Optics

Good Gun Book: 'Shooter's Bible Guide to Optics'

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:09:35 -0400

by David E. Petzal

Optics, like everything else in our world, are in a state of turmoil. On the one hand, you can now pay close to $4,000 for a riflescope or a spotting scope and $3,000 plus for a binocular, while on the other hand there are riflescopes and spotting scopes selling for $400 and $300 that are better than anything you could buy at any price 20 years ago. Yet on the third hand we now have optical devices that did not even exist 20 years ago, such as laser rangefinders, range-compensating scopes, and good red-dot sights.

And if you’re to spend your money on any of this gear, you will quickly become confused, and your confusion can take on ugly notes of fear and panic. “What is one to do?”, you will bellow, and your dog will wet the carpet in terror.

Not to worry. You can simply spend $19.95 on a new book by Tom McIntyre called the "Shooter’s Bible Guide to Optics," which will make all things clear. It’s not only a guide but a catalog as well, printed on good paper that resists much handling and streams of drool. Tom does the judging for Field & Stream’s “Best of the Best,” feature in the optics department. He knows everything about the subject, has worlds of hunting and shooting experience, and is a brutal and relentless tester. When I want to explain something that’s complex, involves glassware, and requires that I actually know what I’m talking about, I quote him.

Buy the book. It’s the only way you’re going to make any sense out of all this. Skyhorsepublishing.com

The Gun Nut Nation Survey 2012

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:42:59 -0400

Sound off, Gun Nuts. Tell us what you love about today’s rifles and shotguns. Tell us what you hate most about the perception of gun owners in the media. Tell us about your hopes and fears concerning a certain election this November. Tell us about what makes you a Gun Nut in the following survey—a collection of questions about the politics, economics, and state of Gun Nut Nation. The results will be published in the July 2012 issue of Field & Stream. Thank you for participating.

Retirement Age: The Progress of Modern Optics

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 12:17:05 -0400

by David E. Petzal

At any given time I’m likely to be shooting loaner rifles, and so I keep eight or so scopes on hand to mount on these guns. Some of the scopes have been around for 15 years or more, and I keep using them because they work. The other day, however, I was shooting with one that had been around a long time, and on the other rifle I was using I had a brand-new Meopta MeoStar. When I switched from the rifle with the Meopta to the one with the old scope it was as though I had suddenly developed glaucoma. Everything went dim and muddy.

Often, when this happens, it’s because the lenses have acquired a coating of what looks like dried oxtail soup, topped by a layer of dust. You clean them off and they’re fine. But the lenses on this old scope were clean. What was at work? New scopes are so much better than those from only a decade ago that they make them look...disadvantaged. Optical progress, which used to proceed at a measured and stately course, now moves at the same breakneck speed as everything else.

This is not a disadvantage. One of the results is, I’m now seeing new low-priced scopes that are as good, optically, as the high-priced scopes of the 1990s. And today’s medium- and high-priced scopes are in another league altogether.

The other thing that happened on that fateful day was, my old scope declined to send bullets where they were supposed to go. The windage adjustment was either worn out, or wearing out, and was unable to do what I was telling it.

So I sighed, and retired the old scope, and got a brand-new Meopta Meopro, and everything is now bright and sharp, and the bullets go where they’re supposed to, but it’s sort of sad. The old scope had served honorably.

I have yet to feel an ounce of empathy, however, for any old computer.

Meopta: A Reality Czech on Scope Values

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 08:47:02 -0500

by David E. Petzal

As many of you requested, I walked the hallowed (and semi-ventilated) halls of the 2012 SHOT Show with your requests for inexpensive stuff ringing in my ears, instead of just the usual ringing. Riflescope-wise, the standout is Meopta, which I originally thought was an Asian firm, but turns out to be Czech. Meopta has been around for over 70 years and makes rifle scopes, spotting scopes, and binoculars. I’ve used only the rifle scopes, of which there are two lines. MeoStar (pictured here) is the more expensive, made and assembled in the Czech Republic, while MeoPro scopes have their components made abroad and assembled here. Cabela’s sells both MeoPro instruments and its own Euro brand, which is made by Meopta.

