are the future. Best of all they are getting a quality product with a lifetime warranty.

Shooting a larger slide gun but want a good value red dot? Take a look at the Mini Reflex Sight by Primary Arms.