DarkLordOfOptics
Politics • Science & Tech • Sports
Guns, Optics, 2nd Amendment and resisting the Left in everything they touch.
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Black Friday

There is a very fair chance that your e-mail is filled with hundreds of "once-in-a-lifetime" or "today only" deals. If you are not careful, you can end up with a once in a lifetime credit card bill next month.
I am generally not hugely pre-occupied with deals and I do not wait for a particular season to buy something. If I am looking for something specific, I usually need it and I am unlikely to spend months analyzing what deals are out there.
There are some exceptions to that, most notably with backup optics (see my earlier post on Primary Arms) and tools.
I have a good assortment of tools to use, but I have been keeping an eye out for deals on Fix-It-Stick kits since I like to have a few spread around different bags/backpacks/etc. It turns out that I am pathologically incapable of remembering to move one from bag to bag, so I ended up accumulating a few here and there I am picking another one up this time since they have a healthy Black Friday discount going on: https://bit.ly/3nTqzsL
They seem to have a site-wide discount going on. I primary use different kits from them All-in-One torque limits. This is not as precise of an approach as preset torque limiters, I think, but I like the flexibility.

Another type of a back up optic I found myself using a good bit is a SeeAll sight. I have talked about these in the past and it is another topic I need to revisit. Originally, I was somewhat unimpressed and thought it was a solution looking for a problem. Honestly, I still do, if you are looking at these at regular price levels. However, they have a 50% off deal going on at the moment and that changes thing a little bit. I'll have another video up on these in a bit since there has been some evolution with these. In terms of functionality, I think these are an improvement over iron sights, but they are not quite as fast on target as proper small red dot sights. SeeAll sights do have the advantage of being inexpensive, fairly robust (so far) and not requiring batteries. I ordered a couple to keep as spares and to use in an upcoming red dot sight test I am working on. https://www.seeallopensight.com/

With conventional riflescopes, I have not spent a whole lot of time looking at what is out there since I am not really looking for anything specific at the moment. However, I did fish out a very nice deal on the Arrowhead LPVO from SwampFox. You know my general take with LPVOs is to spend a little more money and get a little more performance, but if you budget is limited, between SwampFox Arrowhead and Delta Hornet you have very respectable options. I did a review on the 1-10x24 Arrowhead and concluded it is a well built scope. Brownells carries them, so technically I can use my affiliate links and all (https://bit.ly/312Wzle), but you can get these for less directly from SwampFox, presumable this weekend only: https://www.swampfoxoptics.com/arrowhead-lpvo-series?utm_source=ALL&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Black%20Friday%20-%20Friday%20-%20REG%20%28QQ9Yvc%29&_kx=UTi__uzrjA7GwaHSJLYYqDEXxFreT5Dj2Jq-lshpB4n4LOYEk2rl1gvnWUxO3t7y.XdaVQT

From a training standpoint, I have been spending a lot of time with Mantis products lately, most importantly the Blackbeard and Laser Academy. I really like them. I do not see any Black Friday deals right offhand, but but if you are looking for a better way to do dry practice, this is worth looking into:
https://mantisx.com/collections/all-items/products/blackbeard-the-auto-resetting-trigger-for-ar-15

Shooting support: I mostly use tripods from Field Optics Research for shooting (Pro32) and I even have a discount code for supporters, but they have a Black Friday deal that is better than my discount. 25% off is pretty nice: https://www.fieldopticsresearch.com/shopping.htm
The discount code is BF2021
The specific products that stand out to me and that I use are the following:
Flexlite Gunpod Vise:https://www.fieldopticsresearch.com/shop/Weapon-Support-Tripod-Mounts/p/FlexLite-GunPOD-FM-300F-x52099105.htm
High Angle Bracket: https://www.fieldopticsresearch.com/shop/Tripods-for-Shooting/p/High-Angle-Bracket---HAB-270-x49747654.htm
PRO32 tripod: https://www.fieldopticsresearch.com/shop/Tripods-for-Shooting/p/PRO32-MIL-ASFPL-System-x45153725.htm
ULP Panhead https://www.fieldopticsresearch.com/shop/Heads--QR-Plates/p/Ultra-Low-Profile-Pan-Head-ULP-x51054447.htm

