Leupold mark ar spr - Leupold Mark AR MOD 1 1.5-4x20mm P5 Dial Rifle Scope

TL;DR: This is the best low/mid power optic for a lightweight build I've ever found. It's excellent, but not perfect.

I like keeping things simple, compact and lightweight. The Mark AR is all of those things. My favorite rifle wears the SPR reticle version of this scope in an Aero Precision Ultralight SPR mount, a 14.5" lightweight barrel, and a 12" lightweight rail. It has the weight and quick, handy feel of a pistol or SBR, without the limitations. As long as you can reach 3,100 fps with 55gr. pills out of the barrel you're using, this scope eliminates the guesswork out to 650 yards, which is probably about the maximum effective range of that cartridge, anyways. The aforementioned scope and mount combo weighs exactly 13.01oz. Some red dots weigh more than that with a mount. The weight is really impressive.

The good: Glass is clear, eye relief is crazy, eyebox is forgiving, the illumination and controls are good, the turrets are excellent, and the glass is in a league above others in this price bracket. The reticle is simple and intuitive, and it's very bright for its size in low light. The magnification adjustment ring is the best I have used and is super fast and easy to turn without being too loose. I have not had any mechanical or electronic issues whatsoever and battery life has exceeded expectations, so I can say with certainty it is rugged enough for field use. It is a Leupold, after all.

The not so good: The magnification range is quite limited compared to similarly priced competitors, many of which can get close to true 1x at the low end (vs. 1.5x here) and 4x, 6x, even 8x at the top end (vs. 3.9x here). Vortex, Burris and Primary Arms all come to mind. 1.5x is usable at 3-5 yards with both eyes open but you are slowed down at that distance due to the slight visual distortion. However, I actually prefer the 1.5x from 15-50 yards and the distortion isn't noticeable at those ranges. What this offers the others don't is better glass and controls at around half the weight of an MTAC, ACSS, or Viper PST.