2023 Optic Of The Year: Sightmark Wraith 4K Mini

“The NRA Golden Bullseye Awards epitomize what NRA members seek in their shooting and hunting equipment—outstanding performance, innovation and value,” said Doug Hamlin, executive director of NRA Publications. “These are the best new products, truly worthy of NRA members' attention, and I extend my heartfelt congratulations to all this year’s winners.”

Once priced well beyond the means of the average gun enthusiast, technology has now progressed to the point that highly effective night-vision devices (NVD) no longer need to be prohibitively expensive, as evidenced by the Wraith 4K Mini from Sightmark. Costing less than $800 but offering Gen 2+ night-vision capabilities, the 4-32X version of the 4K Mini really impressed our “Dope Bag” testers with its blend of performance and portability.

According to our reviewer, “Despite its compact size, the 4K Mini provides a lot of functionality. As a digital NVD, the 4K Mini is capable of around-the-clock operation; it offers both full-color day and black-and-white night modes, and the user can switch between these settings with a simple button press.” The optic features a total of nine magnification settings, 14 reticle options in nine colors, a stadiametric rangefinding function, the ability to record either still images or videos with audio and the capacity to store five firearm/load profiles within its internal memory—and it comes with a 850nm infrared illuminator.

Our March review further stated: "Throughout testing, our Wraith was used atop both a .223 Rem.-chambered Springfield Saint and a .40 S&W chambered Beretta Cx4 Storm—with a profile set up for each—and the zeros did, in fact, follow each gun across numerous re-installations relatively well. If the same rail slot was used each time, the point of impact (POI) was generally still within 2" of the point of aim (POA) at 100 yards, although a re-zero would still be prudent for applications other than plinking. Fortunately, the4K Mini features an easy-to-use zeroing system that allows the POI to be quickly brought to the POA after firing just one small group or even a single shot. While keeping the crosshair on the POA, the arrow buttons on the top of the optic’s aluminum housing are used to move a red adjustment reticle in the display to the location of the impacts; once done, pressing the center control button saves the new zero."

For bringing a handy, high-value optic to market that can be used 24 hours a day, while offering impressive clarity during both the daytime and nighttime hours, we determined that the Sightmark Wraith 4K Mini was deserving of Optic Of The Year. For more information, visit sightmark.com.

About American Rifleman Golden Bullseye Awards: Created more than two decades ago as a way to publicly acknowledge those firearms and shooting accessories from the previous year’s crop of new products that exhibited the highest quality, the most value or that offered welcome innovation, the Golden Bullseye Awards have become one of the gun industry’s most coveted honors. That's why the editors of this magazine take the responsibility so seriously when we meet annually to deliberate and ultimately decide upon the recipients—and the process seemed to be even more significant than usual this time in light of American Rifleman celebrating its 100th anniversary in July of 2023.