SHOT Show: Day 2

Folks,

A much better day today. Hung out with the Dark Lord of Optics aka Ilya Koshkin and we covered a lot of ground. I'm focusing on mostly the new stuff from these manufacturers today.

A modification of my Day 1 post is that the main room in Level 2 of the show is actually much like the old Convention Center in either Vegas or Orlando, tall ceilings with sodium style lighting and about 150 yards of line of sight possible, but this location is the only decent one at the Sands for checking out glass. The rest of the floorplan is BRUTAL for optics evaluations.

Let's get to it....

Premier Reticles: I posted here last year the "discovery" of the Premier Heritage scopes and the amazing glass and features they had. Fast forward one year and we sold more than anybody for 2009. Both the 3-15x50 and the 5-25x56 have been dandy scopes for us, and our data indicate 97.4% of all Heritage sold have given us zero issues. Premier's own data gives about a 1% defect rate. Overall, these scopes have worked very well for us and most importantly they have worked for our customers. I understand there has been a whirlwind of rumors about the health of PR and its President is a bit HTL (Hard to Love) but we've received every scope we ordered and we are onboard for 2010.

The new scope on the table for 2010 is the 1.1-8x24 V8. This is quite possibly the oddest looking scope we've seen in awhile. The turret housing is placed way forward on the 34mm tube with a stubby tube in front of it and a looooooong mounting area behind it, with mini-sized turrets with the lever-lock and 86moa of travel. The reticle is very unique in function, with a FFP mildot type reticle with hollow circles and full-line illumination at 3x - 8x. When the scope is turned below 3x, a second focal plane projected red dot kicks on for CQB use! The idea is that the transition from FFP long range precision reticle to SFP red dot is as seamless as turning the mag ring. The rheostat is 11 position with "off" settings between each one, with the three lowest settings being for NV.

I think this scope has interesting potential but I'd like to see the finished product first before commenting further. Same great Premier glass, though.

The 5-25 had the Horus reticle in it; I wish I had bought stock in Horus last year. No less than four brands of scopes (PR, Leupold, USO, and S&B) displayed the H37 reticle or variant in them at the show today!

David at Premier had a nice moa reticle drawing for me to look at; I told him that moa/moa scopes were desired by probably only a max of 10% of our clientele right now; more like 5%,mil/mil is in! Let me know if you disagree.

We are happy to be selling the Premier riflescopes and look forward to their continued growth and success.

Hensoldt: Ironically, Hensoldt was located right next to Premier for the show (delicious irony for Sniper's Hide members). Both manufacturers were stuck in a ballroom which really didn't do the scopes justice, no way they could stretch their legs, so to speak. I reported last year about purple halos around the point sources of light when looking through the scopes in Orlando, it is apparent to me that the light source definitely had a role to play, as I could not induce this type of chromatic aberration in the current environment. To be sure, Hensoldt does have an "easy" sight picture with "zero" tunnel vision effect, very sweet glass and highly advanced optical systems. For the money, the knobs lack a zero stop and they are nothing special, and the choice of reticles is pretty limited. But the quality is there and Ilya feels these are close to perfection as can be had. No doubt they belong in the top tier of the tactical scope world.

The Spotter 60 has resolution and contrast that is off the charts, but it is $5K+.

For those that have the coin, and are comfortable with the features, Hensoldts won't disappoint. But for "working class" folks the value really isn't there, IMO.

Zeiss: One thing I want to say right up front is that Carl Zeiss Sport Optics needs to be lauded for their express commitment to not raise prices in 2010. ALL 2009 pricing applies for all the models in the lineup. This was a corporate decision in the face of the current troubled economy and Zeiss will not toot their horn about it but I will, as looking at 2010 pricing for all other makes shows increases across the board. Kudos to Zeiss.

Some big news is the introduction of the trick, but pricey 8x56 and 10x56 T* RF laser rangefinding binoculars. I'm not crazy about an "all in one" solution in the field, if something happens to the piece of equipment you are out money and functionality but for the man who craves the latest technology in the field these are the answer.

