GA Guides

There are some common rules of thumb about matching rifle and scope quality, but the 1:1 ratio is close enough. Hey, it’s even OK to drop down to 50% of the rifle price if you need to. The point is this: don’t buy a nice rifle and stick a cheap gun show scope on it.

So why would you want or need a very high magnification scope? There are two related reasons. You might need to see and hit a reasonably-sized target at very long range, or you might need to be able to see and hit a much smaller target at shorter ranges.

The Advanced Armament Corp. is launching a new standard for their in-house handguards called SquareDrop, based on the open-source KeyMod standard.

Matching the seemingly infinite number of AR rifles on the market is a multitude of suitable optics. Red dots, holographic sights, fixed-power scopes and variable-power scopes fill the shelves, so how do you choose? Let’s take a look at some factors to consider, then we’ll discuss some pros and cons of some of the common categories of AR-15 optics.

Streamlight’s got a handy lineup of small, versatile and light flashlights and weaponlights that run off multiple power sources called the ProTac series.

In this episode of the optics buying guide, we’re going to get a little bit geeky, but still practical, about the different types of “red dots” and how one might use them.

THE SERIES Part 1: Optics Buying Guide: Iron Sights, Red Dots, and Scopes Part 2: Optics Buying Guide: Top Must-Know Terms for Picking the Right Scope  Part 3: Optics Buying Guide: Scope Mounts  Part 4: Optics Buying Guide: How To Properly Zero Your Scope Part 5: Optics Buying Guide: Finding Your Range with a Scope Reticle Part [...]

You can figure out how far away an object is using your scope, provided its reticle has markings in mil dots or minutes of angle.

If you already own a safe, almost everything I describe in this article can be done for free; but there’s no free lunch, and every choice has its pros and cons. You will have to weigh your options when deciding the placement of your safe and how to anchor it.