Optics/Sights

As the flagship of the Bushnell Elite Tactical line, my expectations are high for the XRS II. I’m happy to report that Bushnell hasn’t failed.

Fed up with eyeballing and Home Depot bubble levels, I finally reached out to Wheeler Engineering and Straight Shot, LLC. Both companies have designed devices that, ostensibly, take the guesswork out of reticle leveling.

As optics companies strive for ever better and cheaper scopes, a clear winner has emerged. The consumer. We live in the golden age of optics and weapons, as evidenced by this weeks test of the Leupold Mark 5. At a combined cost of under $4000 for optics and rifle, using .60 cent per round ammo, I was able to test a sub half MOA weapons system. Even 15 years ago, you would be lucky to match that at any price outside of a benchrest rig.

At any rate, I like the 19X so much that I bought the one that came in for review. And this week, I finally got around to the add-ons and mods I prefer.
First rattle out of the box, the sights that come as the only option on the 19X are weak sauce.

 In simple terms, the laser rangefinder will emit an infrared beam towards a target while another sensor looks for the reflection coming back.  Once the sensor has detected that reflection it calculates the range based on the time it took to get back to the unit and displays it for the user. 

Vortex’s new contender in the 1X arena isn’t even a true vintage style Red-Dot sight at all. It is actually a small one power prismatic scope. It isn’t dependent on shining LEDs, lasers, or fiber optic transmitted light upon a lens to create an aiming point. It has an etched reticle that is present without artificial illumination, though it does have supplemental illumination to aid in low lighting conditions.

During the 2018 NRA Show in Dallas, Texas, Leupold announced six new models of their VX-Freedom line of scopes.  Here’s a quick rundown on why you should care:
The VX- Freedom line is replacing both the VX-1 and VX-2 line of scopes.
Leupold has figured out how to streamline the manufacturing process and you are essentially getting

SIG has come out swinging in the hunting optics arena this year, with the introduction of the all-new BDX line. The Ballistic Data Exchange, or BDX, is a family of range finders and scopes that work together for fast and accurate shots. Once paired, the rangefinder beams data to the scope, showing a holdover dot for a fail-safe firing solution. The illuminated dot in the scope is bright and unmistakable, and also features SIG’s anti-cant illumination dots on the left and right edges of the scope.

As mentioned before this optic was always destined for the rifle that I use for DMR and PRS Gas Gun Series matches, a .223 AR-15 that you may have seen in some of my other articles and videos.  At only 12.6″ long and weighing 30 oz sporting a 34mm main tube, I feel the ATACR F1 4-16 fits comfortably