The Primary Arms AutoLive Battery Cap is one of the best tactical thingamawhatsit doohickeys to come along since ever – especially for the price point (~ $50). Why do we think so, you ask? 

Glad you asked.

Primary Arms AutoLive Battery Cap

The Primary Arms AutoLive Battery Cap is a mechanism for battery management. More specifically, it’s a way to bring the Primary Arms “shake-awake” feature to optics that don’t already have it. It’s somewhere between a retrofit and an upgrade…maybe a little bit of both. 

AutoLive, if you’re unfamiliar with it, is a technology that shuts an optic’s power off once it goes dormant. Onboard motion sensors immediately turn the optic back on when it detects movement. This will significantly extend the battery life (and optic illumination) of your red dot, LPVO, etc. It’s an excellent and inexpensive redundancy. 

Use of the AutoLive is simple and straightforward: you take the little (provided) wrench – or whatever you have handy – and add it to the battery cap of optics with similar cap and thread sizes. See a list of those below. 

It’s as easy as this: 

1. Get your Autolive Battery Cap and lock nut outta the box and have the wrench or whatever handy.
2. Remove the battery cap and CR2032 battery from your scope or LPVO. 
3. Screw the AutoLive down onto the illumination rheostat. 
4. Snug the lock nut down. 
5. Put your CR2032 back in. 
6. Screw the scope’s battery cap back down. 

The result: “AutoLive” functionality on a scope that didn’t previously have it. 

AutoLive Compatability

This is just a partial look at an ongoing list of compatible optics. Be sure to check the Primary Arms website for the most current compatibility list. 

• Primary Arms SLx 1-8×24 FFP & SFP
• Primary Arms SLx 1-10×28 SFP
• Primary Arms SLx 1-6×24 SFP Gen III and IV
• Primary Arms SLx 1-6×24 FFP
• Primary Arms SLx 1-5×24 FFP
• Sig Optics Tango6® MSR 1-6x24mm
• Vortex Strike Eagle® 1-6
• Vortex Strike Eagle® 1-8

AutoLive: Final Thoughts

The AutoLive battery cap was announced during SHOT 2023, during which Soldier Systems described it as “…easily the best thing to come out of SHOT Show simply because of its simplicity and relevance.” Subsequent marketing copy from the manufacturer said, “…they’re set to revolutionize your optic experience. If you haven’t heard about them yet, these innovative caps are designed to bring the ‘shake-awake’ feature to optics that may not have it.”

There’s no reason we can see to dispute either of those statements. 

 

AutoLive For Sale

• Gun.Deals ($$$ compare)
• Primary Arms
• Optics Planet

 

 

 

 

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Here’s some more on the topic.