We have enthusiastically supported and endorsed the Victory 8x26 PRF laser rangefinder since its introduction, it performs its job very well, with great optics, speed and precision, at a fair price. For 2010, this baby gets LotuTec coatings for even better fieldabilty. Did I mention no increase in price?

Finally, the most impressive new item to me was the Victory FL riflescopes, which are slowly but surely blurring the lines between the "civilian" and "tactical" Zeiss riflescopes, with SFP reticles, FL apochromatic optics, a beefed up turret housing, LotuTec coatings, and new turrets!

Three models are available - the 4-16x50, the 6-24x56 and the 6-24x72 (34mm tube!). Six different reticles are available, with four of them illuminated. The illuminated mildot is available in either 6-24 model (I wish it was in the 4-16!!) and would be "my guys" reticle of choice. The new turrets feature 20moa per turn, 1/4moa in the 6-24 and 1/3moa (1/10mil?) in the 4-16. They actually lock in place, with a pull-up or pull-out ring that allows turning of the knobs. In the "hunting" BDC turret, you can turn one revolution after setting your zero. In the "shooting" BDC knob, you may turn the knob all the way to max travel. Both of these knobs are uncapped, exposed. Reticle adjustment is just under 60moa so mount up on a 20moa base for maximum utility.

New spotting scopes are on tap in all black, the old green and silver ones were made by Meopta in the Czech Republic so I'm not sure what is new about these spotters, whether they are built in Germany again or something else. I'm going to visit their booth again, to answer these questions and to check out their new night vision 5.6x62 LT*.

Bushnell: I reported here last year that Bushnell seemed to be the most innovative optics company out of the "Big 3" (Leupold, Nikon, Bushnell) and that their new mildot FFP spotter held a lot of promise for a budget tactical spotter. Well, the FFP mildot Excursion was a disaster, to say the least, with a 15% return/defect rate on the 50 units we received, including water inside a couple of the spotters, right out of the box. I'm not talking "vapor", I'm talking "aquarium". Worst yet, was how this issue (and a couple of minor issues with the Elite 6500 scopes) were handled. Badly. For some odd reason, Bushnell's customer service and warranty claim service plummeted off a freaking cliff. Something's wrong at Bushnell. It looks like they have gone corporate, where the left hand doesn't know where the right hand is doing; and worse, doesn't seem to care. Buyer beware, just sayin.

Nevertheless, my focus is on the product, and a customer tip led me to the new Elite 4200 FFP riflescopes. Two models: a 6-24x50 (13mils of reticle travel) and a 3-12x44 (20mils of travel). Exposed 1/10 mil tactical knobs, 30mm tube, very decent glass. The knobs are simple and effective, with decent clicks. Reticle is a standard mildot. All was good until I switched on the illumination...green only. Why is so much green illumination koolaid being drunk nowadays?? Maybe in a CQB optic (a la Trijicon), but for long range low light work red is still king. At a price tag of $700-$800, just wait for the Vortex Viper PST if you can and all the goodies in a logical arrangement,

The other new product of note was the new Fusion 1600 LRF binos, with a 1200 yard laser. The glass has a slight greenish tint when viewed through it, and the LRF worked OK enough, but at $700+ street price, I’d just get a Zeiss PRF and be done with it.....

Redfield: Owned by Leupold, and made here (I'm sure some imported parts apply), the new Redfield scopes are actually pretty decent glass for under $200. The knobs and mechanics do not excite me at all, but my overall assessment is these are pretty good for the coin. If you want a cheap hunting scope and these come truly marked "Made in the USA" for production models, go for it. However, if you want a superior hunting scope for under $200, look no further than the Vortex Diamondback, the best kept secret in the industry....

Leupold: Maybe, just maybe, someone at the "Big L" has felt the twinge of all the cyber-bashing they've taken over the last couple of years (deservedly so). Looking at the Mark 4 series, I see a new generation illumination with NV-compatible settings, "off" setting between illumination settings, a common-sensical CR2032 battery for all scopes, the return (after only a 1-year hiatus) of the "fast-focus" diopter eyepiece, M4 (0.05 mil) and M5 (0.1 mil) knobs (look and act just like the M1 models), new Xtended Twilight optics, new FFP models, people in the tactical booth who actually have a clue (thanks, Brad Brumfield). So, it looks like progress is finally being made.

