DarkLordOfOptics
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If I could have only one... Rifle Package
Wrapping up with 2023
December 11, 2023

End of the year means that I start massaging my "only one" mental exercise from a vaiety of different angles and see if the answer changes.  In many ways, that's a good way to test the robustness of your conclusions: approach the problem from several different sides and see if you come up with something different every time or converge on a common solution.

This one, of course, really depends on how I set up the boundary conditions.  For example, if we imagine a situation where the government goes nuts on us and all semi-auto rifles have been outlawed (kinda like the situation our esteemed turnip-in-chief Mr Biden keeps on theorizing), my perennial favourite, a 6.5Grendel AR-15, is not an option.  For the time being, let's assume I can have my ARs.

'l'll theorize a different situation where the government is planning to institute a limit on how many firearms you can have.  That makes it slightly less restrictive and makes me really think about the things I do with guns: I enjoy shooting long range, hunting, plinking, tactical-ish drills, etc.  Not really much of a shotgunner, so to me a shotgun is just a powerful close range rifle.  It does make you consider carefully what you are looking to get out of every firearm.

Every year, I wonder if I should make an effort to stick to just one gun for at least six months.  I bet, I'd be a much better shot at the end of those six months.  Unfortunately, I like messing with different gear a little too much.

If I were forced to have only one gun, it would still be a 6.5Grendel AR-15.  I can do almost anything I want with it in a pinch.  For some hunting, I would have to really be cognizant of keeping disstances moderate, of course, but it is as close as I am going to get to a "do all" rifle.  6ARC and 6.8SPC can do a lot of the same as well, but I still think that Grendel is the better balance of across the boad performance.  Last year, I theorized that a modern "small large frame" AR chambered for 8.6Blackout could supplant the Grendel and I still think it might.   However, a lot there depends on how the whole pistol brace situation works out in the end.  At the moment, it looks like it is leaning our way, but who knows.  I do not want to SBR anything, so if pistol braces remain legal, I will put together an 8.6Blackout semiauto with a 12" barrel to test that concept.  I have a couple of 8.6 suppressors on backorder, so hopefully one of them will make it here as well.  A 12" barrel with a suppressor makes for a pretty handy package.  Since 8.6 does well in both subsonic and supersonic guises, it might be a true home defense to hunting to plinking rifle.  Not sure how good of a precision rifle it would make, but maybe I'll get luck with that as well.  In terms of long range accuracy with supersonics, 8.6 is less flat than 6.5Grendel, but I am willing to give that up because it does offer more pop for hunting within 400-500 yards and because I like the subsonic capability.  If pistol braces go the way of the dodo, I might pin and weld a suppressor on to the barrel make it a one stamp gun.

The tradeoff between semi-auto 6.5Grendel and 8.6 Blackout is interesting at its core.  If subsonic shooting is important, the Blackout is clearly the way to go.  If hunting is the most important thing, 8.6 also has an edge.  Aside from a faster twist, 8.6 launches a 200gr bullet at 2100fps.  6.5Grendel launches a 123gr bullete at 2500fps.  Grendel is definitely a better plinking round and long range round.  I have hunted with the Grendel and it has done well for me.  In practical terms, it has over 1000ft-lbs of energy within 325 yads which is plenty for my purposes.  My choisen 8.6Blackout load stays above 1000ft-lbs within 625 yards, so it is definitely a more powerful round.

Still, until I build and test such an 8.6 rifle, I am sticking with the Grendel.  As I get older and get more involved with hunting I find myself leaning ever more strongly toward guns that are lightweight, easy to move around and do not beat me up too much.  I have a couple of 6.5Grendel ARs, but neither of them folds down.  They are pleasant to shoot, accurate and reliable.  If I were starting this from scratch, I'd be gettins one from FoldAR.  I have a FoldAR 5.56 and in terms of packaging it up for transportation, it is a markedly easier thing to do.  It also ends up pretty incospicuous.

