Chad Wallace

September 20, 2025

Gear, Optics

Magne-Tech Scope Mount

Chad Wallace

September 20, 2025

Gear, Optics

Magne-Tech Magnetic

Scope Mount Review

Optics mounts are everywhere nowadays. You can get them in just about any flavor imaginable. If you are looking for a quick change optics mount, and want something modular and unique, look no farther than the Magne-Tech Magnetic Rifle Scope Mount. This scope mount uses extreme magnets to hold the optic onto the mounting rail, and it works.

The Magnetic Rifle Scope Mount is a pretty neat setup. It consists of a 2 piece system. The ring mount and the picatinny scope base. I was sent the 30mm scope mount, a 1 inch and 34mm are coming soon. These two parts can then be easily hooked together by the built in magnets, thus making one solid scope mount. An advantage to this system is the ability to quickly change to different, types or styles, of optics

Magne-Tech uses a 3 magnet base for the scope mount. This base is about 6.5 inches long with 3 rare earth magnets installed in it. Of course it mounts to your top picatinny rail on most firearms. This base uses Magne-Tech's dual locking system. The first lock is the magnets. The second lock is a spring loaded side lock. That side lock then clips into the side of the scope ring mount. On the side clip mount is also a thumb screw. The thumb screw can be tightened down rendering the side lock lever inoperable and thus giving the mount extra security.

Before I get into the ring mount portion, let me explain how the scope mount works. If you have not figured it out, the Magne-Tech scope mount uses rare earth magnets to hold the 2 pieces of the mount together. One might ask why or how can this work? Magnets stick themselves together. So Magne-Tech has 3 of these magnets in the base, and 3 in the ring mount. When coming close together, these magnets attract each other strongly. Thus connecting the 2 halves. One might think, “how can that be accurate or repeatable?” Magne-Tech created the mount and base with various protrusions and angles. These angles center the mount into the base. So the scope mounted to it, sits in the same spot of the base, every time.

The Magne-Tech ring mount is pretty straightforward. It starts with the 3 magnet mount that attaches to the base. This particular one is for a 30mm scope tube. The rings are built into the mount. The rings themselves are very sturdy and spaced about 3.5 inches apart. Printed on the rings is a toque spec of 15 in-lb’s. That way you don’t have to go looking for what to torque them down at. When the mount is stuck together, it gives a center scope height of 1.516 inches from the top of the rail. This is a pretty standard height, especially if you mount this on an AR style rifle. If you are looking for something with more options. Magne-Tech also sells a 6 inch picatinny rail section that mounts onto the scope base. The base and the rail can be purchased separately to make a mount kit that doesn’t use rings. The 6 inch rail can be used to mount other styles of optics, say for a quick change in the field. This can be very handy if mounting a thermal optic, or something that you might not use during daylight hours, or something that doesn’t use standard rings. If your State doesn't allow hunting with certain illuminated optics, this 6 inch extra rail might make it easier to swap those optics out to something legal.

I have been using the Magnetic Scope Mount for a bit. I used it on my Bergara, both with and without the MDT chassis. This particular rifle is a great test platform for a quickly removable optic base. Mainly because it shoots really well. After getting the rifle sighted in with the Sight Mark Presidio, I immediately removed the scope and then snapped it back on. I was really curious if the stated 0.25 inch point of impact shift would show up. It did not for me, as I was shooting in the same spot as a few minutes earlier. I think Magne-Tech gives out that impact shift specification to be safe. I really didn’t see any point of impact shift. I have removed this optic plenty of times and everytime I go back to the range, it still shoots point of aim. Would I use this on a rifle shooting 1000 yards plus? Probably not, but I feel that is not what this mount is designed for. This mount is made to quickly change optics depending on what you need that particular day. Because of the way the Bergara and scope combo fit, I do have a complaint about the Magne-Tech scope ring mount. I was barely able to put the scope far enough forward in the rings. If there was a cantilever style ring mount, this problem wouldn’t have been there. I also noticed that if you have one of those safes that cram rifles together to fit more in, having the ability to take the scope off makes it fit in there way easier. This is especially true if you have some super large optic on the Magne-Tech mount.

