DarkLordOfOptics
Politics • Science & Tech • Sports
Guns, Optics, 2nd Amendment and resisting the Left in everything they touch.
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LPVO Value Proposition?

I received a really good question on LPVOs via a private message and I think it is worth digging into a little more in a future livecast. Let me know if this is something you want discussed.
The question itself was rather detailed, which I like, and I will leave the details in a private conversation where they were asked. However, the gyst of it is as follows: "With Low Powered Variable Optics of today, at what price point do you get the most for you money?"
The same question can be asked about prismatic scopes (and I am looking at a whole bunch of them right now trying to answer that) and non-focusing sights (I spent part of the last two years trying to answer that, so I am pretty up to speed there).
Naturally, the discussion gets really complicated by the "Made in China" question. Are you willing to buy a Chinese made product or not?
I take a pretty dim view of Chinese Communist Party, as you may imagine, but I am also a realist and a lot of stuff is made in China. Moreover, I have to be honest with you and admit that sporting optics are not exactly something that makes any difference in the great power competition between the US and China. Now, high tech stuff, like 5G technology, high tech military technologies and semiconductor stuff is a different ballgame. On top of that, I also have to differentiate between the Chinese Communist Party and normal Chinese engineers and technicians who just want to live their lives and trust the CCP about as much as you an I do.
Ultimately, I do not pretend to have any sort of an answer on whether we should be buying Made in China optics and that is something you should answer for yourself. I own a good number of Chinese-made products and I make it a point to note where things are made, so you can make a decision for yourself.
I do try to stick to brands that also have some sort of a presence in the US and that are trying to grow their operations here, but as I said, you have to make your own decisions there. I am happy to make recommendation either way, as long as we define the boundary conditions the right way.
Perhaps, I'll do a livecast on where I think the value curve tops out for different types AR optics, i.e. price point beyond which you run into diminishing returns.
With LPVOs, it really depends on what you are looking for. If you are looking for a true do all scope, I think $2k for Vortex Razor Gen3 1-10x24 is where it is at. It is a lot of money, but FFP LPVOs with bright reticle illumination are still expensive.
If you are willing to compromise on a few things here and there, you can save a lot of money. For example, if your typical use is restricted to mid/close range or at least you do not need engage targets beyond 500 yards or so on a regular basis, you can save a lot of money by sticking with several excellent options in the $800-$1200 range (Delta Stryker 1-6x24, Vortex Razor Gen2, Sig Tango6, etc). That is the price range that better Chinese scopes are really pushing into and seem to offer a lot of value.
For example, SwampFox Arrowhead 1-10x24 surprised me with how competent it is for under $600 and there are several new models coming from multiple manufacturer that will likely take a step above that.
Thankfully, there are a lot of options in the $500-$1200 range made in China, Phillipines and Japan, so if you are clear in terms of feature you are looking for, it is not terribly difficult to come up with something.
I plan to continue looking at LPVOs in 2021 and the under $2k segment is what interests me the most.
I am really curious about the Sig Tango 6t that is assembled in the US.
Athlon has a new Ares ETR 1-10x24 coming out that I really should look at.
I am sure SwampFox has something interesting up their sleeve, but like most makers they have a hard time keeping up with demand with their current products.
I am looking at a few very compelling red dots and prismatics from Primary Arms, and I am considering re-visiting some of their LPVOs as well.
Burris is definitely due for a new LPVO since they discontinued the 1-8x24 XTR II. I am sure they have something coming.
Their sister company, Steiner, is doing some really clever things with thermal scopes and I wonder what they have planned for LPVOs.
Crimson Trace is a company to watch. They have some new stuff coming out and they understand how important the AR market is.
Vortex already has one of the most complete LPVO line-ups in the business, so I am not sure what to expect from them in 2021, but time will tell.
Leupold is a little weak at the moment as far as LPVOs go and a lot of their recent designs have been very good. I am very curious to see what they are planning.
Bushnell is also a little weak there, especially in the mid-to-high end where they discontinued just about everything they had. I am sure they are cooking something up.
And the list goes on. I suspect that four years of Kamala Harris in the White House will keep the gun market very lively with shortages of damn near everything. It will be difficult for optics companies to balance out the need to manufacture existing products with the need to develop new ones. 2021 will likely tell us in which direction different companies will lean.

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Burris XTR PS HUD

Here is a better look at the Heads Up Display (HUD) in Burris' XTR PS scopes. In this case, I am looking through a 3.3-18x50, but the HUD is the same in both models.
https://alnk.to/4qN7csi

AFF10 code gets you extra 10% off on just about anything on Opticsplanet website starting at midnight tonight.

The more time I spent with HUD equipped scopes, the more I think that this is a significant step forward.

If they ever get a WMLRF to connect to this thing, it will be amazing, but even as is, I think it is a meaningful advantage.

00:09:18
Through the scope view at the STR-MIL reticle in Steiner H6Xi 2-12x42

Here is a quick look at the reticle through the scope. As I watch the video, it looks thinner in the picture than it does in real life. I have a suspicion that those relatively dense 0.2mrad hashmarks make the primary stadia stand out more than they would otherwise.