The optic for it would probably have to be the new March 1.5-15x42 https://bit.ly/4acN2at because I need lower magnification for use with thermals (I like pig hunting).  I'll confirm that when March with the updated reticle gets here next week.  My perenial favourite, Tangent Theta TT315M https://bit.ly/41dz6c8 works with clip-ons in a pinch on 3x, but it is not ideal.  It is also notably longer than the March.  Tangent is better optically, especially on higher power.  The way my mind seems to work, I lean toward shorter scopes on semi-autos.  For a boltgun, Tangent is absolutely my choice.   For a semi-auto, for a while I ran a Tangent with an offset RDS on my 6.5Grendel.  There is very little that could not be done with that gun.  With offset red dots, the options are innumerable.  Ultimately, I would be leaning toward a compact enclosed model.  There are a few out there and more are about to come out.  Aimpoint ACRO is probably the best known option.  Upcoming Shield AMS might be the most compact.  Holosun makes a few similar variants.  I think I'll just go with Shield SIS that I already have and that I have used with the Tangent in the past.  Do note that I have not yet laid eyes on Trijicon's new RCR.  On a high end build, ACRO would not be out of place, overpriced and all. https://bit.ly/46Sxbej

Personally, I somewhat lean toward red dot sights that have some sort of an autoadjust mode, which is really th eonly reason I do not own an ACRO.  It is a personal choice of course. 

One of the more interesting questions to consider will be whether March's performance on 1.5x is good enough to not necessitate an RDS.  I messed with it a little when I had it and thought the performance was encouraging.  I'll revisit it.  I'd still have some sort of an auxiliary sightign system on there regardless, but it might be irons if 1.5x performance is good with the new reticle.

Now that I think of it, going with FoldAR is really a money saving choice.  If I build from scratch the way I want it (Proof Barrel, Q trigger, etc), it will end up a more expensive gun.  I have one similar build and when I add up all the components, it is around $3k, plus scope, plus RDS, plus thermal clip-on, plus suppressor.  The whole package is over $10k.  Even with FoldAR, I would probably just get the upper: https://foldar.com/product/foldar-mobetta-complete-upper/  With the lower, I'd set it up my way.

Are there less expensive scope options?  Yes, certainly, although that depends on what you want to do.   With any of these, I really like to have a backup sighting system of some sort.  Something like SwampFox Kraken, for example, would work https://bit.ly/3GnZmqs

If you are not terribly pre-occupied with low light (i.e. if you have a thermal scope or clip-on) a modern LPVO is pretty damn close to a "do all" optic.  I'd lean toward one of the options that has side focus.  That's either March 1-10x24 https://bit.ly/486i95y or Delta Stryker 1-10x28.  Since we are getting into the somewhat more affordable possibilities, Delta for $1700 is extremely compelling https://annexdefense.com/delta-stryker-hd-1-10x28-rifle-scope-do-2517-1-10/ 

Delta 3.5-21x44 is one of the better options if you do not need 1x.  This one is right around $1600.  https://annexdefense.com/delta-stryker-hd-3-5-21x44-rifle-scope/

These two Delta scopes are really carving a niche for themselves in the $1500 range.  Tract's Toric 4-25x50 is similar money, but at almost 40 ounces, I think it is intended for different applications.  With crossovers use, for the time being, I think the Deltas ahve it.

Vortex PST Gen2 3-15x44 does a little bit of everything for a lot less money.  https://bit.ly/489K8kZ Same for Tract Toric 2.5-15x44.  PST Gen2 has wider apparent FOV, so it has almost he same real FOV on 3x, as Tract has on 2.5x. 

The two above are right under $1k.  Going much further down than that gets pretty iffy, because compromizes keep piling up.  I am going to have to go out on a limb and assume that if you are shopping for a day scope well under $1k, thermals are probably not in your budget.  In that case, we can look at some fixed power scopes and see if losing variable magnification is a viable compromise.

If you want to stay with a variable scope, Athlon Helos BTR Gen2 2-12x42 is about the right size and seems to be a well built scope.  The reticle is not hugely conducive to long range, but it works.  It works nicely with clip-ons though.

If you want to go with fixed power, Element Immersive 5x30 prismatics give you pretty high end image quality for less money.  The compromize is that you a can have any magnification you want as long as it is 5x.  Now that I have had that scope for a while, I have to admit that I can stretch it to longer distances than I anticipated.  800 yards plates are perfectly viable in good light.  600 yards is pretty comfortable most of the time.  That means I can probably aim at a deer out to 300 yards or so.  That sorta makes sense since I shot an elk at a hair over 300 yards a couple of years ago.  The scope was a 1.5-8x32.  That same shot would have been perfectly comfortable with a fixed 5x. 

