Optics

Bushnell has been at the forefront of rifle scopes for many years now, largely after a successful move into the tactical market. Considering the name Bushnell had a decade in the past, that was no small feat. I laughed the first time it was suggested that my Counter Terrorism force try the then-new HDMR. But I wasn’t laughing at the end of the training day. Bushnell did the impossible, they transitioned from a cheap hunting scope to a world-class sniper option.

MRAD or MOA? This age-old argument has split up groups of friends, been the creation of forum websites and caused tons of contention between father and son. In the end, depending on the person, both are best. Because of only offering MRAD options, Leupold has been missing out on sales from the MOA side of the market despite having high quality, bombproof equipment to offer. This ends at of the release of the new Mark 5HD riflescope in MOA. Yes, Leupold is introducing MOA into the Mark 5HD line which more than likely foreshadows some products to come.

High-end binoculars with custom specs—chosen by you—at an affordable price? Yes, the Maven B.2 is as good as it sounds.

There is a popular saying that many gun enthusiasts know, “Buy once; cry once.” Basically, this means that it is generally worth the extra pain and expense to buy a high quality, expensive product instead of many budget options. Vortex’s new optic, the Diamondback Tactical 6-24×50 destroys this mantra with its quality construction, many features and high optical clarity all while maintaining an itty-bitty price tag.

Well, Christmas is a time of joy, thankfulness and for wishful thinking. A wish list may be things you want, though not necessarily need. So here are a few items to wish for, some are “Go big or go home” items, while others are a little more down to earth.

On a recent South Texas hunt with the Nosler M48 Handgun, the Burris 3-12 let me see well enough to shoot right up to dark and then several minutes beyond. It took some good bouncing around, in hunting blinds and vehicles, and held zero.

It reads the temperature. It measures the altitude. It senses the pressure. It computes the angle. And of course, it lasers the range. Zeiss’ New Victory RF meets a lot of needs in one package.

Crimson Trace, has just announced the release of a new line of riflescopes designed for tactical, long range, hunting, and recreational uses. There are 11 new scopes.

I found this to be a great optic and experimentally determined it to be exceptionally precise and overbuilt as most Nightforce optics are. I would trust my life in the wilderness with it if I were hunting dangerous game and I would put my faith in it if I were shooting benchrest competitions.