As a reminder, the plan is to choose scopes as my reference standards in a few categories and make sure I keep them on hand for at least a year or so.  If they move on somewhere, I have to designate something else as the reference standard in that category.  There might be a couple of reference standard designs in each category to split them by price range.

Here is the riflescope categorization that I like to use https://darklordofoptics.locals.com/post/5212669/riflescope-type-classification 

Do keep in mind, that some categories I am not as well versed in as I'd like to be.  Also, there might be scopes in each category I consider exceptional, but do not have on hand.  Reference standard has to be something I have here and will use as a basis for comparisons.  I will endeavor to use optics that I believe to be at the top of their category, but it is not always possible.  Natirually, these will lean heavily toward mrad designs.  I avoid MOA like the plague whenever possible.

Fixed 1x
Interestingly, I do not actually have any 1x prismatics at the moment.  However, a friend of mine inherited the PA GLx 1x and my brother has Primary Arms SLx 1x Microprism.  https://bit.ly/3uLqu0E I Most of the differences between modern 1x prismatics come down to reticles and eyebox.  On balance, GLx is probably the yardstick for the rest of them.

Fixed mag small prism
No changes here.  This can go in a variety of different directions depending on personal preferences and price.  It is not practical to have a reference standard for every magnification and with compact prismatics I do like 3x as a good compromise magnification.  These scopes are a step up from people who have been using red dots with magnifiers and want a better experience at distance.  This one will also go to Primary Arms.  Technically, I like GLx 2x more than SLx 3x, but 2x is such a unique magnification that it is not a very good yard stick for comparisons.  SLX 3x Microprism it is, then.  

Fixed mag large prism

Somewhat oddly, with large prism scopes, I start leaning toward higher magnifications.  I want these in 4x or 5x.  I view these differently.  These are, to me, alternatives to LPVOs and spiritual successors of old general purpose 4x and 6x fixed power scopes, except more compact and with wider FOV.  There a couple of good options and, unsurprisingly, my favourites are Element Immersive 5x30  and the discontinued Elcan Spectre OS 4x.  The dual power Spectre DR is still thriving, as expensive as it is.    I have the single magnification 4x and it is a very good yardstick for what a high end prismatic should be.  With the Element, I am clearly biased since I designed the reticle for it.  In other words, I got to put a reticle I could not get other people to make into a scope I like.  You should not be terribly surprised to see it here.

LPVO

This one gets tough and there will be several options here.  Keep in mind that I like FFP LPVOs once we get up in price.  One of the reasons it gets tough is that as I keep putting together ARs for various family members, different LPVOs I have tend to migrate elsewhere.

With budget LPVOs, for now, I think Primary Arms SLx 1-6x24 with Nova reticle is the one to beat, but I no longer hae one here.  I should probably get another one and keep it here for comparison purposes.

On the mid-range, it is a battle between SAI6 1-6x24 with mrad reticle and the new PA PLxC 1-8x24 with day bright reticle illumination.  With PA, the reticle got a bit better sicne they went to diffractive illumination, but I would prefer a short mil tree of some sort.  It is light and short with an excellent eyepiece.  With SAI6, I like the whole reticle line-up but lean toward the mrad designs for general purpose use.  The X-Wing style high visbility feature is not for everyone, but it works for me.  I suppose I will keep both here.  

If you go up in price, my basic opinion has not changed.  Vortex Razor Gen3 1-10x24 is the one to beat if you want a nuclear bright reticle.  However, the notably less expensive PA PLxC with RDB reticle is absolutely giving it a run for its money.  The mrad reticle in the Vortex is more my cup of tea, though.

This leaves a little of a "no-man's land" with LPVOs that are designed to be true general purpose designs, like the side focus equipped March Shorty 1-10x24 and Delta Stryker 1-10x28.  They are a little too different to serve as a useful yardstick for anything but each other.  I ended up keeping the Delta.  Side focus really helps behind clip-ons.

Dangerous Game

I may have to skip one because I do not really have anything on hand right now (rifle-wise) that fits the description.  If I were to buy one, let's say a traditional 375H&H or 416Rigby, it would get Primary Arms' PLxC 1-8x24 SFP with fiber reticle.  In case it has not come through too well, I really like the PLxC line-up.

MPVO

For the time being, the one to rule them all is the dual focal plane March 1.5-15x42 https://bit.ly/4bjm15X  This category, almost by definition, is the one where compromises are made for the most flexibility.  This March is not perfect, but it is the best we currently have.  On the budget end, the yardstick should be Athlon's excellent Helos BTR Gen2 2-12x42, but it is sitting on top of a friend of mine's rifle two states to the West.  It can't be a reference standard if it is not here.  In the meantime, the old reliable SWFA SS 3-9x42 will do.  I have a couple of them.  https://swfa.com/swfa-3-9x42-ss-hd-mil-quad-reticle-30mm-tube-1-mil-clicks-ffp/

There is a big gap between a $600 SWFA and a $3100 March.  In the mid-range, Steiner H6Xi 2-12x42 with STR-Mil reticle is easily my favourite.  If I were going to have only one MPVO and I was payign for it out of my own pocket, Steiner would probably be it, so it is staying here.

