By David E. Petzal

Through the kindness of a friend, I came into a copy of a handbook called “Deer Hunting,” published in 1966 and written by Warren Page. There’s a lot of good advice in it--Lefty knew his business--and there are also some jarring reminders of how much things have changed.

Page spends a couple of paragraphs on rifle scopes, fragility of, how to avoid fogging, and I was shocked to realize I couldn’t remember the last time I saw a scope built in the last 20 years that had fogged. I’ve seen a number of them that were broken by recoil or poor treatment, but no fogging. That problem seems to be licked.

The same with wet feet. The last time I got wet feet from a pair of “waterproof” boots was in the late 1980s or early 1990s in Virginia, when I hiked through the hills and hollers in a pair of Gore-Tex-lined boots that leaked like sieves. The problem was not with the Gore-Tex itself, but with the fact that boot makers didn’t know how to use it. Since then, I can’t remember a Gore-Tex boot leaking.
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By David E. Petzal

by David E. Petzal

One of the areas in which I resisted change the longest was snowshoes. I had a pair of Vermont Tubbs traditional webs made out of ash and varnished rawhide in the “Michigan” pattern, and swore I would never get the new style Tubbs, which are made in China out of aluminum and neoprene. For years we got no snow, so I gave the old webs away, but this winter we got so much snow that I needed snowshoes just to pick up the branches on my lawn, and since I couldn’t find the old style anywhere, I got the new ones (the Venture model). I’m saddened to say the aluminum and neoprene monstrosities work much, much better than the old type. It isn’t even close. Next thing you know I’ll be replacing all my wood-stocked guns with plastic. 
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By David E. Petzal

By David E. Petzal

On December 20 and 21, when normal people were watching their kids wet themselves in mall Santas’ laps, I was out in 20-degree weather (with winds gusting to 30 mph) testing a new range-compensating system from Leupold.

It’s called the CDS, and is just the ticket if you wish to join the ravening hordes who want to shoot at long range. CDS works with the Leupold VX-3 series scopes, and gives you these advantages:

- You get to use a normal-sized scope.
- Look ma, no batteries!
- It adjusts in 10-yard increments, unlike most systems, which adjust in 50-yard increments.
-The range compensation works at any power setting, not just one.
- It’s extremely simple.
- It works.

But here’s the catch: Leupold has a special offer in connection with the CDS that saves you $100, but it’s good only until December 31. So put down the eggnog, which you don’t like anyway, and click on VX-3 CDS Promotion. [ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal

When talking about the 4200 Elite, I find it necessary to repeat the following: When the scope came out in the early 1990s, I was drawn to it for a variety of reasons, and ended up with maybe half a dozen. When the company developed Rain Guard coating for the line, I sold all the first crop and replaced them with the newer scopes. All told, I’ve had something like 14 Elite 4200s in service for close to 20 years, used them everywhere, mounted them on some fearsome rifles, and never had one fail in any way, shape, or form.

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Excellent light transmission, fully multicoated scratch-resistant lenses, bombproof waterproofing, and a rangefinding reticle make this scope suitable for any conditions. It’s available in 3.5–14x50mm, 3.5–14x56mm, and 4.5–18x56mm.

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By David E. Petzal

What follows is a rant from a very famous maker of custom guns. He had sent me a bolt-action chambered for the .404 Jeffrey, which had about 500 rounds through it in 3 years. The rifle printed 4-inch groups, and I immediately suspected the scope, which was in fact the culprit. I e-mailed him about the wretched episode, and this is his reply, somewhat edited because enough people dislike us already.

“In regard to optics I have had a lot of scope problems for a long, long time, regardless of make. When I’m asked what my favorite make of scope is, my reply is ‘I hate them all equally.' I have crippled and destroyed dozens and dozens of them. Between loose erector systems, separated lens elements, parallax adjustments going deep-six and flash dots blinking their last, I’m amazed we haven’t all gone back to Lyman 48s.

“Bum optics come in all shapes, right out of the factory box, usually within 50 rounds or after several hundred rounds, the latter being the worse case as it always happens when the client is standing in the middle of the Moyowosi Plain—or at the bench or a shooting editor.

“The one exception to this is the... [ Read Full Post ]