The first time I used a Meopta rifle scope I guessed its price was $300 higher than what it actually cost. Think of it this way: A MeoStar that goes for $650 is a $1,000 scope on which you’re getting a $350 discount. A MeoPro scope that sells for $450 is a $750 scope, ditto ditto. Don’t let the modest prices fool you; these are very, very high-grade instruments.

Last summer, Kenny Jarrett, who is as knowledgeable and as fussy about scopes as any human I know, said: “If you can’t afford a [Here he named a very famous and very costly scope.] get a Meopta.” He was absolutely right.

Why isn’t the line better known? Reinhard Seipp, who is COO of Meopta USA said, “We’re not very good at publicizing ourselves.” Then he paused and smiled. “But we’re very good at making things.”

Hurteau Tests Deer Hunting Scopes for Under $100

Sarah Smith — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 10:59:56 -0500

by Dave Hurteau

Having fledged under the wing of the great David E. Petzal, I know I should be a glass snob. But my Northeastern, lower-middle-class upbringing won’t allow it. Here in one of the many heavily wooded, economically depressed parts of the country, the way many of us buy scopes is we walk into a big box store, pick a decent-looking scope at a can’t-beat price, and put it on the ol’ deer rifle.

So, as I say in this video clip, that’s just what I did for an upcoming gear test on riflescopes, each for under $100, in the Dec./Jan. issue of Field & Stream. Now don’t get me wrong: I’ve done enough open-country hunting to know the value of truly outstanding glass, but on the other hand, some of these cheap scopes were surprisingly bright and clear, not to mention shockingly durable.

Rimfire Scope Review: The Nikon Pro-Staff BDC 150

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 11:46:00 -0500

by David E. Petzal

When I showed up at the Kittery Trading Post to buy a used Anschutz .22, I was saddened to see that this peerless piece of Teutonic precision (one with a $1,000 price tag, new) was saddled with a piece-of-junk scope that you might use to hold a window open, or throw at an armadillo if one particularly annoyed you.

There is no abundance of good rimfire scopes—in fact, there are damned few—despite the fact that that the .22 is the foundation of any serious shooter’s gun collection. I guess most people feel that when they've bought the gun they've shot their wad (as it were) and look for something cheap and rotten to use as a sight.

This brings us to the new Nikon Pro-Staff BDC 150 3X-9X-40. It is a very, very good scope, and it comes with Nikon’s BDC reticle, which will enable you to shoot out to 150 yards. This particular reticle is calibrated to work only at 9 power, and only with hyper-velocity (1,600 fps) ammo, but with a little experimental shooting, you can adapt it to just about anything.

For example, I found that with high velocity ammo (1,200 fps) I could sight dead on at 25, which still had me dead on at 50 yards, and that, using the scope at 4X and sighting with the topmost BDC aiming circle, I was dead on at 100 yards. And that’s all I need.

Aside from that the BDC 150 is a full-sized scope (You’ll almost certainly need high rings.) that has brilliant optics and superb adjustments. Indeed, the adjustments are among the most accurate and positive that I have used on any scope, rim- or centerfire.

And now, you’re thinking, we come to the part where he says that the price is $1,098.35, but that it’s a great investment. No. This is the part where I tell you that the MSRP is $169.95 and that I see it on the Internet for $126. This makes it one of the great optical bargains of the year, or perhaps the century. www.nikonhunting.com

Score Some Bucks, Win a Bushnell Elite Scope

Sarah Smith — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 10:24:24 -0500

by Dave Hurteau

I just got back from hunting whitetails at Trophy Ridge Outfitters in northeastern Wyoming (more on that soon) with representatives from Browning, Winchester, the NSSF and Bushnell.

For the hunt, the last gave me the use of a Bushnell Elite riflescope with the company’s DOA reticle, which allows even the simplest of riflemen to figure bullet drop at a glance, and which performed very nicely indeed. (All of the bucks I’ll post for this contest were taken on this trip and, I believe, taken with some version of this scope.)

