DarkLordOfOptics

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.

I have been shooting airguns far more in the last 2-3 years then I had in the previous 20. It was a huge mistake to not start earlier and I'll go over a little bit what my use for them is. My guest this time is Joe Rhea aka Cyclops Joe. He has been shooting airguns far longer than I have, so it will be good to pick his brain a bit. Once we open it up to a Q&A, it is naturally a free for all and we will be happy to go into anything from optics to guns to politics. Just in case, here is the link to Joe's channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/AirgunClassicsJoeWRhea/featured

Join to support this channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8LveRHZgnq469aWVQVhM2w/join In this "Through The Scope" we go into some detail on the EBR-7C reticle, its features, strengths and weaknesses. It is a very successful design for Vortex, but since there is no limit to perfection, I spend some time analyzing how it could be improved for my purposes. The general Strike Eagle overview video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dQnF8TGxhY Link to scope on Eurooptic: https://bit.ly/347GtVn Brownells: https://bit.ly/3if6Q0L

Join to support this channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8LveRHZgnq469aWVQVhM2w/join In this video we take a look at the popular Vortex Strike Eagle 5-25x56 with EBR-7C reticle. A lot of it is a discussion of how the scope stacks up against the competition. I have it bracketed by similarly configured scopes that are a little less expensive (SwampFox Kentucky Long) and a little more expensive (Meopta Optika6) with the significantly more expensive Delta Stryker rounding out the group. After a general introduction, the video goes over the features, specifications, mechanical quality and optical quality. Overall, for the money, the Strike Eagle has a lot to offer and it easily lands on my list of recommendations. I have a separate video that gives you a "through the scope" look at the reticle and sight picture (link coming soon). Link to scope on Eurooptic: https://bit.ly/347GtVn Brownells: https://bit.ly/3if6Q0L

Join to support this channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8LveRHZgnq469aWVQVhM2w/join Here is a quick look at the Field Optics Research Tripod I have been using for the last few months. I have a lot of tripods, but this one is easily my favourite. I use it for both shooting support and photography. In this video, we go over the PRO32 tripod, F-Picatinny clamp that works for both Arca-Swiss and picatinny rails and the Gunpod gun vise for guns that do not have a standardized interface. The tripod weighs 4.6 lbs with 75mm bowl top and 115lbs weight capacity (I misspoke in the video). F-Picatinny clamp discussion starts at 1:10: https://youtu.be/T8V9CuSDWYM?t=68 A little more about the tripod itself starting at 2:50: https://youtu.be/T8V9CuSDWYM?t=171 A discussion of the High Angle Bracket starts at 4:15: https://youtu.be/T8V9CuSDWYM?t=255 Overview of the Gunpod Vise starting at 8:35: https://youtu.be/T8V9CuSDWYM?t=515 Final thoughts at 11:34: https://youtu.be/T8V9CuSDWYM?t=694

I'll start by going over the key differences and selection criteria. Then, as ever, I'll open it up to a Q&A

In this video we take a look through the new Delta Hornet 1-6x24 LPVO with D2BR reticle. I start out by discussing the overall features and performance of the scope, with the reticle discussion starting at around 4:30 mark. Join to support this channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8LveRHZgnq469aWVQVhM2w/join

With this video I am looking to step back a little from the very expensive products I have been mostly looking at and test something with a broader appeal. Join to support this channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8LveRHZgnq469aWVQVhM2w/join The sighting set-up in this video, altogether, costs about $700 which is still a lot of money, but is a far cry from the $4k+ setups I have been looking at. The specifics optics I am looking at are Delta Hornet 1-6x24 with DDBR reticle and Hawke Micro RDS with 5MOA dot. After the intro, I first go over the AeroPrecision mount, starting at 3:10 https://youtu.be/_f_pq24VPD4?t=190 Then the Delta Hornet 1-6x24 scope at 4:35: https://youtu.be/_f_pq24VPD4?t=276 A discussion of the D2BR reticle starts at 6:10: https://youtu.be/_f_pq24VPD4?t=371 A few words about the Hawke RDS at 10:05: https://youtu.be/_f_pq24VPD4?t=605 Final Thoughts at 12:30: https://youtu.be/_f_pq24VPD4?t=750

Join to support this channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8LveRHZgnq469aWVQVhM2w/join Here is a first look at SwampFox's TriHawk 3x prismatic scope. It is an interesting design weighing in about a pound with the mount included and delivering full 10 degree FOV. For comparison, the smaller Elcan ATOS 3x has 6 deg FOV, Trijicon 3x30 ACOG has 3.7 deg FOV and Trijicon 3x24 Compact ACOG has 4.9 deg FOV. I think this is the widest FOV 3x prismatic I have seen to date. The huge sight picture of this scope is something to behold. #swampfoxoptics #trihawk #prismaticscope #riflescopes #ar15optics

Join to support this channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8LveRHZgnq469aWVQVhM2w/join 0:00 Intro 5:45 Human Vision 8:00 Situational awareness 10:00 Why and How of co-witnessing 17:40 Rear sight location 20:15 Aging eyesight 22:15 Shooting accuracy 24:15 Iron sight types Here is the Guns and Ammo article referenced in the video: https://www.gunsandammo.com/editorial/pitfalls-mounting-pistol-optics/370097 In this video I go over my reasoning for how I set up red dot sights on semi-auto handguns and why I think co-witnessing with conventional height iron sights is important. That means low profile red dot sights are very important and that is why I tend to use Shield RMS or similar sights. All Shield RMS sights have the same mounting pattern but come in two different widths: Shield RMSc is a compact red dot sight for narrow slides: https://bit.ly/2ZgWZRh Shield RMS is a touch wider for regular slides: https://bit.ly/339VENt Shield RMSw is a slightly beefed up and waterproof version of the RMS. I have been using RMS and RMSc for a while and I am very happy with them. RMSw is newere, but so far, so good. All three are very low profile which is key for the way I like to set up red dot sights on handguns. Other red dot sights mentioned in the video that fit the same mounting pattern are Sig's Romeo Zero (https://bit.ly/3h8JIR9) and SwampFox Sentinel (https://www.swampfoxoptics.com/sentinel)