Dark Lord Of Optics

Somewhat unusually, I have to do this one over the weekend. I'll start off talking about the two US Optics scopes I have been using for quite some time, how I think they stack up, where they fit market-wise and what applications they are good for. Then, I'll stick around for the customary Q&A for a bit. US Optics Scopes that were discussed: US Optics FDN 17x with JVCR reticle: https://bit.ly/3tRx53g US Optics FDN 17x with Gen II XR reticle: https://bit.ly/33Pfgas US Optics TS 12x with MHR reticle: https://bit.ly/3fmvgpD or https://bit.ly/3wbTaLu Other scopes I mentioned: Tangent Theta TT315M https://bit.ly/33KJk74 Nightforce ATACR 4-20x50 https://bit.ly/3wa3bZp Nightforce ATACR 4-16x42 https://bit.ly/3eNC1BL Leupold Mark 5 3.6-18x44 https://bit.ly/3wa3zHl

I am back home after a "bucket list" Aoudad hunt, so naturally that is what I want to talk about in this livecast. I'll talk a little bit about the environment, gear I used, and lessons learned. Frontier Outfitting http://www.frontieroutfitting.com/index.asp The Fix by Q https://www.liveqordie.com/products/the-fix-by-q/ Federal Hybrid Hunter 168gr https://bit.ly/33R8Xmy Eberlestock Afterburner Hunting Pants https://bit.ly/3oldJSR Forloh base layer https://bit.ly/3foKB93 or https://bit.ly/3byBq54 Salomon Quest hunting boots https://bit.ly/2RlREHC Kuiu Chugach NX Valo rain/wind jacket https://bit.ly/3ygd5us Vortex Fury 5000 HD AB 10x42 LRF binocular https://bit.ly/3yea0Lt Vortex Razor UHD 10x42 binocular https://bit.ly/3ePLd8Q

I decided to do a quick impromtu mid-day livecast, mostly to talk about March LPVOs, but also to answer any questions if you happen to be online.

Join to support this channel either at https://darklordofoptics.locals.com/ or here on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8LveRHZgnq469aWVQVhM2w/join Here is the second installment in the Guns of the Dark Lord series. Let me know what you think,

For this episode, I want to start out by talking a little more about precision scopes. I'll kick it off with some final thoughts on the Leica PRS scope and go from there. A little later Cyclops Joe and Brian from Edgun West will join in to discuss a Russian optics brand called Dedal. They are new to the US, so they've got my curiosity peaked to a degree. We will wrap things up with a regular Q&A. "Guess the booze" contest is naturally going to make a triumphant return.

If you wonder what exactly I mean by Episode 17.5, here is the gist of it. Last DLO Live show went for 5 hours. It was fun, but patently unsafe. You see, I drink during the show and stand at my standing desk. It is not good for my liver or my feet. Also, it is not good for my European and Russian audience when I do the show in the evening Mountain Time. That is what brought us here. I will try to do a couple of hour long, midday for me, but evening for the Euro/Russian crowd, Q&A sessions and see if there is interest. This does not replace the regular, full length (I will cap them at three hours in the future) shows.

Join to support this channel either at https://darklordofoptics.locals.com/ or here on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8LveRHZgnq469aWVQVhM2w/join Here is a First Look at a new scope from a new company: SAI 6 1-6x24 FFP https://alnk.to/e70aHsZ It is a good quality Japanese scope with an unusual reticle, so a lot of the focus of this video is indeed on the reticle.

Join to support this channel either at https://darklordofoptics.locals.com/ or here on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8LveRHZgnq469aWVQVhM2w/join Here is the first installment of a new series I am kicking off, the very tongue-in-cheek "Guns of the Dark Lord". I can start with one other than The Fix. If I was forced to only keep one boltgun, this would be it. I use it to test a lot of scopes, but the optic that is on it when I am not testing anything is the remarkable Tangent Theta TT315M 3-15x50 that will one day be pried form my cold dead hands. Choice of bipods is very personal. I happened to have an Atlas when I got the gun, so it has been on it ever since. I have not seen a need to change, but if I find something that works as well, but weighs less, I will. While sticking with the Atlas, I highly recommend the lockdown lever from Defy Gear. It has really improved the usability of the Atlas bipod for me (they also have a lever for the Magpul bipod, but that is for the next video). Tangent Theta: TT315M with Gen3 XR: https://alnk.to/eDKcq3T TT315M with Gen2 XR: https://alnk.to/cwL6Eie TT315M with Gen2 MilDot: https://alnk.to/2uzUJNv Atlas bipod: https://alnk.to/3y4sCI4

Mike from SwampFox will join me for an hour or so to talk about the new things at SwampFox and answer a few questions. After that, we will have the usual Q&A. "Guess the booze" game is coming back too. If you guess correctly what I am drinking, you get a t-shirt.