Along with the scope mount, Magne-Tech sent a 3 inch pic rail. As with the 6 inch previously mentioned, it can also just mount to the scope base. The 3 inch pic rail only has 2 magnets instead of 3, but it will still mount to the scope rail base and lock down with the side lever. It has the advantage of being able to be mounted forward or rearward on the base, since it is shorter. Magne-Tech also has various bases to mount this 3 inch rail on. I didn't end up using the 3 inch rail yet, but it will snap on the M-Lok mount that has my Magne-Tech Rigel light on it. This 3 inch pic rail section would work great for mounting one of the red dots that can not use regular rings.

If you have an application where quick change optics are needed, the Magne-Tech Magnetic Scope Mount might be worth looking into. The mount is built really well and holds up to abuse. Having the ability to quickly change optics is a huge plus, especially while maintaining zero. If you want a quality, quick change scope mount, go take a look at what Magne-Tech has to offer.

Firearms Insider Reviews - Key Points

Claim to Fame:

Magnetic scope mount with features to maintain point of impact

Target Market:

Those who change optics on a regular basis

Features, Benefits, and Specifications of this product:

Quick change magnetic scope mount
Interchangeable magnetic mounts
Maximum 0.25” point of impact shift
7075-T6 aluminum construction
Hardcoat anodized
Rare earth magnet technology
Dual-redundant locking system
1.516” centerline scope height off of pic rail (same as most AR mounts)
Receiver mount weight: 5.4 ounces
30mm Ring mount weight: 6.5 ounces
Total weight: 11.9 ounces

What other aesthetic options or finishes are available?

34mm and 1”

What others are saying?:

Awesome Product: 5 out 5 stars from Brian at ScopedOut

These are no joke. Quality is awesome and the magnetic field is very strong. It will have no issue holding zero. This product is perfect for attaching specialty scopes on multiple rifles (NV / Thermal). Expensive yes, worth the cost, absolutely.

Link to other reviews:

Nothing found as of publishing

Price point:

MSRP = $349.99

6” pic rail = $124.99

3” pic rail = $93.99

Retail = $265 ish

I need it now! Availability:

Magne-Tech or Optics Planet

Our Rating:

Pros:

Held zero for me
Thumb screw lock on mount
Interchangeable mounts (3” & 6” pic rail mounts)
Standard centerline height
Quality made

Cons:

Not 100% zero shift guarantee
Needs cantilever mount option

Score: 7.50 Good

Favorite Link: Magne-Tech Rigel II Review

Chad Wallace

February 9, 2023

Review, Optics

Primary Arms SLx 4-16x44 FFP

Chad Wallace

February 9, 2023

Review, Optics

Recently Primary Arms updated the SLx 4-16x44. This update gave the feature rich, SLx 4-16 some new reticles. One of those is the ARC-2 MOA, a simple, yet effective, illuminated reticle. I was excited to put this optic through its paces and it did not disappoint. Primary Arms’ SLx line is what I like to call performance packed optics at a price everyone can afford.

To put it simply, the SLx 4-16x44 FFP has magnification of 4x to 16x. It has a 44mm objective lens and a 30mm tube to help gather as much light as possible. Magnification is adjusted with a ring back by the eyepiece. The ring has a raised “fin” that can be removed if you don’t like it. It has a side parallax adjustment that goes from 20 yds to infinity. On the end, of said parallax adjustment, is the illumination ring. It has 11 values to illuminate the ARC-2 reticle. The lowest 2 settings are night vision compatible. The highest setting is “daylight” bright. I can actually see a little bit of red illumination in bright sunlight, something I can’t always say when things are “daylight bright”. The adjustment turrets on the SLx are of the tactical style. They are not capped, nor can they be. They have a pretty good tactile feel for the 1/4 MOA clicks, but are not very audible, if at all. These turrets are resettable to zero with the supplied allen wrench. No zero stop, but I can’t knock a $300 scope for that.

