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

The discount season is now truly upon us. Since the market is somewhat soft, there should be some good opportunities out there if you are in the market.
I'll keep this post pinned for a bit and I'll add things in here if something particularly interesting crosses my path, like this Pulsar with a 640x512 BAE core for $3k: https://bit.ly/49Ni6xw

Primary Arms has their Black Friday discounts up. There is a lot of them and I have not had a chance to look carefully yet. This time it is a direct discount, rather than the PA Bucks and the discount applies to stuff that is not in stock. That's where a little planning can go a long way: https://bit.ly/3gxfpJy
https://bit.ly/3RaXesL

Eurooptic nicely summarizes all the different things they have on sale here: https://bit.ly/3GaYaXG
Aside from the Pulsar linked above, I did not see too much stuff in there that stood out. However, if you need a low light hunting scopes, this Leica is a steal: https://bit.ly/3ux2Cxa
Personally, I am very tempted by the little Beretta. I find this design charming, for lack of a better word. Maybe when I am done paying for the repairs on my flooded house... https://bit.ly/49Ln2Tg
Lastly, Meopta Optika6 5-30x56 with my MRAD reticle is on sale for $699 https://bit.ly/3uwZtxk At that price, I do not think anything out there can touch the image quality.

Brownells, I think, starts their Black Friday marketing a little later, but there is already a lot of stuff discounted: https://bit.ly/49JDBPF I'll see if anything pops out to me.

Lone Wolf, on the other hand, started early: https://bit.ly/3ur65NR

Tract Optics has their Black Friday deals going until the 27th: https://help.tractoptics.com/p/5GBO-891/2023-great-deal-weekend
What stood out to me there are the 15x56 binocular for $824. I use these binos all the time and I am exceedingly happy with them.

OpticsPlanet has 12% off on everything with the GET12 coupon until midnight. Trijicon Tenmile 3-18x44 is discounted don to just over $1k and you get 12% off of that. That is a very good deal on a very competent scope: https://shrsl.com/4bjc2 At its regular price, I'd much rather get the Delta 3.5-21x44, but at less than a grand, not much can touch the Tenmile in a similar configuration.

Sportsman's Guide has kicked off their Black Friday. https://bit.ly/49JJah3 Coupon code SK1636 gets you an extra 10% off on most stuff.

GrabAGun keeps on tryign to tempt me with that little Beretta... https://bit.ly/4185pJL

Airgun Depot has the Element Immersive 5x30 discounted to $539 https://bit.ly/3GbVl8P and there is a site-wide DEPOT23 code that gets you 15% off until midnigh.

SunwayFoto has a bunch of stuff on discount and DLO discount code carves off another 5%. One thing I end up using a ton is their SP-180 arca to picatinny adaptor plate: https://sunwayfoto-store.com/products/spa-80-180-arca-swiss-tripod-dovetail-to-picatinny-rail-accessories-adapter?ref=DLO&variant=41528664850590
With tripods, I have tried many of theirs and they generally offer a lot for the money. As a general purpose design for a little bit of everything, I like TL2840CC the most and it is 20% off https://sunwayfoto-store.com/products/tl2840cc-carbon-fiber-tripod-with-lever-locks-for-dslr-cameras-4-sections-load-35lb16kg?ref=DLO
I use it with the IB-30 head for photography, observation and shooting.
That short center column is exceedingly useful for small adjustments.
https://sunwayfoto-store.com/products/sunwayfoto-ib-30-inverted-ball-head-for-tripod-and-monopod-with-qr-plate-compatible-arca-swiss-rrs-nato-picatinny-adapter-clamp-load-40lb18kg?ref=DLO

Brownells kicked of their BF15 discount code that gets you 15% off on most things. https://bit.ly/3sf74jF

Stay tuned for more stuff as it 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.

Tract has the TORIC100 coupon code that gets you $100 off any Tract Toric optic. https://tractoptics.com/toric-uhd-30mm-2-5-15x44-ffp-illuminated-mrad-eagleman-long-range-hunting-rifle-scope?ref=ILYAKOSHKIN
The coupon codes are stackable, so if you also use my DLO discount code...

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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