Gear-Optics

Gear - Optics

	Do-It-All Optics The latest tactical optics can handle any situation from 10 feet to beyond 1,000 yards thanks to innovative reticles and a zoom factor approaching eight.
	Top Tactical Optics for 2010 From red dot to mil dot, this year’s new optics offer an alternative to the ol’ irons for all shooters. Check out some of the best in this Buyers Guide.
	Weaver 4-20x50 mm Tactical After a decade in the doldrums, the Weaver brand is back with an ideal scope for precision marksmen at a price that won’t require a second mortgage.
	Trijicon ACOG TA44S-10 Trijicon’s smallest ACOG is its TA44S-10. At just 4 inches long and weighing less than 5 ounces, it promises to make your tactical rifle more agile without sacrificing performance at close to medium ranges.
	The Barrett Optical Ranging system–BORS The Barrett Optical Ranging System (BORS) is a ballistic computer that mounts directly to the rifle telescope. The BORS is coupled to the scope’s elevation adjustment post. Its body serves as the rear, upper scope-ring cap.
	Aimpoint MIcro T1 We are never satisfied. If we have a new product that enhances our life, we want it bigger, faster and more powerful—unless we have to carry it. Then we want it smaller, lighter and to still have features as effective as the original product. Nowhere is that more prevalent than with optics, especially tactical optics.
	Binocular Shootout I break optics. The list of casualties is long, and includes: a riflescope assassination en route to Newfoundland, taking a digital camera for a swim, the screaming, 300-foot binocular plunge while I watched helplessly from the end of a rope, and a camera I drove over.
	Burris Speadbead It didn’t take the SpeedBead long to gain a sterling reputation at the clays range and upland fields. The red-dot reflex sight’s .82-inch by .59-inch sight window is generous enough to ensure you never lose those fast left-to-right crossers and it’s a decided advantage when you bust that unexpected covey.
	Burris It started when a group of engineering students, seven of us in all, began a post-calculus happy hour tradition—at least that’s my story. Slide rules and pocket protectors filled with No. 2s (pencils, not shot) were standard attire. During those off-campus forays the need for handheld laser rangefinders became apparent.
	Bushnell YardagePro 1000 My first rangefinder was a Bushnell YardagePro 1000. I found it a handy toy to determine ranges out to about 650 yards—typical for most rangefinders, they are normally effective to about 60 percent or 70 percent of their stated capability.
	Comp M4-3X mag. Aimpoint’s new CompM4 sight combined with its 3XMag magnification module adds a great deal of versatility to a rifle platform. Though primarily intended for AR-type rifles, adapters from Fulton Armory and LaRue Tactical allow it to work on this Springfield Armory SOCOM II very well.
	Nikon 5.5-16.5x44 mm AO Monarch UCC All my friends were hypnotized by the overgrown lizard’s ability to turn and launch a barrage of foam balls at any assailant. Kids came for miles, OK blocks, to experience the scaly attack.
	Zeiss Rapid Z Reticle Apparently, in order to survive in today’s marketplace you have to have a gimmick. Some are good and represent a real improvement to an old product; others perhaps not so much. Despite the fact that shooters still are launching pieces of rocks from iron-based tubes fueled with a combustible solid much as we did six centuries ago, we do see improvements in our shooting equipment.
	Spotting Scope Fast-talking muumuu salesmen may claim “One size fits all,” but that height-naive approach can produce anything from a floor-dragging Puritanical fashion statement to a mini-skirt. The same uniform-sizing claims are often heard in the sporting goods business, so Shooting Illustrated “tried on” three spotting scopes, side-by-side.
	Stealthview 5x42 Whether you’re trying to identify the four-legged culprit raiding your garden at night, or determining if the authorities need to be called, the 5x42 mm StealthView is a viable option.
	Zeiss Victory Varipoint 2.5-10x50 T On a recent antelope hunt in Wyoming, I had the opportunity to use a scope that interested me since it was first introduced at the SHOT Show. Actually, the scope itself is not all that new. It is a Zeiss Victory Varipoint 2.5-10x50 T*, an excellent optic from the venerable German glass company’s high-end line of scopes.
	Zeiss’ 8x26 Victory T* PRF We’ve all seen the infomercial with the hyperactive guy named Vince selling the “ShamWow” towel. He enthusiastically lets viewers know that the product is made in Germany and that “you know the Germans always make good stuff.” Zeiss’ 8x26 Victory T* PRF is a perfect example of “good stuff” from our Teutonic friends.
	Zeiss Z-Point It’s not the first time words tumbled from my mouth before they could be stopped.“Why in the world does Zeiss call it the Z-Point?” I queried of an innocent passerby at work.