Tweener

I do not like to use a discontinued scope as a yardstick, but Razor HD LH 1.5-8x32 has got to be it.  It is not a common scope category, so we will hoble along like this until I come up with something still manufactured (that fits the profile and I like).  On the low-ish end of the price range,  I do like SWFA 2.5-10x32 Ultralight and have a couple of them.  https://swfa.com/swfa-2-5-10x32-ss-ultralight-msr-556-bdc-reticle-1-tube-25-moa-clicks/ 

GPO makes a 1.5-9x32, but I do not have one.

Crossover

For once, this one is easy and I'll keep it all within a sane-ish price range.  Vortex Razor HD-LHT 4.5-22x50 and Delta Stryker 3.5-21x44 https://annexdefense.com/delta-stryker-hd-3-5-21x44-rifle-scope/ are the purest expressions of the crossover idea I have seen to date, this side of Tangent TT315M that you will see a couple of categories down.

Traditional Hunting

This get difficult again because it is not a type of a scope that is common around these parts and the ones I look at do not stick around too long.  I simply happen to be an FFP guy.  However, some hunting scope articles are very much overdue and I do have an excellent Delta Titanium 1.5-9x45.  In sticking with sane prices, let's add Tract Toric 2.5-15x44 with illuminated reticle to this list. 

These two should give me a decent ability to compare.  On the high end, there is the rather remarkable Tangent Theta Long Range Hunter that is the one to beat which is why it is not going anywhere.

General Purpose Practical Precision

Given how much this crosses over with, pun intended, crossover designs above, I could have merged them into signle category.  It would make too much sense so here we are.  Tangent Theta TT315M 3-15x50 is still it to me.  It does have limited elevation travel, so you have to be somewhat careful with how you mount it (in extreme cases, Burris XTR Signature rings where you can use their inserts to adjust slope may be needed).   Still, I have found nothing better yet.

If you want something more reasonably priced, I am going to go with the Telson Toxin 3-18x50 which repalces the very nice Burris XTR3i 3.3-18x50.  Both are very solid scopes, but Telson reticle has better visibility and it controls flare a little better.

Long Range Practical Precision

I might catch a lot of flack for this one, but so be it.  

High end: There are several spectacularly capable options, but there is a reason I shoot with the different Tangent Thetas, 5-25x56 and 7-35x56

Best bang for the buck on the high end: Vortex Razor Gen3 6-36x56 https://alnk.to/74xn2BV

Mid-range: Delta Stryker 4.5-30x56 (there is a bunch of simlar scopes in this category and I happen to have this one) and Burris XTR PS 5.5-30x56.  I think the heads up display in the XTR PS is a meangful innovation and is the way of the future.

Budget long range: Meopta Optika6 5-30x56 is a pretty decent scope and the one I have(again, there are several to choose from that are similar, but this one is on hand).  Unfortunately it is discontinued.

DNT The One 7-35x56 is easily one of the better budget options and it is here for now.  I am not sure if I will use the DNT as the reference standard since I have a couple of other heading this way that might occupy this role.  I'll know soon.

Short Range Target:

I'll have to skip this one for now since I do not do anything along these lines.  The closest I get is my rimfire trainer and I use Vortex Razor Gen3 on that rifle with good success.

Long Range Target:

Ditto.  It is not a category I look at much, so I do not have anything on hand that will fit.  I will rectify that.  Until then, the best paper shooting scope I have and intend to keep is March 5-42x56.  It bridges several categories nicely since it is FFP, but it pulls target shooting duty for me.  If I decide to do a comparison review on target scopes, this March will serve as the reference standard.  https://bit.ly/3TdABox

Field Target:

I do not have a Field Target setup, so this category is going to be skipped for now.  Hopefuly, not for too long.  If I were to start shooting Field Target, I'd be using the 5-42x56 March mentioned above.

There is a saying out there that "slow is smooth and smooth is fast".  Watching good shooters do this, I agree.

In my personal practice, I think I've mastered the slow part.  Now, I need to work on smooth and not worry about fast.

This was a one gun match.  Everyone I saw was using ARs, though it could be done just as easily with an AK.

The stages were all inspired by John Wick movies:

1. High Table Highway
2. The Catacombs
3. Under The Table
4. Nowhere to Run
5. No Blood On Continental Grounds
6. Dammit Perkins: Hallway Edition
7. Continental Rooftop
8. Guns, Lots of Guns
9. Yeah, I thnking I'm zeroed

I took videos of all the stages, but Stage 3 for some reason:

For stage 4, I asked someone to take a video of me going through the stage.

Since I've never done a match like this, I elected to not push the pace and just try to hit everything on my own time.  It was quite a bit of fun, I must admit, and I will try to shoot more of these if they are local.  Having now done this once, I think I can comfortably go about 20% faster without losing accuracy.

