Riton Optics 3 Primal 3-15×44 LW Scope: Review

In the grand scheme of things, 4.6 ounces doesn’t sound like much. It’s just a hair over the weight of my preferred burger at McDonald’s. And yet, a quarter-pound actually does mean something, and it’s actually much more than you might think. In fact, it was enough for Riton Optics to rework one of their popular scopes in an effort to drop some weight.

The original Riton 3 Primal 3-15x44 scope was no slouch, to be sure. Weighing 24.8 ounces, it wasn’t exactly heavy for how much scope you were getting. The Primal line of scopes is geared for hunting, and in that world, there’s a saying: ounces equal pounds and pounds equal pain. Whether you’re talking about rifles, packs, boots, or optics, saving weight is the name of the game these days.

That’s why just two years after introducing the 3 Primal 3-15x44, Riton Optics discontinued that model and came out with the 3 Primal 3-15x44 LW. As you might have guessed, the LW stands for ‘lightweight.’ Weighing only 20.5 ounces, it’s 4.6 ounces lighter than its predecessor. On backcountry hunts where extreme hunters have been known to cut down their toothbrush handle to save a bit of weight, that 4.6-ounce savings is a big deal.

A quick word on naming conventions: Riton breaks their scopes down into three categories: Conquer, Primal, and Tactix. They’re geared toward long distance precision shooting, durable hunting, and short range tactical applications, respectively. Numerical prefixes of 1, 3, 5, and 7 refer to how feature-rich a scope is and, as a result, what kind of price range you can expect. As you might have guessed, the lower the number, the fewer features and more minimal the cost.

Second Focal Plane

The 3 Primal 3-15x44 LW is a second focal plane scope built with a robust 30mm tube that was CNC machined out of 6061-T6 aircraft-grade aluminum that has Type III hard coat anodizing. The Riton HD (High Density) glass features an etched XRP (Extended Range Plex) reticle and offers 99.5% light transmission for an exceptionally clear sight picture. Even in low light at 15x magnification, I was impressed at what I was seeing through this scope.

The glass is multi-coated for anti-scratch and anti-reflection, as well as waterproof coated, and the entire optic has been nitrogen purged and sealed to ensure excellent performance regardless of weather conditions. These days, nitrogen purging has pretty much become the standard, but it’s still worth noting.

The XRP reticle has traditional crosshairs that get thinner at the center. In the thinner sections, there are hash marks with 2 MOA values for each one that allow for easy calculation of elevation and windage holds when you need to make adjustments on the fly in the field. I’ve got mine dialed in at 100 yards, and the 2 MOA hash marks work perfectly for me.

Since this is a second focal plane scope, the reticle stays the exact same size no matter what level of magnification you are using.

Mounting

When it comes to mounting the scope, the 3-15x44 LW has 6.1 inches of mounting length with an overall length of 12.7 inches. Eye relief is around 3.5 inches depending on the level of magnification, and it was very easy and comfortable to get a good, full sight picture whether I was backed down to 3x, cranked all the way up to 15x, or somewhere in between.

Speaking of getting it dialed in, the 3-15x44 LW features capped turrets that offer 60 MOA of adjustment in ¼ MOA clicks at 100 yards. The clicks are crisp and audible, which helped make it easy to keep track of adjustments as I got dialed in. All of the dials and caps have very nice wide, curved grooves machined into them, making it very easy to get a good grip on them for adjusting magnification and parallax even with gloves on. The parallax turret sits opposite the windage turret and is adjustable from 25 yards to infinity.

I’ve really enjoyed shooting this scope. It has made quick work of really reaching out and touching small varmints that need controlling on the farm. I’m equally as confident that I could swap it out onto any of the deer rifles and would be able to make even the longest shot possible on my property with relative ease.

With that, I encourage you to grab one of your scopeless rifles and pick up a Riton Optics 3 Primal 3-15x44 LW scope to put on it. Your choice of any 30mm rings will work just fine, and once everything is torqued to spec, you’ll be ready to head out and see for yourself what a joy this scope is to use.

Riton 3 Primal Scope Specs

• Magnification: 3-15
• Parallax Adjustment: 25-inifinity
• Tube Diameter: 30mm
• Objective Lens Diameter: 44mm
• Focal Plane: Second Focal Plane
• Lens Coating: Fully Multi-Coated, Full Wide Band, Waterproof Coated, Low Light Enhancement
• Reticle: XRP
• Field-of-View @ 100 yards: 39.2ft - 6.65ft
• Material: 6061-T6
• Eye Relief: 3.54in/90mm
• Exit Pupil: Low 7mm - High 2.6mm
• Click Value @ 100 yards: 1/4 MOA
• Adjustment Range: 60 MOA
• Length: 12.7in/325mm
• Weight: 1.28lbs/20.5oz
• MSRP: $749.99
• Manufacturer: Riton Optics, ritonoptics.com

---