Gear Review: Atibal XP8 1-8×24 Scope

Jeremy S.

6 years ago

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Atibal Sights is a young brand that has experienced a rapid rise in popularity. And why not? Combining functional optics of good quality with affordable prices and a lifetime warranty is hard to argue with. Designed for 3-Gun competitors and hunters alike, Atibal’s XP8 riflescope transitions quickly from red-dot-like zero zoom 1x up to 8x zoom for taking precision shots at longer ranges. TTAG got our hands on one and put it through its paces.

Clamped into Atibal’s affordable QD scope mount ($93 at Optics Planet), the Atibal XP8 1-8x dropped right onto my flat-top AR upper at the correct height. The XP8 is 10 inches long with a 30mm tube diameter, and weighs in at 17.4 ounces.

Scope caps and a removable, extended throw lever are included with the XP8. This is pretty cool, as these are often add-on accessories even with optics with a high-end price point. Place the Atibal rapid view lever at 3:00 and the XP8 is at 1x, no zoom. Lever over the top to 9:00 and the magnification changes to 8x. The magnification ring has a well-fit feel to it and moves smoothly. Not as smooth as a top-tier optic, but it feels good. Not too loose, not too tight.

Unscrew the turret caps to reveal 1/2 MOA click turrets. Grab the outside of the turret to dial in your elevation or windage adjustment with clean, fairly well-defined clicks that can be felt and heard. A free-spinning plastic disc can then be used to align the zero line with a dimple in the brass threads. The disc rotates with the turret, so it’ll always be easy to get back to your zero after dialing for farther shots or for wind conditions.

One of the turret caps will house a spare CR2032 battery to power the illuminated reticle.

Reticle brightness is adjusted via a left-side dial with 11 brightness clicks.

The XP8 utilizes the Diamond Tactical Reticle (DTR) with a .5 MOA center red dot with a BDC calibrated for 5.56 62-grain ammo. The diamond reticle features a half-MOA dot at center, both red-illuminated. The DTR reticle allows you to quickly obtain your target in CQB scenarios and for more precise shots at longer distance with it’s fine .5 moa center red dot.

It provides a lot of illuminated surface area for strong visibility at 1x with both eyes open, red-dot style, while still allowing for the precision of a fine aiming point.

Horizontal and vertical hash marks provide holds for wind and distance. With a 100-yard zero on the center dot, vertical holds are calibrated for M855 ammunition. Each line is another hundred yards of range, with 4, 6, 8, and 10 labels denoting 400, 600, 800, and 1,000 yards. The bottom tip of the diamond is a 300-yard hold.

As the XP8 is a second focal plane (SFP) optic, the reticle remains the same size through the entire magnification range. These built-in holdovers will only work at 8x zoom. All of the reticle features are etched into the glass and visible whether illumination is used or not.

An advantage of SFP is that it’s lighter, less complicated to manufacture, and generally transmits more light due to using fewer lenses. Indeed, the optical clarity and brightness of the XP8 is pretty darn good. For its ~$340 retail price, it’s nice glass. Contrast and colors are good and the image is sharp except for a tiny bit of distortion around the extreme edge.

On 1x zoom, as seen above, it’s close enough to a true 1x that my eye doesn’t pick up a difference. I can move around, transitioning between targets or scanning an area, with both eyes wide open and see a fairly natural scene that just happens to have a red dot superimposed on it (illumination is completely off in the photo above, though).

Zoomed in to 8x magnification.

8x with the reticle illuminated. While it’s far brighter in real life than through the camera, which can’t help but subdue what it probably sees as a reflection error or red eye or something, it isn’t as bright as a dedicated red dot and will mostly wash out in full sunlight. Of course, the reticle is etched so in full sunlight the lines are particularly crisp and clear and obvious. I’ll also note that this reticle is brighter than that of the Bushnell 300 BLK 1-4x optic reviewed recently and shot back-to-back with the Atibal product on at least one range outing.