Perhaps, a good way to approach this is to think whether all of the optics I mention would work well with an AR-15 in 6.5Grendel.  It so happens I have tried that exact setup with good success.  How about with a bolt gun in 8.6 Blackout?  The answer is, again, yes.  How about my hypothertical 8.6Blackout semi-auto with a 12" barrel?  Probably, except with longer scopes, you might not have much room to add a clip-on.  

One question that comes up year after year is why I am loathe to consider large frame ARs chambered for 308Win or something similar.  I have made a few experiments and decided that if I get the gun light enough, recoil control gets iffy and the gun fights me too much.  8.6Blackout is a pretty mild cartridge, so I am going to experiment with it and see if my general concerns with large frame ARs can be alleviated.

As I was deliberating through all of this, I decided to set up a different scenario.  This one deviates a bit from the "only one" idea somewhat, but it is still a useful exercise.

Let's say, the Democrats manage to push through a law that limits how many guns you can have.  Somehow.  Let's say you can have a grand total of four firearms.  How would your choices be then?  That will be in the next installment of this thought exercise.  Give it a little thought until then.

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I have both of the models of XTR PS and both work well.
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As I said in the video, I think XTR PS is a meaningful step forward in simplifying how we shoot at distance.

I will provide occasional updates as I continue using the scope.

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Scoping Gas Guns
an interesting question that acme in via PM

I received this question via a private message and thought it was interesting enough to answer it in some detail.  I have been thinking a lot about appropriate optics for gas guns recently, so this came it at the right time.

 

Here is what I ahve been messing with last few days:

 

Above: 18" WOA barrel 5.56 AR-15 with Burris XTR PS 5.5-30x56 on it.

Below: 22" Satern barrel 224Valkyrie AR-15 with Delta Stryker 3.5-21x44 on it.


For obvious reasons, I am not posting who asked the question, but what I'll do is send him a link to this article, so that he gets an answer and we might have a good discussion.
Here is what I received:

Had a question for you
I have a Knights Armament SR25 6.5CM with a 14.5" barrel - I plan on shooting 100 - 600 yards at targets at 100 yd intervals
I am favoring the TT 315P with an Aimpont Acro mounted on top -( see you liked the TT315M) - would that be enough magnification?
I saw the SB SB 5-20 which offer more top end - I like the turrets on the Tanget and tooless Zero - what are your thoughts between the 2?
If I stayed 400 and under - how do you see the TT315P with the Acro Red dot against the SB 1-8 Short Dot (saw your review on that)

There isn't really enough information in the question for a simple answer, so let's consider a couple of options.

What is the gun for? 

For shooting medium range (out to 600) with occasional close range use?  If yes, go with a conventional scope and offset or piggybacked RDS.

For shooting at close distance with occasional med/long range use? If yes, so with a nice LPVO like the above mentioned S&B Short Dot 1-8x24 https://alnk.to/3J8vlFv.  It is quite capable at long range, but where it will really knock your socks off is up close and personal.

The question of what is enough magnification is pretty personal.  For me, 3-15x is plenty, but I shoot a lot off of the tripod and off of barricades which likely influences my decision.  For that, my 3-15x50 TT315M Tangent works great and 6mrad of elevation is plenty.  https://alnk.to/gVNkUXB  175gr #08 out of a shoter tube will drop in the 5 to 5.5mrad range at 600 yards.

For a dedicated long range semi-auto, other than the looks, there isn't much downside to a larger scope, which is why I set up Burris' XTR PS on the 5.56 AR pictured above.  It is for my son to learn to shoot at distance and to us in next year's BOTC match.  https://alnk.to/gp33YuR

If I were setting up an accurate semi-auto and wanted a high mag scope for it, I would likely lean toward March 4.5-28x52. https://alnk.to/dLjHgjh  It is compact, relatively light and very good optically for any use other than the dead of the night (for which we should be using clip-ons anyway).

S&B Short Dot is a very nice scope, but March is a newer design and, other than the lowest light, has an edge in terms of image fidelity and stray light control.

TT315P Tangent is a veyr ncie scope and toolles turrets are appealing.  However, there is a weight penalty to that.  For me, that was not worth it.  I ahve 5-25x56 and 7-35x Tangents and those toolless turrets are spectacular.  However, in a 3-15x50, I am quit ecomfortable with simpler 6mrad per turn knobs on the TT315M.

 

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A morning with a chronograph

When I tell people that I am using Hornady's factory ammo for matches, I get occasionally surprised looks.  Occasionally.  Most of the time, I get fairly condescending looks from handloaders who would not let a factory round pollute the chambers of their precision rifles if their lives depended on it.

