DarkLordOfOptics

When a question came up on the impact temperature fluctuations have on riflescopes, I immediately thought I should bring Tyler Patner on and pick his brain. FIeld Target shooters have been paying attention to this for a long time since thermal shifts introduce a unique problem for their shooting discipline.

A couple of weeks ago I had a chance to spend three days in Wyoming observing the 2024 Burris Optics Team Challenge competition. I did not participate, but I did get to shoot at some of the plates and I had free rein to roam around, take pictures and ask questions. The competition was a blast and I want to participate next yet. I did walk away from it with some notes and observations that I thought I'd share, so here we are. Some of the Burris/Steiner optics I had a chance to play with: Burris Signature LRF 10x42 rangefinding binocular https://alnk.to/clXsrkL Burris Signature HD 10x42 binocular https://alnk.to/fSgC3KG Burris Signature HD 12x50 https://alnk.to/3U15mia Burris Eliminator6 4-20x52 https://alnk.to/b7y9zLM Ckye Triple Pull bipod https://alnk.to/7M9KXxW Hatch Bipod https://www.hatchoutwest.com/ Gunwerks Elevate bipod: https://alnk.to/8EJxRDJ Field Optics Research dome top tripod https://www.fieldopticsresearch.com/shop/Tripods-for-Hunting/p/OPERATOR-32DTC3-MIL-ASFPL-DomeTOP-Tripod-System-x67426022.htm Stag Pursuit 6.5PRC https://alnk.to/fSgC5nC 1:00 Background, getting there, etc 10:30 2024 BOTC Overview 35:30 Field stage improvisation and the importance of communication 40:25 Catching up on the questions in the chatbox 53:30 Missing seemingly easy shots 54:45 Versatility is important both with the gear and with your skillset. How would I set up my rifles for this? 1:10:15 How do I choose what to review 1:18:25 Looking at new optics from Burris and Steiner. Optics considerations for the team challenge 1:39:15 Support equipment 1:59:30 What should you be spending money on? 2:10 Wrap-up.

I've been trying to do a final wrap-up of this 8th installment for months, but work kept on getting in the way. On the positive side, that gave me an opportunity to spend a significant amount of time with all of these. Ask me anything.

This came out of a conversation I had with a friend of mine a day or two ago. Every time a new optic is introduced there is a loud bunch of people lamenting that there is a particular feature or configuration that is missing and therefore this optic is bound to be a market failure. Sometimes they are right. Most of the time, however, it is a failure of imagination and an inability to separate your own personal preferences from those of others.

New SWFA scopes will be out soon enough, so it is time to have a little bit more of a discussion. In addition, US issues new sanctions today that have ramifications for the shooting community.

Now that I made it home for a couple of days, I fished two mounts out of the mail that I plan to test. Here are first impressions. The mounts discussed were: Sig Alpha2: https://alnk.to/7BeynX3 Daniel Defense: https://alnk.to/44VoLF4 The scopes shown were: Leupold Mark4HD 2.5-10x42 FFP with illuminated TMR https://alnk.to/ge5GrY6 Primary Arms PLxC 1-8x24 SFP with Nova reticle. This scope is not up for sale yet, but soon. It is essentially a SFP version of this one: https://alnk.to/a43a7qG For the time being, if I were to pick a simple robust one piece mount in the $200 and under range, it would still be Badger Unimount. Allegedly, it has been discontinued, but there is still some stock https://alnk.to/dAmjJLY

Since yesterday Rumble Studio crapped out on me yesterday, I ended up doing a livestream on Middle East strictly on my Locals page. When I checked today, Rumble Studio looks to be working now. I figured I should do a test run and see if everything works. If noone chimes in, I'll just talk to myself for a few minutes and log off.

This is my last evening in Florida before heading home tomorrow. While here, I took a defensive carbine class from Gary Juhl on Sunday, so I figured I should do a recap from that and take some questions if there are any. I could use a break from work anyway. Last few days have been hectic and my brain is fried. I could use a diversion. This will go live to Locals, Rumble and X. No Youtube this time since I want to be able to show the setup that I used.

My voice is finally back, so let's do a final wrap-up for what I ran into during SHOT last month. Naturally, I'll address your questions as I go along.

Here is the summary from days 1 and 2.

Here are some impressions from the range day that happens eveyr year the day before SHTO exhibit kicks off.

Some impressions from the Beretta range day: Beretta, Burris, Steiner, Sako, Tikka, Norma

In this live show we catch up with the latest on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. To better understand the military aspects of this Eugene Fratkin who served in the USMC during the Iraq War and Dima Medved who was an offices in the paratrooper division of the Ukrainian armed forces join us for this show. Dima was wounded during the conflict in Donbass several years ago. He is now based in the US.

Travis of Silvercore Podcast and Alex of Affordable Rifle and Optics Reviews are both in Canada and they will join me to discuss what's happening there with the Freedom Convoy.

SHOT 2022 Takeaways