Of serious interest are two new models, one long range in a coyote finish (both 8.5-25 and 6.5-20 models) and the other a versatile 1.1-8x24 model.

For the long range model, this was a very big scope. FFP. 34m tube, a massive elevation knob (1/10 mil) with a locking turret; push down on the button centrally located on top of the turret to rotate it, release to lock it. Large capped windage knob, a great side focus, 20mils total travel. A Horus reticle completed the package. Honestly, the optics weren't all that great, and this scope seems to be built in response to a military contract, but to see something that is such a radical departure for Lupy is encouraging. The final product should be available in the summer, but the expected price tag (just under $3k) puts it at odds with well established Euro competitors and I'll wait and see with this.

The other scope is a 1.1-8x24, with a 34mm tube (yes, seems odd), the CQBSS model. Mil/mil. 40 mils of adjustment, FFP, two reticles: A TMR with some type of telemetric scale at the bottom, with the outer bars (not the TMR portion itself) illuminated, and a Horus H27 with a CQB style holographic red dot projected over the crosshairs. On this model, there was a definite "uneveness" of the illumination on the etched reticle piece. When you panned the scope in a vertical motion the holograph got bright, then dim, then bright. Not sure what was going on. The knobs are yet another twist...lockable, but you squeeze the sides of the turrets to unlock them (pics will really help here, we'll get 'em up soon) on two movable halves to unlock, and turn the knob. The ocular is large, knurled, and straight. The optical performance/sight picture was just OK. The estimated price tag is over $3K. It looks like this scope is yet another entry into a military contract. It's definitely different and it definitely holds a lot of promise!

Minox: Good news: The Minox HG binos are now being manufactured in Germany, and a new APO series (8x43 ands 10x43) makes their debut and I'll say these are some really sweet new spyglasses. Really a great value for the money, a hopefully flagship return for Minox to bino prominence.

Bad news: I really checked out the new Minox riflescopes. They proclaim Schott glass and Minobright coatings in the optics. The rest is sketchy. I'll tell you where the tube and mechanics are made: China. The optics were unimpressive. The turrets were off the shelf Chinese and they sucked. The overall impression of the scope was pretty poor. Lots of ghosting and flare with the optics and mushy, weak knobs, so you need to run like the wind. Tell you what; buy one of these and tell me where you live so I can bring an offering basket so you can throw your money away for a good cause instead.

March scopes: These highly regarded benchrest scopes have had quite the buzz in 2009, and after Ilya saw them yesterday and was highly excited about them. I had to take a peek myself. These are high quality Japanese semi-custom scopes with obscene 10x multiplier ranges, like 1-10x, 2.5-25x, 5-50x, etc, with parallax adjustments down to 10 yards in many cases. In other words, these were extremely engineered scopes.

I looked primarily at the 1-10x and 2.5-25x models. These scopes are very nicely made, with positive click turrets in 1/4 moa with 25moa per turn, a simple but effective collar that functioned as a zero stop, superb side focus knobs that housed a 4-setting rubber covered illumination knob, and excellent fit and finish.

Where I struggled was the sight picture. I really hated it. To my eyes, it was dull, fuzzy, and the image had some distortion along the edges. This really bothered me b/c Ilya was really impressed, but I spent a lot of time with these scopes. The reticles were too fine for my tastes, and I could rarely get a good clear image. Ilya lauded the pure resolution of the optics but for my eyes there was such poor contrast I couldn't get to the point of assessing resolution. There simply was no "wow" factor for me......YMMV....

For over $2000, I expected much more. Granted, the Sands environment did the glass no favors, but even so, these scope just didn't work for me.

That'll do it for tonight. Tomorrow, we'll post on Trijicon, Sightron, Kowa, Aimpoint, S&B, Hawke, Weaver, and more....

Thanks for stopping by. See you tomorrow.


Scott