Join to support this channel either at https://darklordofoptics.locals.com/ or here on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8LveRHZgnq469aWVQVhM2w/join This is not a true comparison in a sense that these two scopes only look similar on paper. When you put them side by side and look both at them and through them, it is immediately apparent that the fill a very different niche. On terms of optomechanical quality, they are both quite nice and surprised me a little with how well they do for the money. The Trihawk is faster on target, partly because of the wider FOV and partly because of a bold and visible reticle. If you do not mind the weight (and it is not really that heavy, until you put it up next to the RT-3), it is a really excellent option. I am about my TriHawk off to a friend of mine, so I am very curious what he thinks. If it has a MRAD reticle, I would have kept it. Burris RT-3 is really tiny and light. It ended up being quicker in actual use than I expected and the FOV is still quite respectable. It is, for example, wider than the ACOG 3x30 (although eye relief is less flexible) and wider than the discontinued Elcan Spectre OS 3x that was previously my favourite 3x prismatic. I gave one to my brother, so I will do a comparison in not too distant future. In many ways, one of the biggest surprises of the last couple of years for me was how good prismatic scopes from several Chinese OEMs have gotten. SwampFox Blade 1x and Trihawk3x along with Burris RT-3, PA GLx 2x and a few others are a testament to that as are some new offerings from other makers. More are coming as well. As much as I like several ACOGs and higher end prismatics, it is increasingly more difficult for me to make a case for them given how good these $300 to $400 options are. Time will tell how durable they are, but so far they are really holding up nicely. It is also important that these have adjustable eyepieces (ACOGs and Elcans do not). Made in China: Burris RT-3: https://alnk.to/6mIzaoq SwampFox Trihawk: https://www.swampfoxoptics.com/Trihawk-Prism-Scope-3x30 PA GLx 2x: https://alnk.to/31kawTN Made in the US: Trijicon ACOG 3x30: https://alnk.to/90rVSX3 Trijicon Compact ACOG: https://alnk.to/hsoiY7m

Join to support this channel either at https://darklordofoptics.locals.com/ or here on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8LveRHZgnq469aWVQVhM2w/join In this video we take a first look at the CTS-1550 red dots sight from Crimson Trace. It has survived the initial testing, so it will go onto my carry gun (Glock 43x MOS) for a few months to see how it holds up. My carry gun ends up getting shot a fair bit since I shoot it every time I am at the range testing something else. It is a comparatively inexpensive red dot sight (sub-$200) and I a very curious how well it will do for daily carry compared to my regular setup of a nearly identical Glock with Shield RMSc. I will be offering occasional updates as I spend more time with the optic. Crimson Trace CTS-1550 https://alnk.to/6xDiQnS Shiled RMS https://alnk.to/2QpofgZ Shield RMSc https://alnk.to/1MUQmn6 Glock 43x MOS https://alnk.to/4ByY3rn

Join to support this channel either at https://darklordofoptics.locals.com/ or here on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8LveRHZgnq469aWVQVhM2w/join I started looking at this new GLx scope and here is the first glance at the reticle. So far, I like the way this scope is configured. It is sorta unusual configuration wise these days and one of the things that interests me is how it will stack up to more expensive 10x scopes that have much smaller objectives, for example the new high end 1-10x LPVOs, with different lighting conditions. I have a reasonable idea how it will pan out due to some experiments of distant past, but it is worth revisiting. This post will remain for supporters only for a few days, until the YouTube overlords bless it and I release it to the wild. The specific scopes I am looking at is this guy: https://alnk.to/dAfzqSm It comes with two different reticles: Griffin Mil and Raptor M2. For what I use these types of scopes for, Griffin Mil is the better option.

This livecast is solely dedicated to your questions. I have a few that I received via private messages and such. I am no longer able to provide proper types response for everything, so I will start doing these Q&A only livecasts to address them.

