Linqian Chen asked a good question in the Youtube comments to my latest Live episode, so I figured I should address it in a somewhat more lengthy format. The discussion pertains to the usefulness of side focus on LPVOs (see the attached snapshot).
With new and more capable AR cartridges, one question that constantly comes up is how do I set up the optics to reach way out there.
I have come up against this multiple times because I have been an early 6.5Grendel adopter and it is a legitimate 1000 yard cartridge unless your a shooting a short barrel at sea level. Where I live Hornady factory 123gr ammo is supersonic to around 1100 yards out of an 18" barrel. I am in the process of building a 6mm ARC that will another 200 yards to that.
Is an LPVO still the right choice for rifles like this? Well, if you are not planning to also shoot fast and close with it, the answer is no.
My Razor Gen3 1-10x24 has found a home on a very accurate 223Wylde AR-15 built around a 16" Proof carbon fiber barrel. The gun is light enough to take a carbine class with and accurate enough to shoot far away with. Given that with Hornady Superformance 5.56 ammo it is a legitimate 900 yard gun, it is a perfect place for a modern high quality 1-10x24 LPVO. I tested long range performance of the Razor and the March 1-10x on my 6.5Grendel and March's side focus gave it an edge beyond 800 yards.
While both scopes did well, they are not optimal for rifles intended to shoot at longer distances most of the time.
At the moment, I am wrapping up a test of US Optics FDN17x 3.2-17x50 scope and I am struck by how appropriate that magnification range is for the Grendel. For ARs chambered for 6.5Grendel or 6mm ARC, if you are not planning to be blasting targets at close range 50% of the time, I would probably lean toward something along the lines of 2-12x, 3-15x, 3-18x, 4-20x, etc with a 36-50mm objective and offset red dot . Given the platform, I'd do some research and try to find something that is on the light and compact side, while still being serviceable. Then, there are the obvious considerations of reticle selection, but that is very individual.
I have been trying to get scope manufacturers to make me a 3-15x36 scope for years for just such an application, but no luck yet. Maybe some day. In the meantime, there are some good options out there already and more are coming. I have one in my hands right now that is near perfect for this application, but I can't talk about it until it is announced. For obvious reasons.
Stay tuned!
DNT's 7-35x56 has been here since February and I have managed to have some reasonably significant amount of time with it to date. This video is mostly in the nature of a "first look", although a bit more extensive than that. I will follow up with a careful examination of the reticle and low light performance.
https://amzn.to/4iGPl9w
So far, I am quite impressed with what the scope offers for the money.
Talking to one of the owners, he said he wants to be the undisputed bang for the buck champ under $1k. It is too early to be sure, but he might have a point there.
So far, I am quite impressed with the optic for what it costs and everything I have heard about customer support has been good.
The scope I have did have a minor glitch with the focus cell (I talk about that in the video), but it seems to have worked itself out. Perhaps there was some sort of a minor machining mark somewhere in there that got polished out.
Beyond that, it has been a good scope for me. I tried it on a ...
Here is another scope that has been here entirely too long without a formal review.
Delta Javelin 4.5-30x56, along with Athlon Ares ETR 4.5-30x56, stands at the top of the ladder of Chinese-made precision scopes I have seen to date.
To be fair, there are some new ones that are popping up that I have not tested yet (like the Telson 5-25x56) and some excellent ones that are less expensive (like DNT 7-35x56). Still, of the ones I have had a chance to spend some serious time with, it is Javelin and Ares ETR. Athlon has a Gen2 of the ETR that was announced this year, that I am very curious to test against the Javelin. Compared to the Gen1 ETR, I thought they were extremely close optically, but I slightly preferred the turrets and the reticle in the Javelin. We'll see if Athlon's Gen2 will change that.
I talk about Delta a good bit, but the brand is still not very widespread in the US. Still, there are several people selling them including Don at @AnnexDefense . Since he is a member here, I...
As I was getting this final video ready, I could not help but think that I have been talking about this LRF bino incessantly since December when I first got my hands on it.
https://alnk.to/eONAsar
I was very impressed with it when it arrived and I am very impressed with it now. I thought it was worthwhile to do a video wrap-up, see if any questions come up (i.e. something I forgot to address) and cover all the unintended omissions in an article.
Leica is, occasionally, a mystifying company in terms of their market strategy, but there is never any doubt about their technical capability. They can and do make absolutely exceptional optical instruments. There is new leadership in Leica's US office and I walked away from a meeting with them very encouraged. They seem to be listening to the market and have some good things in store.
In the meantime. as I said in the video, as far as LRF binoculars go, this is the best image quality I have seen to date combined with a very consistent LRF. ...
Hey ILya, have you had an opportunity to look at this new one?
https://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threads/i-spy-new-baby-razor-g3-4-24.7252761/#post-12086413
What are your thoughts on the new 5-40I dlr from Kahles for prs and nrl hunter? I was looking at either a zco or tangent to upgrade from my atacr, and came across this. Area 419 did some testing, but I would like to know your thoughts on this before I spend the money on it.
My understanding is that their warranty used to be problematic, but they have improved their warranty and customer service.
I am not crazy about their reticles, I really like my mil C, but could probably live with the skmr + if the brightness, fov, depth of field, and paralax forgiveness are a big improvement from what I have now.
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.
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.
Like any self respecting firearm enthusiast I always have some number of projects going on concurrently. One of them is a fast twist 22-250 bolt gun.
Every once in a while Tikka makes a run of 22-250 T3x rifles with 1-8” twist barrel and I happen to have one. That dramatically changes the varminty character of the 22-250. With a modern 80gr bullet, it is a nicely viable hunting rifle for small and medium game (just about perfect for pronghorn). It is also a very capable long range number. At the altitude where I live, it does not go subsonic until you get to about 1400 yards.
1-8” twist will not stabilize the heaviest available 22 bullets, but works well enough for anything up to about 80grains, depending on the bullet construction.