While Primary Arms seems to have a sitewide Surefire sale ( ), the one Surefire product I use all the time is not there. Palmetto does have it discounted nicely though: https://bit.ly/3rdy3Je
I like momentary tailswitches and Surefire's E2T Tactician is the handheld flashlight I use more often than not. I keep on trying a bunch of other stuff and for handheld I use I keep on coming back to this one, so I ordered a spare: https://bit.ly/3lbzJPR

Triggertech: most of the recent AR-15 builds I have done had a Triggertech trigger in them, largely because I got a few during the last Black Friday deal. However, I really like their feel, so that is another thing that I am constantly keeping tabs on and try to have one or two on hand. Eurooptic has these at 20% off. The one I use most of the time is the adaptable model with flat trigger: https://bit.ly/3xoTmc0

US Optics: I have talked in the past about US Optics' budget TS product line. The only one of these I have any significant experience with is the 3-12x44 TS-12x and I happened to really like it especially for rimfire applications. Also, the existence of this design gives hope to my version of the MPVO concept. At this moment, this scope can be had for $350 which is a really good deal: https://bit.ly/3lbzfsO

S&B: given how much these cost, this is definitely not an impulse buy. Schmidt makes a significant number of different scope models and keeping track of them all can get kinda interesting. I have been looking at them here and there and there are a few models I really like. Somewhat controversially, one of my favourites is the 5-20x50 Ultrashort. It is hard to make very short scopes, but as I spend more time with various thermal clipons, I develop new appreciation for these. Unfortunately, this is also a model I do not see discounted very much. Europtic has a 12% discount on them right now which is ahefty some of money given how much these cost. If I were looking to pick one, the 5-20x50 with DT II turrets and MSR2 reticle would be at the top of my list: https://bit.ly/312VUAE

I'll add more stuff to this post if anything else that is interesting pops up.

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Vortex Defender XL Green

This is the second time Vortex' Defender XL crosses my path. I was very impressed with the original red dot version, so I was curious to see how the one with the green dot works for my eyes.
To get the details, see the attached video.
The cliff's notes version is that I am just as impressed with this one. In terms of collimation quality and parallax control, it is quite exceptional.
https://alnk.to/881BEV1

00:10:20
Primary Arms HTX-1 US Made red dot sight

I've had this RDS for a bit over two months now and I am beyond pleased with it.
Despite some spirited abuse, it keeps soldiering on.
https://alnk.to/1C9z5dw
It is a very nice RDS and being fully made in the US does not hurt either.

00:13:03
Delta Stryker 3.5-21x44 Wrap-up

This scope comes up a lot since I really like the configuration. It is time to do a final wrap-up of it.

It is one of my favourite scopes on the market today, especially for the money, since I naturally lean toward general purpose-ish designs. Still, while the 3.5-21x44 Stryker is relatively compact and light, it still clearly leans toward the precision side of things, which suites me very well.

https://annexdefense.com/optics-and-optic-accessories/delta-optics/

00:10:25
Labor Day is upon us...

As we head into Labor Day, we will all be bombarded with a huge number of emails indicating impending discounts of all sorts.
I am not even going to pretend that I have the bandwidth to go through it all, but if I see something worthwhile, I'll post it here. This will remained pinned to the top of the feed for a week or so.

The first nice deal that crossed my path here is steep discount on the original version of the FFP PLxC LPVO from Primary Arms. https://alnk.to/5Q7R6eK
Now that the new version with nuclear bright illumination came out, it looks they are closing out the original. It is a lot of LPVO for $1100 and the version with the Meters reticle is my favourite. You can easily make it work for imperial units.

Anarchy Outdoors has 15% off on stocks, chassis and magazines with LABORDAY25 code. Generally, it is 10% off sitewide with the same code. My relatively routine recommendation, as far as the products they carry go, is the Area 419 mount ...

I was a bit confused at the beginning but this is a new Model looking at the turret compare to old LH2-10x40,
Any news on this ?
https://www.amazon.com/Vortex-Optics-Razor-Second-Riflescopes/dp/B0FBMNTW52?th=1

Updates, deals and new review items: PLxC RDB, Zeiss Tripod, etc

As the week is coming to an end, I find myself in an unusual place: home.