Now that you have a general rundown of the optic, it’s time for more. I’ll start with the glass. For this being in the SLx line, the glass clarity is great, even at full 16x magnification. I could make out a wire fence at around 500 yds, see picture. The fast focus eyepiece gets the reticle super clear and the parallax adjustment gets the image spot on at all different ranges. I really am amazed at how clear the glass is for a $300 scope. The only real downfall of looking through the optic is its eye relief. Primary Arms specs the eye relief at 3.6 - 3.9”. So you really have to be in that 0.3” range to get a good eye box picture. Especially at those higher magnifications. I’m not using this on fast moving targets, so it doesn’t bother me much.

The Primary Arms 4-16x44 FFP has a few different reticle options. Some are their ACSS style, but I’ll be focusing on the ARC-2 reticle of this particular scope. I chose the ARC-2 MOA reticle because it is not cluttered up with stuff, like so many “christmas tree reticles” are. First off, the reticle is in minutes of angle, which is what I prefer. Second, it’s a first focal plane (FFP) reticle. So all the subdivisions, or hash marks, stay the same size throughout the magnification range. The reticle grows as you increase the magnification. This is so those marks in the reticle stay the same, and are usable for windage and elevation holdovers, at any magnification. On that note, Primary Arms did a nice job with this reticle. Almost all of the MOA marks are visible when at 16x. I’ve seen FFP optics that, a big portion of, the reticle disappears when at full magnification. The reticle itself is essentially just a crosshair with little marks spaced every 2 MOA apart. Every 10 MOA, there is a larger mark and a number, at least on the elevation portion of the reticle. Windage is a little different, with 2 MOA marks for the first 10 MOA, and then marks every 5 MOA past that. See the reticle picture for values. This reticle is very clean. It’s kind of old school mil-dot meets new school technology. Did I mention that the grid portion of the reticle is illuminated? Well it is, in red, with 11 brightness settings. I really like the style of simple and useful reticles like the ARC-2.

The ARC-2 is such a great reticle, but adjusting your scope is still very important. That brings us to the target style turrets on the 4-16x44. If you are into dialing your scope for windage and elevation adjustments, you want good target turrets. I found these to be repeatable, at least in my testing. If I dialed up 15 MOA, and then back down 15 MOA, it shot where I expected it to. I didn’t do a tracking test, But this isn’t a $1000+ scope, so I didn’t see any need for me to do that. The clicks on the turrets feel really good but you can’t really hear them. I prefer feel over hearing them anyway. They also have a little resistance to them, which is nice, so they don’t move if you bump them in the field. Each turret adjusts in 0.25 MOA/click and 15 MOA per 1 revolution of the turret. It has over 85 MOA of total adjustment, or about 6 full turns of the turret. L/R and UP are marked next to or under the turret, depending on which one it is. There is also a little mark to use for setting zero. The SLx 4-16 has the ability to set the turret dials to zero, after you have sighted it in. There’s 3 tiny set screws at the turret's top, loosen them and rotate the knob to zero. Tighten them back up and your zero is now set.

I have the Primary Arms SLx 4-16x44 mounted on a “varmint style” AR. The scope weighs in at 25 ounces. But in this case, it is the perfect scope for this particular rifle. The SLx has performed super well for me. It’s super clear for a scope in this price range. It’s easily adjusted, if needed. It has an illuminated reticle for low light use. A parallax adjustment that goes super low, so if I wanted to use it on something like a .22lr, I could. I wouldn’t hesitate to take this hunting in the brush. I think it would make an excellent hunting scope as the ARC-2 reticle doesn’t take up a lot of room in the scope. The magnification range is also great for this AR’s use case.

If you're in the market for a feature rich FFP optic, the Primary Arms SLx 4-16x44 ARC-2 might be it. I just can’t get over all the options you get in this optic, and at an incredible price. It performed better than my expectations for sure. The updated SLx scopes from Primary Arms are definitely worth checking out.