Join to support this channel either at https://darklordofoptics.locals.com/ or here on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8LveRHZgnq469aWVQVhM2w/join In this video we demonstrate how to properly line-up and torque down a riflescope in a mount. We start off with an example of setting a scope up in a one piece mount of the type commonly used on ARs. The specific scope in the video is the Primary Arms GLx 2.5-10x44 (https://bit.ly/2ZhztU2) in a PA GLx cantilever mount (https://bit.ly/3akjhHP). It is a nice DMR-type scope that is so far exceeding my expectations. For the split ring scope mounting demonstration I use SWFA SS Ultralight 2.5-10x32 in TPS high rings (https://bit.ly/3b4gKAM). Most of tools used were from Fix-It Sticks: All-in-One Torque Driver Kit: https://bit.ly/3pkjn6t Scope Jack: https://bit.ly/37gpUsE Mini All-in-One Torque Driver: https://bit.ly/37hGN6t Shooting and Hunting Bit Set: https://bit.ly/3rPxpyO Mitutoyo Feeler Gauges: https://amzn.to/3jRL1Xv

Join to support this channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8LveRHZgnq469aWVQVhM2w/join In this video, I take an initial look at a few gun vises/cradles. The contenders are: RRS VYCE https://soar.reallyrightstuff.com/VYCE-Equipment-Support-Mount Field Optics Research Gunpod FM-570 https://bit.ly/3a7Kz3W Field Optics Research FlexLite https://bit.ly/3d5Z1LI Kopfjager Reaper Grip https://bit.ly/3rI99yj

Following up on a general overview of LPVOs two weeks ago, this time I plan to do the same for prismatic scopes. There is some interesting history there and some new developments. Post show notes: The prismatics I had on hand are Elcan Specter OS 4x (looks to have been discontinued) Meprolight 4X (discontinued) SwampFox Trihawk 3x (https://www.swampfoxoptics.com/Trihawk-Prism-Scope-3x30) Burris RT-3 3x https://bit.ly/3ph8wua Primary Arms GLx 2x https://bit.ly/36mNsfi Trijicon Compact ACOG 1.5x16 ACSS https://bit.ly/3pcBbAp SwampFox Blade 1x https://www.swampfoxoptics.com/blade-1x25-prism Also discussed: Elcan Specter DR 1/4x https://bit.ly/3pilw2w Elcan Specter DR 1.5/6x https://bit.ly/3acuytM Elcan Specter TR 13/9x https://bit.ly/2N4vDuX Scope Caps: Aadmount or Tenebraex if you are willing to pay. Aadmount caps are pretty much indestructible. Vortex Defender for budget applications where in the past you would have used Butler Creek

Join this channel to help me keep it going: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8LveRHZgnq469aWVQVhM2w/join This is a follow-up to the DLO LIve! EP.10 where I talked about knives, knife shapes and different steels. These days, you can get a surprising number of adequate quality knives with D2 or similar steel blades for under $50, which is exactly what I focus on in this video. We took a look at: Ontario RAT Model 1 (recommended) https://bit.ly/3dnbHOy Ontario RAT Model 2 https://bit.ly/3uftygy ESEE Avispa https://bit.ly/3u5d4ri ESEE Zancudo (recommended) https://bit.ly/37kCPd7 CJRB Centros https://bit.ly/3ptcujr CJRB Small Feldspar https://bit.ly/3b8HPD2 CJRB Ria (recommended) Steel Will Intrigue https://bit.ly/3psCXOb QSP Parrot (budget pick) https://bit.ly/3poErJ1 CRKT CEO https://bit.ly/3u1yIfU Bastion Braza MiniBro Cleaver (mostly here for shits and giggles)