Most of the shooting was pretty close, so it did not requie any precision.  A couple of stages did involve plates somewhere between 80 and 175 yards.  I did not expect that, so the gun I used was zeroed with Mk262 ammo, while I was shooting 55gr XM193.  I prefer to not mess with the zero of this gun too much, so next time I will load 3 30round mags with 77gr ammo to use on the stages where that is required.  Still, it did not slow me down too much.  It took two shots to figure out where 55s were shooting and then I was good.

As is usually the case, the difficult part in a match like this comes down to speed and efficiency, not ultimate accuracy.

They have several divisions and I chose to shoot in the Tactical Optics one.  That basically means you get to have one sighting system only, either an LPVO or prismatic or red dot with magnifier (single red dot is a different division).  You are allowed magazines of no more than 30 rounds and you can not use any shooting support supplements (no bags, bipods, etc).  You can have a sling, but on most stages it gets in the way.  We only needed one for Stage 4 since it started with breeching a door with a provided shotgun.

The gun I used is the recently build AR-15 where I used Q's 1-5" 5.56 barrel that is 9.68" long.  The handguard is Q's 9" OTP.  The suppressor is also from Q: The Southpaw.  The gun was not really broken in, but it is all broken in now.  I saw several guns go down during the match due to dirt and/or mechanical issues (broken charging handle, for example), but I had zero reliability issues with mine.  Most people were shooting unsupressed, but I would not change anything.  

The optic I used was Primary Arms' new PLxC 1-8x24 RDB and it was absolutely excellent.  It was rainy in the morning and overcast the rest of the day.

On 1x with that nuclear bright dot, it was stupid fast on target.  However, for more distant targets it was nice to dial in to 3x or so.

Interestingly, I had to dial down the dot brightness as the match proceeded since it was a little too bright.  On some of the more distant targets, the brightness got in the way a little.  I shot one stage on 1x with the illumination turned off.  I am not convinced it slowed me down much, but that could be due to me being new at this.  Still, I was able to figure out the aiming point without any issues.

My original plan was to eventually transition this gun to an Elcan 4x with a piggybacked red dot, but now I am having some reservations about it.  Both the PLxC and the Elcan use BDC reticles that do not work great with the reduced velocities out of a sub-10" barrel, but I can adapt them in a pinch, I suppose.

Given how light and compact the PLxC is, now that it has a diffractively illuminated reticle, it may very well be the best bang for the buck in the high end LPVO world.  It still uses the center chevron that many do not like, but it seems to work fine for my purposes.  The reticle is better (simpler) than on the previous FFP PLxC. It is somewhat similar to the original Meters PLxC reticle that is pretty good.

The eyepiece design on PLxC scopes is just spectacular.  The eyepiece bezel around the image is barely visible at all and the scope is exceedingly easy to use.

Overall, this gun the way it is set up now, is rapidly becoming my favourite general purpose AR variant I own.  I'll do a separate video on it at some point.

I did inadvertently learn what happens if you throw a gun with a blazing hot suppressor into a soft case.

We had to case the guns when walking from stage to stage.  I think I need a new case...

Funny thing is that I have a suppressor cover for the Southpaw, but for some reason I do not recall now I pulled it off.  It is gong back on.

The Q-cert OTP hanguard is just the right diameter for my hand and I appreciate the front grip that comes with it.  With a short-ish 9" handguard, I can't C-clamp it with a nearly straight arm, so hook the bottom three fingers of my support hand on the front grip with the index finger pointing forward and the thumb on top of the handguard.  The elbow is somewhat bent, but it is very easy to drive the gun that way and pull it a little bit back into my shoulder for a consistent hold during transitions.

Since I was worried about the 180 rule and concerned about my inexperience with running around with a gun, I did not try to push the pace at all and, in retrospect, that was the right move.  I was not rushed at any point.  I did not time out at any point.  I did not have any accuracy issues.  I did lose focus on one of the stages and forgot about three of the targets.  I was more or less on point the rest of it.

This particular match happens twice a year at the Del Norte shooting range, so I will make sure they are on my calendar.  While my primary interest with shooting sports is still with NRL Hutner and PRS stages, the faster tactical mataches are a nice diversion and offer a possibility of dragging my brother into it.  I do not know if he has the patience for precision rifle, but he would definitely enjoy this match.  I'll see if I can drag him into shooting the next one with me.

Another interesting thing is that one of the gentlemen in my squad turned out to be Parker Tomasi, the owner of Legacy Ranch.  Legacy Ranch is a new-ish private shooting facility about 45 minute drive from my house.  They are constantly expanding and, apparently, are planning to add a 1000 yard range to what they offer (currently, 450 yards is the max they have).  Parker, aside from being an exceptionally capable shot, seemed like a stand up gentleman.  I am going to go visit Legacy Ranch and see if I want to become a member.

Legacy Ranch could also be an interesting venue if I ever were to organize a shooting class or a match as a get together for those willing to travel.  They do have classrooms available.  Two of the owners are Scout snipers and they do not have any issues with guest instructors, so I can potentially invite someone like Phil Velayo or Tony Cowden or Frank Galli to come teach a class for us (assuming there is interest).

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.