I mentioned to Paul Arnold of Bushnell that an Elite scope would make a slick prize for our next scoring contest, and he agreed. So now all you have to do is score some bucks, as usual, to have a chance at hunting the late season with this new Bushnell Elite 3-9x40 DOA 600 scope.

For anyone new to this game: I will post a picture of a buck each week, for one month. You will guess the gross B&C score of each and keep track of your guesses. Fractionals will count.

When I post the final buck, I’ll ask you for your grand total. Whoever is closest wins the scope. If there is a tie, we will have a tiebreaker buck.

Okay. Here’s your first buck. What do you think it grosses?

The Trijicon Accupoint 3X-9X: A High Quality Scope For a Reasonable Price

Sarah Smith — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 15:12:42 -0500

by David E. Petzal

Trijicon (which is an American company, by the way) is probably best known for its ACOG red-dot sight, which is currently issued to the United States Marine Corps so they can shoot whoever disagrees with Hillary Rodham Clinton. Even if you’re not a Marine, you should be aware of the company’s line of conventional Accupoint rifle scopes. They are of extremely high quality, and I used an Accupoint 3X-9X (Model TR20-1) on a .270 to end the career of a Wyoming mule deer a little while ago.

I’ve long had a Trijicon 2.5X-10X-56 on my beanfield rifle, so the brand is nothing new to me, but in case it is to you, what makes Trijicon unique is its ambient-light-powered aiming dot system, used in conjunction with standard or mil-dot crosshairs, or with Trijicon’s post reticle (which is what I have on the beanfield gun). The Trijicon system works to perfection, uses no batteries (in case there’s no ambient light a tritium implant takes over), and lets you adjust the brightness of the dot to where you like it.

My experience with the dot is that you’ll seldomly need it, unless you make a practice of hunting in first and last light. But every once in a while, as I found in Wyoming, it makes all the difference. If that deer had not been standing in a light-colored part of the field so I could get a good look at him, and if I had not had the green dot to aim with, it would have been a different story.

Last summer I had occasion to compare my beanfield Trijicon to three other scopes that cost a lot more (and I do mean a lot) and was shocked at how good its optics are. They stood up just fine in the company of scopes that cost half again as much.

The MSRP for the 3X-9X is $900, but in the real world I see it being sold for $700 and change, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you could get one for less than that. At any price, it’s a great all-around scope. For more intel, go to trijicon.com.

A Stern Warning: Never Assume Your Rifle, Scope Will Work

Dave_Maccar — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:32:03 -0400

by David E. Petzal

Now that hunting season is here, many of us are tempted to grab our trusted smokepoles and head for the fields and forests. But what your trusted smokepole may hand you, rather than a dead animal, is a sharp rap in the nuts, metaphorically speaking, of course. You never, ever, assume that a rifle/scope will work.

This was brought home yet again by a friend of mine whom I met at the range a few days before he was to head for Canada. The trigger of the rifle he had planned to bring had gone weird; the sear would not hold, and he had to send it back to the maker for repairs. So this morning he had brought his backup gun, a veteran of 25 years’ flawless service. Lo and behold, the first shot was not even on the paper. We boresighted the gun and the crosshairs were 8 feet off to the left. Unbeknownst to my friend, someone had dropped the rifle or otherwise screwed with it.

Then the bolt would not pull cases far enough back so the ejector could kick them clear. All told, a useless firearm. He is going to his second-tier backup gun, which will probably work. The point is, had he not had the sense to take his rifle to the range before he left for Canada, he would find himself in the boonies throwing rocks or pointed sticks instead of firing bullets.

As they say in the military, be advised.

How To Punk Your Buddy's Trail Camera

Sarah Smith — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 11:23:19 -0400

--Chad Love

Here's one from the "Why Didn't I Think Of That?" files...

Everyone knows that punking your hunting buddy's trail cam with fake creature photos is a real time-consuming pain, what with all the getting in and out of fake Bigfoot suits, leprechaun knickers and alien bodies and such. So don't. If you've got even marginal Photoshop skills then don't bother taking the creature to the camera, instead just take the camera to the creature...

From this story on thechive.com:

Brilliant! But seriously, would you be angry if someone were to do this to one of your trail cameras, or would you get a laugh out of it?