Good morning everyone, this is John with gun.deals, and today we're gonna be taking a look at the Holosun HM3x-T micro magnifier.
Full disclosure on this optic, I don't really have a relationship with Holosun, I do have access to dealer pricing on some of their stuff through various distributors and wholesalers, but I don't have any sort of relationship directly with Holosun. However, I did not pay for these optics as these were actually sent out to me by OpticsPlanet, which is why you see them here in the OPMOD FDE, this is actually part of a package deal that they sent out for me to test and review.
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Product
Price
Store
MPN
UPC
Daniel Defense DDM4 V11 LW 16" 5.56 AR-15 Holosun HS510C-GR HM3X Magnifier
$1,799.00
Gunprime
02-151-20026-047
815604016179
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In front we have the AEMS, this is the full version, so it has a few more features than and the core version, it is also a little bit more expensive and also in the OPMOD FDE. Keep in mind that this package I believe comes in at like just under 700$ at OpticsPlanet if you buy the combo deal, which is expensive neither, these are particularly cheap, but it is a good deal if you wanted to get both of them specifically, we will be focusing mostly on the magnifier, though of we always have to talk about what we're magnifying anytime you're using a magnifier, the dot that you put in front of it does matter quite a bit.
Getting into some of the basic features and specifications on the Holosun HM3x-T, this is a Titanium magnifier. The body itself, I believe, is the titanium portion, I believe the mount is the same Aluminum that's on the Holosun HM3x, this is the older full size version versus the Titanium micro magnifier. We will get into the comparisons of those a little bit later on, but focusing on this, Titanium on the body is a lot stronger than Aluminum, especially a lot stronger than like 6061, which the older version was I believe. That being said, it is going to be a little bit heavier as well, so even though this is quite a bit smaller in terms of its length it actually ends up I believe being the same weight if not being a little bit heavier than the full size just because Titanium is heavier than Aluminum by volume.
On the body itself, you do have exposed windage and elevation for adjusting the reticle, the dot, whatever dot that you happen to be using, putting that in the center of the magnifier to give you the best sight picture possible, and then, on top of that, at the back of the magnifier you have the diopter for making sure the image looks as good to you as it can, that that reticle is coming through nice and clear.
When it comes to the mount, the mount is the same general style as the older HM3x, in fact, it's as far as I can tell identical other than the color. However, they have updated it a little bit internally, I know that this one here is pretty weak, it's pretty floppy, even when it's in the rotated out position, it has a little bit of wiggle, a little bit of flop to it, doesn't take a lot of force to get it on and off. Not a huge deal, but if you notice that in slow motion will actually wobble under recoil a little bit, which you don't really notice it while actually using it, but it might be slightly bothersome to certain people.
On the HM3x-T, while the mount design is basically the same internally, it takes a lot more force, it's almost a little grindy, it's not super smooth, but it does take a lot more force to lock and unlock and it really clicks down into position very nicely.
On the bottom of the mount itself, you have a very substantial crossbolt, you also have two recoil lugs, which increase the surface area between the mount and your upper receiver or whatever that you happen to be mounting it to, on top of that, they provide a hard stop during recoil. Honestly, I'm not sure why they went so overkill with the mount on the magnifier versus on a lot of their red dots, this is better than most mounts on their red dots, some of the red dots do come with decent mounts, but overall the mount on here is really good, I wouldn't really consider an overkill, but it is really good, it's designed well, so on and so forth. I don't really have any problems with that and the fact that they have increased the tension on the swivel itself to give you a much more positive lock and unlock, you do need to be very intentional and put a good amount of force to get it on.
As far as the QD arm itself goes, the only thing that I don't like about it is that it's somewhat short and a cheap feeling, it's easy enough to get on and off, it does lock into position and then you have a button to press to unlock it and then you can torque it down from the other side if you like to put on your magnifiers with a lot of force. Having that small kind of cheap feeling latch just doesn't feel all that great, but that is a very nitpicky sort of thing. However, if you're used to something a little bit nicer, like the Vortex mini magnifier, I believe they call this the VMX3, you have a much larger latch lever, which is a little bit nicer, it's easier to get more force on you can get it on and off with one hand a lot easier because the buttonis in a more intuitive place, and the mount on this is even stronger, but instead of being gritty and harsh on the VMX3-T, this one here it feels very smooth and has a very, very positive lock and unlock, so it is good that they improved the mount on here, but it feels gritty and not quite as positive as a little bit nicer magnifiers, it is a very small grit, but if you're comparing little things this is a bit of an expensive magnifier, so it is something that you should be aware of.
Another problem with the Holosun magnifiers is they do not use the kind of industry standard mounting pattern, it is a two bolt system, however, it only works with their own risers and their own mounts, aftermarket mounts, don't really work for these. If you notice, the Vortex, which does use the more industry standard, if you will, it does still use two bolts, but they're much further separated, so I can actually put this magnifier on a lot of different mounts and I can put other magnifiers on this mount if I so desire, but if you get a Holosun magnifier you are locked into their ecosystem when it comes to mount, which they don't offer any different varieties but they're risers and whatever else that you want you have to use their stuff to get it to the appropriate height if you need to do that.
The HM3x-T is bolted directly to the mount with no riser plate, so I believe this is at absolute, so 1.41, and then you have a riser plate to get it up to 1.63, so that kind of gets you into the ballpark of most red dots, it may not line up quite perfectly, but that's not really an issue if they don't line up perfectly height wise because you can always center the reticle with your included windage and elevation. So, when using it in conjunction with the Holosun AMES, which I believe has a slightly taller bore-height, even though they don't line up exactly perfectly up and down you can always adjust that reticle to the center and you won't notice it.