Given the staggering amount of online discussion where fiery nonsense is flung back and forth by hordes of opinionated Monday night quarterbacks, I think I am going to step back a little bit and go through what LPVOs (Low Power Variable Optics) are for, why they came into prominence, what to look for if you are shopping for one, and how to select something that works for your needs. The plan is to talk both scopes an reticles. Naturally, the usual Q&A on whatever comes to mind is to follow. Post show notes: For the record, I mentioned in the video that I could not locate my Vortex Razor Gen3 1-10x24. I found it. It is safe and sounds, far away from harm.... I mentioned a video I did earlier explaining why LPVOs have small objectives. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E7W3NbhvIU&t Here is a recap of some of the optics that I mentioned in the video. Some are also among my recommendations. Generally, al my recommendations are sorted by price here: https://opticsthoughts.com/?page_id=623 Vortex Micro 3x magnifier https://alnk.to/aAFoXZh or https://alnk.to/2Qo3O7f Sig Juliet 4 magnifier https://bit.ly/2NKcuhL Aimpoint 6x Magnifier https://alnk.to/bP4HPSS or https://alnk.to/1MTvVxF Primary Arms GLx 2x prismatic: https://bit.ly/36mNsfi Delta Hornet 1-6x24 https://www.edgunwest.com/store/all/item/delta-hornet-1-6-sfp/ Delta Stryker 1-6x24 https://www.edgunwest.com/store/c1/scopes/item/delta-optics-stryker-1-6x24/ Sig Tango6T 1-6x24 https://bit.ly/364G5ch Vortex Razor Gen3 1-10x24 https://alnk.to/7qbFRRo or https://alnk.to/31iOMWF S&B Dual CC 1-8x24 https://alnk.to/hDhCL9Z

My original plan was to go over a few precision reticles out there and look at where I think their strengths and weaknesses lie. However, since David Tubb agreed to stop by for an hour or so, hwe started with his explanation of the DTR reticle methodology and he took a few questions as well. Later in the show, I went over a couple of reticle designs I made for Meopta and March, followed by the usual Q&A. Post show notes: David Tubb's website is found here: http://www.davidtubb.com/ The page on his Adaptive Target Rifle is here: http://www.davidtubb.com/David-Tubb-Rifle-Gun it is a very clever design. Keep in mind that he is competing in ELR with that rifle against set ups that are sometimes twice the weight and doing perfectly fine. The page on the DTR reticle that David talked about is here: http://www.davidtubb.com/dtr-scopes The manual for the DTR reticle among quite a few other interesting bits of information is in the "Articles" section of his website: http://www.davidtubb.com/index.php?route=information/information&information_id=10 I really recommend reading through the DTR manual, which is essentially a well written white paper. For the second half of the show, I talked about the two reticles that I designed for Meopta and for March. There was also a question about the ZCO's MPCT3 reticle. March 5-42x56 with FML-TR1 reticle: https://bit.ly/3oOwspn Meopta Optika6 5-30x56 with MRAD reticle: https://bit.ly/3nQvW8S

It is a bit of a short notice, but I figured another livecast is in order. I want to spend a few minutes on different topics starting out with some thoughts on EDC carry knives and then we will move into a general Q&A. I have seen an increase in optics questions lately, so this will be a good time to address those. If there is time, I'll touch on our current political situation in the US. "After" show notes: The knife store I talked about is https://www.omahaknife.com/ The owner is a solid guy with a lot of field experience with different knives and different steels. Here are the specific knives I use for daily carry when I am home: Spyderco Spydiechef with its absolutely rustproof LC200N steel and very functional blade design Spyderco Paramilitary with Maxamet steel blade. It stays sharp for a long time, but re-sharpening it is not for the faint of heart. Old Benchmade AFCK. Unfortunately they do not make these any more (I have three of them). I have mixed feelings about Benchmade, but they do make good quality knives and do so in the US. Spyderco Military with M4 steel blade when I want something a little bigger. Spyderco Native5 with S110V steel. Another tricky steel to sharpen. All of these are somewhat pricy and keep in mind I am comfortable sharpening difficult blades. When I travel, I am a little more concerned about losing a knife or having to leave it with TSA, so I switch to less expensive knives in the $30 - $50 range. I also stay away from knives that are assisted or use a flipper since I do not always know where my travels will take me and I need whatever I carry to be non-threatening and least likely to alarm a police officer or nervous bystander. My current favourites are ESEE Zancudo and Ontario RAT Model2, both with D2 blades. They are very functional, inexpensive, and do not look terribly threatening. If you want something a little larger, try ESEE Avispa and Ontario RAT Model1. Make sure you go for the D2 blade. All four of these are made in Taiwan. There are other budget D2 blade knives that are made in China. I started looking at the recently and they appear to be of decent quality. The ones I have looked at are CJRB Fieldspar and Centros. I also have CJRB Ria that uses some sort of mystery steel that I am curious about and QSP Parrot that is a new brand for me. All of these have blades made out of thicker stock than the ESEE and Ontario knives mentioned above, so they are somewhat less efficient at many conventional cutting tasks. The build quality is very decent for the sub-$50 price though.