To be fair, if I had the time, I might be reloading as well.  I might be able to do better than modern factory ammo, but the truth is that I am not a quarter MOA shooter, so a lot of that would be lost on me.  The UKD matches I fidn most interesting can be done by a competent shooter with a 1MOA gun.  I am working on that first part.  I reload when I have to, but if I can get factory ammo that's not outrageously expensive and that shoots well, I will go with that every time.

I looked around and realized that I have about 600 rounds of Hornady 147gr 6.5CM factory ammo from two lots.  400 rounds from one that I will use during the match later this month.  The remainder I will likely use up practicing prior to that.

I woke up early and snuck out to the range while my family was still asleep earlier today.

I set up in the 100 yard tunnel we have.  I took my four shots to zero with the lot I plan to use for the match.  Then I fired a six shot ~0.7MOA group.  That's accurate enough for my purposes.

Here are the chronograph results:

It is slow, but accurate and consistent.

Then I shot a five round group of Hornady 147gr ammo from the other lot.

Both of those lots are not too shabby for factory ammo.  POI was within 0.2mrad between the two lots, all laterally.  

 

I had some other ammo on hand, so I fired two five shot groups with Berger 144gr hybrid target ammo and Sako TRG 136gr.

Here is what I got for five rounds of Berger:

That's not a ton of statistics, but it is a data point.  The group was ~1.1MOA

 

Here the data for the Sako TRG 136gr ammo:

This ammo showed some mild pressure signs, but not too significant.  

Again, this is not a ton of data, but Hornady is looking pretty decent here.

I'll repeat the zero retention and consistency tests a couple more times between now and June 18th when we head to Wyoming.

I might pick up a couple more boxes of Hornady 147gr from a different lot to get some more data.

More to come.

 

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First PRS Match is behind me
High Noon at Del Norte

My first PRS match is officially behind me.  It was, I think an officially sanctioned regional PRS match at the shooting range called Del Norte about an hour from me (just east of Rio Rancho).
As I discussed previously, rather than using the rifle I originally prepared for it, I ended up having to change gears at the last moment and slapping a 5-25x56 Tangent on my daughter's 6ARC MiniFIx.  A lightweight 16" Proof barreled 6ARC is not an ideal set up for PRS competition, but, in the grand scheme of things, the rifle did hot hold me back at all.  I had a couple of weights that fit the Q-cert handguard, so I slapped them on there as well, which got the rifle to right around 12lbs.  The balance point was almost where I want it, but not quite.  In all other ways, this was a very handy rifle to shoot.  I am actually thinking of getting a couple more weights that I can stack on it (Sawtooth weights are stackable), so that I can shoot some future local matches with it.  It shoots Hornady's Black 105gr ammo very well (it also shoots 108gr ELD-M and 103gr ELD-X well, but I had a larger supply of Hornady Black ammo on hand).

It chrono'ed pretty consistently for factory ammo.  Here are the measurements for a 20 shot group.

If I were to take out the fastest shot, SD drops down to 8fps.  

In terms of wind performance, it is a 5mph rifle, so slightly better than the 308 ammo I was going to use originally, but not as good as the 6.5CM that was my intended match rifle for this year (we make plans, but then life happens).

I do have to admit that I really enjoyed shooting the match with the MiniFix.  So much so, that I am seriously thinking of building another one for myself, since this rifle is technically my daughter's.

The closest shot we had was a bit over a couple of hundred yards.  The furthest was around 1150.  That was a bit challenging for the 16" barreled 6ARC, especially since the terrain there is tricky and wind is doing strange things.  Morning was relatively quiet wind-wise, but then the wind becamse gusty with changing directions.

It was a one day match with about 30 shooters (six squads) and ten stages.  The 17 year old kid who won the match was in my squad with his dad.  Apparently he is on the US team, so it should not be surrpising that he won.  He was very good.

Overall level of the shooters in the match was quite good.  I really was not sure what to expect.  Somewhat paradoxically, the only matches that I have shot in so far are the much larger two day NRL Hunter matches.  In those, I am just out of the bottom third in terms of skill level.  In this match, it was pretty much in the same spot, I think.  

The terrain was a little bit like Cameo, I think (I have been there, but not shot there), with some angle changes and sufficient vegetation to make getting on target occasionally troublesome. 

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