A Rifleman's Optics

Fans of Lucid Optics specifically, or prismatic optics in general, might be familiar with Lucid’s proven P7 Prismatic Combat Optic. When the company set out to refine the P7, there was so much new technology and features that were introduced, the company simply renamed it. The P8 was the result, an optic built around asymmetric lenses using a mixture of polymer and Extra-Low Dispersion (ED) glass, including improved multi-coatings, top-drawer, phase-corrected silver coated prisms and an upgraded reticle. The P8 is a fixed-power prismatic 4x optic providing impressively clear viewing in a surprisingly lightweight and compact package that includes a workingman’s price ($599.99 – usually lower on the open market).

The optical upgrades Lucid introduced seem to have been worthwhile. Looking through this optic provides a clear and detailed view and confident aiming in any reasonable lighting conditions – including nighttime varmint or feral hog shooting.

This is aided considerably by the P8’s blue-illuminated reticle. The variable-intensity reticle and the blue hue don’t overwhelm the eye in low-light conditions, while standing out well against bright vegetation or terrain. The reticle includes the 16-MOA “fast circle” and sighting wedges of the original P7, but now includes a precise 2-MOA center dot and 1-MOA reference points at the 9, 3 and 6 o’clock positions inside this circle, with the 6 o’clock dot 4-MOA below the center. An 8-MOA holdover circle is located at the bottom of the larger 16-MOA center circle, below this five holdover marks are spaced in 4-MOA increments – six if the top of the pointed lower vertical bar is included. Vertical wedges located at the 12, 3 and 9 o’clock positions provide hold under and moving-target references. This might sound like complicated clutter, but it’s really pretty intuitive.

A readily available AAA battery provides up to 25,000 hours of power and is housed in a screw-top compartment with a cap tether. The reticle works well without illumination, but the top of the housing holds + and – (plus/minus) rubber buttons, pressed to manipulate brightness. The reticle is powered up by holding the plus button down for 3 seconds, the minus button held down to extinguish illumination. The system includes a 2-hour auto shut-off feature.   

The elevation knob is located just behind the top illumination control buttons, windage is  located on the right side beneath the battery compartment. White-etched arrows and UP and R (right) indicators provided ¼-inch per-click movements. Lucid provides a compact key with a slot screwdriver head to manipulate correction knobs, with a Torx wrench to loosen/tighten the Picatinny-rail base. A knurled ocular ring controls reticle focus. The objective lens is covered by a threaded/removable honeycomb cover to prevent lens glint and filter muzzle flash when shooting larger cartridges in low light.

The optic was designed with M4- or PCC-style carbines in mind, though they would prove right at home atop newer Picatinny rail-equipped leverguns. Because I didn’t wish to tinker with any of my ARs and because it was ground-squirrel shooting season, I mounted the P8 on one of my heavily-customized Ruger 10/22 rifles. The P8 came with low-, medium- and high-mounting options. The high proved compatible with my AR-hardware-equipped 10/22 chassis, attached to a standard Picatinny rail using two Torx screws and provided key driver (Lucid recommends no more than 22 inch-pounds of torque while tightening these screws).   

This was a decided departure from the excessive magnification I normally mount on any varmint rifle, but I was pleasantly surprised to find I was still able to place shots precisely on relatively small Columbia ground squirrels out to 100 yards. This would make it viable for 300 to 400 yards on larger targets. I guess this shouldn’t surprise me, as I’m old enough to remember when most of us mounted straight 4x scopes on our deer rifles. It seems most big-game hunters are “over-scoped” these days.

That said, the P8 really shines on closer shots, like those presented while I slipped across broken clear-cuts looking for ground squirrels. The P8 proved ideal for reacting to fleeting shot opportunities, especially because there was no need to twist a parallax knob. Parallax is 100 yards (with a field of view of 35 feet at this range), but the conservative magnification provided sharp target imaging at much closer ranges. The blue reticle was easy to power up and down according to cloud and tree cover or turn off when the sun shone bright.  

Lucid’s blue reticle promises to be more compatible with paired night-vision optics than standard red or green LED hues, which I did not have the opportunity to test. The advanced lens system and high-quality phase corrected, silver-coated prisms enhanced light transmission and decreased starbursts and color aberration. In short, the P8 provided a sharp, clear and color-saturated sight picture in a wide variety of lighting conditions.

The P8 I tested was subjected to a fair amount of rain and snow, which proved its advertised waterproof capabilities, while nitrogen purging prevented fogging in temperatures ranging from below freezing to nearly 80 degrees Fahrenheit while used hard during a couple of days of intense ATV-based varmint shooting – though Lucid lists a -10 to +140 degree Fahrenheit operating range. Lucid stated that the optic is rated for use with cartridges up to the 458 SOCOM, and they recommend using a soft lens cloth and distilled water to clean the lenses, while also avoiding cleaning solvents.

Running through basic specifications, the P8 includes 30mm objective and 24mm ocular lenses, measures 3.4 inches in length and weighs 8.4 ounces. The main housing is milled from 6061 aluminum and given a matte black finish. The P8 provides a generous 3 inches of eye relief.

Though labeled a combat optic, the P8 offers a lot of versatility for a wide variety of uses and firearm types. This compact optic packs a lot of performance into a lightweight and tidy package – backed by Lucid’s limited lifetime warranty. Check it out by visiting lucidoptics.com.