Mounts and bodies are important when it comes to magnifiers, but the most important thing when it comes to actually using the thing, actually getting behind it, is going to be the eye relief and eye box. For a long time my favorite magnifier has been the Holosun HM3x because it has a fairly decent eye relief and eye box combined with the longer body, means that you get a mechanically fairly long eye relief, so you can stick this on the back of a gun and you don't have to crane your head really far forward and you get a very decent field of view, very decent sight picture, so on and so forth, and the fact that they are fairly inexpensive, you can find them for around 200$, sometimes a little bit less than that, whereas the Titanium magnifier I believe is 100$ more expensive at around 300$ starting point.
When it comes to the eye relief on the HM3x-T you have a stated eye relief of 2.75 inches, which is accurate, you get about anywhere from 2.5 to 3 inches, gets you a decent sight picture. Your field of view is 37 feet at 100 yards, which is pretty good for a 3x magnifier, it is very forgiving, gives you a good amount of information. The glass quality is not really improved over any Chinese magnifier, they all kind of look the same to me personally. The contrast is fine, the colors are fine, the edge to edge clarity is decent, there's not much chromatic aberration, the overall picture quality is somewhat ‘Meh’, and when you already have somewhat mediocre glass, not bad by any means, but somewhat mediocre glass, then you stick Holosun AMES in front of it, which I don't remember Holosun AMES looking so ugly, but this one here is super blue and gives you a really ugly image when looking through it, so you're kind of compounding a mediocre image with another mediocre image, you're magnifying that and it just doesn't always look so good.
When it comes to actually using the HM3x-T it is firmly in the good enough category, with the stock, two clicks back, which is how I usually have it, I am fairly short, and the magnifier almost at the back of the receiver, you get a decent sight picture, if I'm just very relaxed and not forward at all I do have some black around the edges, but if I come in just a little bit I get a full sight picture and it looks fairly decent. So, in terms of usability you have a decent eye relief, 2.75, 3 inches, somewhere in that range, good field of view, the glass quality is mediocre, keep in mind that you're usually magnifying already fairly mediocre glass.
Another reason why I still think that the HM3x is one of my favorite magnifiers to use in general is that it has about the same eye relief, but because the body is about an inch longer that eye relief starts an inch further back giving you mechanically a little bit more eye relief. For instance, looking through it right now with my head fully relaxed, not pushed forward at all, I get a pretty much perfect sight picture. So, for me having that longer base or that longer body is going to be a little bit easier to get a full sight picture, especially if you're in a little bit more of an awkward circumstance and you can't just crane your head as far forward as you would like, and that does get uncomfortable after a long period of time because you have about the same eye relief, but a longer body, you end up with mechanically a little bit more forgiving of an eye relief and between the HM3x and HM3x-T, while this one here is definitely a lot tougher, it is smaller, but not really lighter because it is Titanium.
The glass quality is very, very similar, it's difficult to tell the difference and if you put an image in front of me of the different pictures through the glass, if I couldn't tell what color it was, it would be very difficult to tell which magnifier I was looking through, I believe they have the same eye relief, but about an inch longer body, so you functionally get more eye relief with the HM3x. Same field of view, I believe it's both 37 feet at 100 yards. Image quality is perfectly fine, not great by any means, but definitely good enough, especially depending on what you're putting in front of it.
When it comes to the HM3x versus HM3x-T I do think that the HM3x is still the better value and it is more usable for most people, though it depends what you're putting it on. If you want a really small build and you're really concerned with size, then the HM3x-T is a good way to go, keep in mind that it is more expensive, though it is also quite a bit more durable in terms of the body, but that's really its only advantage, it's going to be size and strength, everything else, image quality, mounts are very similar, if they've updated it on the older HM3x, but other than that they're very, very similar, but about a hundred dollars more expensive If you're going to compare it to something like the Vortex VMX3x, their micro magnifier.
The micro magnifier from Vortex has about the same glass quality, very similar eye relief, very similar field of view, about the same cost as well, however, the mount here is much more superior on the VMX3 or the Vortex mini magnifier, and it is compatible with aftermarket mounts, if you did want to swap it to a different height you can buy 193 risers for this magnifier whereas you would have to daisy chain mounts together on the Holosun to get them to the same height.
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The last point that I have the HM3x-T is the fact that while Titanium is nice, it's not a gimmick, it is definitely stronger than Aluminum. I'm not sure how much sense it makes on a magnifier versus a red dot, for instance, do you really care if you have a indestructible magnifier behind an Aluminum red dot that's going to break first, because if your dot breaks first, then your magnifier is kind of worthless, so it doesn't really make sense to stack Titanium behind aluminum, and your main aiming point is much more important than a magnifier, a magnifier is meant to increase your capabilities, but it's not an actual aiming device or anything like that.
Maybe it would make sense if you were trying to stack like the ultimate durable red dot setup and so you want something like a SIG Romeo 8T with a Titanium shroud, 7075 body, and then you stack a Titanium magnifier behind it so you have the ultimate, most durable setup in the world, but I don't really think that's what most people are going to be doing, so unless you're into just having the toughest, most durable option out there, I don't think that the Titanium is really going to matter all that much to most people, it is nice on paper and it is a good feature to have, but is it worth that extra hundred dollars if it's not actually providing you any benefit. Titanium versus Aluminum is probably honestly a waste of 100$.
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Keep in mind that I've had this magnifier, this is a just a 6061 Aluminum magnifier, I've dropped it many times, it is scuffed and scratched, but otherwise perfectly fine. So, is there a real advantage to Titanium? I'm sure if you were to do a crush test between two of them, yeah, Titanium would hold up better than Aluminum, but in real world circumstances does it really matter all that much? At least for me, probably not, for you, maybe you're more concerned with just that ultimate level of strength and durability.