The software kicked me out of the livecast. Trying it again.

Join to support this channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8LveRHZgnq469aWVQVhM2w/join In this video I go over my recommendations for hunting scopes, including general guidelines of what to pay attention to and how to look at things. This is by no means an exhaustive list and there are additional recommendations on my legacy website. If you have specific questions about a specific scope, please Join and ask via the community board. 2:24 General Guidelines 7:40 Over $2k 16:40 $1.5k - 42k 21:50 ~$1K 32:50 ~$600 39:05 Under $400 Leica Magnus 1.8-12x50 https://alnk.to/aWvy90P S&B Exos 3.5-21x50 https://alnk.to/6bN5F0U Tangent Theta TT315H 3-15x50 https://alnk.to/9xbuit5 S&B Polar T96 3-12x54 https://alnk.to/gdYhzyZ Blaser Infinity 1-7x28 https://alnk.to/eZyYHW8 Leica Magnus 1.5-15x42 https://alnk.to/1BZoU6F Leupold VX-6HD 3-18x44 https://alnk.to/fatKqG3 Swarovski Z5i 2.4-12x50 with BRH reticle https://alnk.to/eZyZs7H Meopta Meostar R2 2.5-25x56 PA https://alnk.to/aWvyTow Vortex Razor HD-LHT 3-15x42 https://alnk.to/fS8NzCq Vortex Razor HD-LHT 3-15x50 https://alnk.to/clPDXcW Meopta Meostar R1r 3-12x56 https://alnk.to/bP5n0Uv Swarovski Z3 3-9x36 https://alnk.to/eZz0FBx Swarovski Z3 3-10x42 https://alnk.to/bEaC27s Delta Stryker 1-6x24 https://www.edgunwest.com/store/scopes/item/delta-optics-stryker-1-6x24/ Vortex Razor HD Gen2E 1-6x24 https://alnk.to/flowNLz Leupold VX-6HD 1-6x24 https://alnk.to/fS8NKeD Meopta Meopro 3.5-10x44RD https://alnk.to/3IYw4ad SWFA SS HD 3-9x42 https://www.swfa.com/swfa-ss-hd-3-9x42-tactical-30mm-riflescope.html Meopta Meopro 3-9x40 https://cameralandny.com/shop/meopta-meopro-3-9x40-598890/8023c030-9f39-0132-5a82-00163e9110c0?variation=1118173&query=meopro Meopta Meopro 6x42 https://alnk.to/6IxoK3h https://alnk.to/4fIN0Ew Leupold FX-3 6x42 https://alnk.to/74mUI2r SWFA SS Classic 6x42 https://www.swfa.com/swfa-ss-6x42-tactical-30mm-riflescope-105767.html?___SID=U Burris Fullfield II https://alnk.to/6Ts9QCL Vortex Diamondback https://alnk.to/6mHSUcq Sig Whiskey3 https://alnk.to/5F2QYWQ #darklordofoptics #opticsthoughts #riflescopes #huntingoptics #huntingrifles

Join to support this channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8LveRHZgnq469aWVQVhM2w/join With the election getting in the way, I am posting this later than I originally planned. I am wrapping up with the test of a pre-production March 1-10x24, looking at a couple of different offset iron sights, and spending some quality time with Kel-tec's CP33.

Join to support this channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8LveRHZgnq469aWVQVhM2w/join I spend quite a bit of time at the range, so I figured it is worthwhile to provide occasional updates on what projects I am working on an what optics I am looking at. This time around, I am evaluating a prototype of the March Shorty 1-10x24 dual focal plane scope, Trijicon's COmpact ACOG 1.5x16 with ACSS reticle, production level Steiner CQT (absolutely remarkable optic) and a few other things here and there. #steineroptics #marchoptics #AR15optics #AR15scope #trijicon #seeallsights

My previous live show on Airguns with Joe Rhea was so much fun that I decided to follow up with another one, this one featuring Tyler Patner. Tyler is likely one of the best competition shooters in the world, and for me it is a rare opportunity to pick his brain. To accomodate Tyler's schedule, this show is on Monday night, instead of my customary Thursday, so keep that in mind.