Hitting the range with some IMI 77-grain OTM ammo, I set out to box test the XP8 and ensure its turrets were tracking acceptably well. Unfortunately, for safety reasons the range was allowing only 100-yard shooting so I couldn’t run the box drill at 25 yards as intended. With a whopping 120 MOA of elevation and windage adjustment, the idea is to run to each corner of the target while using as much of the adjustment range as possible. Though I did dial both turrets back and forth through their full range a few times, I wasn’t able to test them very far from my zero.

Anyway, there’s the box at 100 yards after using about 12 minutes of vertical and horizontal adjustment. It’s pretty square, although it looks like we saw close to a minute of vertical movement when the only variable that should have changed was 12 minutes of horizontal movement.

Here’s the box after firing the final three shots after returning the turrets to their original zero. And return to zero it sure as sh*t did. I couldn’t tell the difference between that and the previous target, either.

Some way, somehow, my final three shots went through the two holes from my first three shots, just barely and ever-so-slightly enlarging them. What are the odds? Good enough, I suppose, but it’s still kind of blowing my mind. At any rate, it’s fair to say that the XP8 got right back to zero.

At the end of the day, the XP8 leaves me with very little to complain about. I absolutely love a 1-8x magnification adjustment — especially so when the 1x truly doesn’t alter the image with a tiny bit of zoom or any fishbowl-like distortion. The glass is very good for the price and the fit and finish quality are also nice. Included “extras” like flip-up lens covers and an extended throw lever are a nice touch, too.

I suppose if I had my way I’d want brighter maximum reticle illumination — a wishlist item with nearly all 1x to 4/6/8x zoom scopes — and a nicer way to set turret dial zero. Then again, the whole point of having 1,000 yards of elevation hold marks built into the reticle is, in the immortal words of Ron Popeil, to set it and forget it.

Specifications: Atibal XP8 1-8×24 Riflescope with TDR BDC Reticle

Magnification: 1-8x

Objective Lens Diameter: 24mm

Tube Size: 30mm

Eye Relief: 4 inches

Field of View: 105 feet at 1x, 12.45 feet at 8x

Turret Style: Low-profile capped

Adjustments: 1/2 MOA

Max Elevation Adjustment: 120 MOA

Max Windage Adjustment: 120 MOA

Weight: 17.4 ounces (scope only)

Length: 10 inches

Material: 6061-T6 aircraft-grade aluminum

MSRP: $399.99 (about $340 shipped via Optics Planet)

Features:

Lifetime Warranty, Second Focal Plane (SFP), Extra battery compartment in windage cap, 5 MOA center dot with BDC calibrated for 5.56 62-grain ammo, 11 Brightness Settings, Fully multi-coated lens providing no less than 85% light transmission, Low profile turrets for windage and elevation adjustment, Fog Proof, Water Proof, Shock Proof (Note: TPM quick-release mount not included)

Ratings (out of five stars):

Glass Quality * * * *

Above average for the price. This versatile low-power variable optic is crisp, clear, and bright with only the smallest bit of distortion at the extreme edges, and colors are great.

Reticle * * *

The Diamond Tactical Reticle is clear and functional. I like how the diamond provides a lot of illuminated area while the half-MOA dot in the middle still provides a precise aiming point. Wind holds are handy and a BDC tape for a full 1,000 yards is pretty slick. I do wish the reticle illumination got brighter for red dot-like use on full sun days, though. And while the BDC function is there, this reticle simply cannot compete with the quick and intuitive rangefinding of the ACSS reticle found in the similar 1-8x optic from Primary Arms.

Turrets/Dials * * *

Design typical of optics in this price range. Maybe a bit above average in the clean and precise feel of the adjustment clicks.

Quality * * * *

Atibal Optics demand a lot of its overseas manufacturer and tests each and every unit at its U.S. facility before it’s approved for sale. They keep QC as high as they can in this price range, and feel comfortable backing that up with a lifetime warranty.

Overall Rating * * * *

A full 1x-to-8x zoom in a compact and lightweight optic for about $340 retail is a good deal. When it comes with nice glass, a useful BDC reticle, and a lifetime warranty it’s a solid, four-star piece of kit.