I plan to be home between now and September 1st when I have to go to Israel for ten days, returning on the 11th (dayjob stuff).

For the last couple of months, between family vacations, work and a couple of matches, it seems like I only spent enough time at home to check zero on my 6.5CM Fix and head out again (it has not shifted, thank you Area 419 mount).

I have a lot to do during the next two weeks, but I will try to take some pictures, film some footage and release it as I go along. I can edit videos on the plane or in Israel just about as well as I can at home.

While generally, I am very picky about what I accept for review (given my bandwidth limitations), I do have a few new things here worth talking about.

One is Primary Arms new PLxC RDB 1-8x24 LPVO. It is essentially a version of the original FFP PLxC LPVO except with different reticle illumination technology. The new model utilizes diffractive reticle illumination (same style ...

Well, that was a doozy...

My original plan was to try to set up a hunt where my daughter will have her first memorable hunting experience without working too hard.

The choice of the pronghorn hunt was largely based off of my experience in that same area last year.

The way it went last year was quite straightforward.  We drove around until we saw a large pronghorn buck.  It was a solitary animal that decided to lie down in an open area to relax.  We made a short stock, crawled the last hundred yards or so, found a good spot about 350 yards away from the pronghorn and made the shot.

https://darklordofoptics.locals.com/post/6034347/well-that-was-a-nice-morning

This year, when I decided to take my daugher on the same pronghorn hunt on the day of her 14th birthday, I figured it will be somewhere along those same lines.  It kinda was, but not quite.

Still, it worked out nicely.

In the pciture:

Q Mini-Fix with 6ARC 16" Proof Research carbon fiber barrel

Q Jumbo Shrimp supressor

Gunwerks Elevate 2.0 bipod

Telson Toxin 3-18x50 riflescope

Leica Geovid Pro AB+ LRF binoculars

Pint-sized sticky Gamechanger bag

Unnamed pronghorn buck.  It will likely get a name once it's skull is euro-ed and is hanging on the wall.

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Arming The Children
A couple of very specific children that is

In case you were wondering, no, I am not starting an underage militia.

I do have two kids though and I am teaching them to shoot.

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Steiner C35 Gen2 Mount
from Annex Defense

The production version of the Annex Defense's mount for the Steiner C35 Gen2 thermal Clip-on is finally here.  At $1600 (when this is published), the clip-on is an absolute steal.

I've had it for a few days, but, me being the good old paranoid me, I spent some time shooting with it before posting anything.  I had a couple of days with it prior to last weekend's match in Montana and a couple of days after.  Another to pop it on and off a few times and get a couple of hundred rounds of 6.5Grendel through the gun to see if anything shakes loose.  So far so good.

The C35 Gen2 clip-on is sitting on my 6.5Grendel AR as a part of a long running "Only One" project that I have.  It pairs perfectly with the Steiner H6Xi 2-12x42 scope.

Here is what comes in the box from Annex Defense:

The order in which the whole thing comes togethe is pretty stragihtforward:

-slide the thermal washer onto the threaded interface extending out of the back of the clip-on

-spin the mount itself onto the threaded interface (the mount is threaded on the inside) until it can go no further

-rotate the mount so that the clip-on is properly lined up to the picatinny clamp

-once you are happy with the alignment, use the three nylon tipped set screws (you'll need an allen wrench for that) to lock in the position of the clip-on in the mount.  You need very little torque on the set screws.  They are there for one reason and one reason only: to keep the mount from spinning when you tighten the timing nut in the next step

-spin the timing nut onto the threaded interface of the clip-on to lock the mount in place.  You should not need the timing nut wrench, but one is in there just in case.

Here are the pieces laid out in the order in which you will need them.

When you are done, it should look like this:

Note that the mount normaly comes with two T20 screws.  I am using two thumbscrews instead, since I am popping the mount on and off all the time.  It seems to be staying put with the thumbscrews just fine.  I am hoping Annex will offer the thumbscrews as an option.

It is not quite an equivalent of a QD mount, but we needed something with an extremely low profile clamp to fit under scopes with fairly large objectives.  As is, the mount works with most scope that have objective lens diameter of 50mm or less.

I am using with with Steiner H6Xi 2-12x42 and the two work together exceedingly well.

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