One one hand, I'd prefer for this reticle to be a little bolder or have some high visibility features.

On the other hand, it is pretty usable as is and the scope is quickly becoming one of my favourite MPVO designs currently on the market.

Next step will be to get it back on the gun, mount a piggy-backed RDS and do some shooting from 10 yards to 800 yards.
https://alnk.to/9bvy9a9

00:04:19
Zeiss SFL 12x50

Zeiss makes quite a few binoculars. Aside from an occasional misstep (Terra...), most of them are pretty good.
As with any product line, some models come together better than others.
Zeiss' SFL product line is something I looked at briefly, but never dwelled on it too much. They seemed like nice binoculars, but I never really looked at them carefully.
Imagine my surprise when the folks at Zeiss reached out and asked if I want to take a look at their new 12x50 version of the SFL.
They know I live out west, so they must have heard I have the space to really work out where the limits of a 12x50 binocular are.
Given that sending me a product to look at involves certain risks (until I am pretty much done with the review, I ignore marketing literature and any and all attempts from any company to tell me what to say), I figured that they either decided to live dangerously or that they are pretty damn confident of how good the product is.
I do not know for sure which one it is, but the ...

00:11:45
17 hours ago

Hey ILya, are you doing OK? Read on the Hide that you were pretty worn out and trying to get over an illness. Hope you're feeling better.

Burris Fullfield 3-12x56

For several years now I have been saying that I should look at hunting scopes a bit more carefully. I always get distracted, but not entirely.

Just got my hands onto the re-designed Burris Fullfield 3-12x56.

Just received the 3-12x56 Fullfield with #4 reticle and illuminated dot.

Optically, it looks quite nice. I was not sure if they would be able to pull off a 56mm lens on a scope this short at this price, but it looks like they did. It seems to be very nicely corrected.

Eye relief is pretty consistent. It looks to be a hair over 3 inches on 12x. Once I got it set up on12x, I did not have to make any adjustments to my head position at other magnifications.

On lower power, there is enough eyerelief flexibility to accommodate sitting and standing shooting positions. I do not have to crane my neck when shooting sitting or standing.

The turrets have surprisingly decent feel, but I plan to keep them covered once the scope is sighted in.

The reticle is very visible and the illuminated ...

Do you remember what the turrets felt like on your Zeiss LRP S5? Did your elevation and windage turrets feel similar? Mine are quite different.

The elevation turret on mine doesn't feel nearly as good as the windage turret.

The windage turret is very tactile and audible, you can feel each click thunk into place.

My elevation turret is barely audible and the clicks aren't nearly as positive as the windage. It's easy to skip past click detent in the elevation turret, this not a problem on the windage turret.

I also posted this question on snipershide as "Gil P."

A first look at Steiner H6Xi 2-12x42
MPVOs are finally getting some attention

Here are some initial thoughts on the Steiner H6Xi 2-12x42.

I finally had a chance to shoot with it both supported and unsupported, which is an important part of figuring out how usable an optic is.

I found what looks to be more accurate specifications in the manual that came with the H6Xi, so the spec table is now updated:

To re-iterate from an earlier post, Eurooptic is selling the H6Xi 2-12x42 for $1350 and at that price, it is easily the best deal going in this category: https://alnk.to/90ALO3C

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AAC Ammo: Trouble In Paradise
I think this is the almighty telling me to start reloading again

Well, since I was running a little low on AAC Precision 175gr 308 ammo, I ordered another batch.  This one came from a different lot than the batch I had before.

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Deep into the 40s
42-44mm Riflescopes

I have about 13 months left to be in my 40s, so I figured this is my last opportunity to get cheeky with this project title.

As I mentioned during last week's livestream, I am kicking off a large review encompassing seven different riflescopes that really share only one thing in common: their objectives are in the 42-44mm range.

Here is a comparison table of the specs for the scopes I have on hand.  Note that the Swampfox Warhawk 2-10x44 is not going to be in this comparison very much.  I'll do a separate video on it.  The biggest reason for that is simply that this spec table is becoming too long and comparing so many scopes all at the same time is exponentially more difficult.  I was going to take out either the Warhawk or the Blackhound since neither of them have a zero stop, so I flipped a coin and Blackhound got to stay.  I will go over it a little bit below the table.

I did not set out to have this particular line-up in mind, but I like this riflescope type, so I ended up with all of these on hand.  

Some of these scopes I have lready reviewed quite thoroughly, namely the Blackhound and Tract.

If you look at the specs carefully, you'll see that these range from true ultrashort designs (GPO and March), to "kinda short" designs (Leapers, Delta, Leupold and Blackhound) to a conventionally sized Tract Toric.  Some of these lean toward the MPVO category.  Some are unabashedly aimed at the Crossover market.  Tract stands alone as a relatively conventional hunting scope, except configured very nicely to do everything as necessary.  Another scope that would fit this category very well also that is no longer here is Vortex Strike Eagle 3-18x44.  I might reference it occasionally.

I have a good amount of mileage with all of these, although I have not yet released a final review on every design.  Still, I can offer some initial thoughts in order of ascending price.

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