Aquilifer EP 5-25×56

https://youtu.be/RJ7wTW-XKZo

Aquilifer is a budget scope brand that takes its name from the Aquilifer, the soldier in the Roman Legion given the honor of holding the golden eagle standard. Their EP 5-25×56 FFP is their new flagship long-range optic, but with a budget to mid-range price point of around $300.

To achieve this low price, this optic made some trade-offs. It has a very unforgiving eyebox that’s tight even at its lowest 5x magnification. It is also a heavy scope at over 2lbs. Its Vortex-style turrets only offer a middling 26 MRAD of adjustments.

Its value-tier price and overall performance make up for many of its shortcomings. The scope has well-made turrets with a Vortex-style zero stop. Its illumination is almost daylight bright. It has ED (Extra Low Dispersion) glass, which allowed me to see a good level of detail at 25x, though the image lacked contrast and sharpness above 16x. Given its weight and limited range of elevation adjustments, I wouldn’t recommend this for PRS or NRL-22 competition, but it’s a good entry-level scope for mid-range bench rest.

SHOP

HD 5-25×56 Amazon https://amzn.to/4qGIHUA

DiscoveryOpt 6061 scope rings (10% Discount Code: Moondog) https://discoveryopt.com/collections/scope-rings-durable-and-precision-machined-mounting-solutions/products/6061-series-aluminum-scope-rings-medium-profile-30mm-34mm-35mm-scope-mount-for-picatinny-rail

RESOLUTION

Group -1 / Element 4

SPECS


HT
Magnification: 5-25x

Objective: 56mm

Eye Relief: 3.54″–a4.33″

Exit Pupil: 11.2mm –2.24mm

Parallax Focus: 15y – ∞

FOV @ 100y: 22.9ft-4.4ft

Click Value: 0.1 MRAD

Max Elev Adj: ±26 MRAD

Max Wind Adj: ±26 MRAD

Tube Diam: 34mm

Length: 15.26″

Weight: 35.2oz

Illumination: 12 levels red

Battery: CR2032

SHOT2026 Monstrum Tactical

At SHOT Show 2026, Monstrum’s newest products weren’t new scopes but a whole new product line: red dots. Monstrum sold red dots a recently 5 years ago but quietly dropped those products due to issues with quality. They didn’t want poor products to taint their strategy of improving quality and performance in the budget optic brand space.

They released their Nitro line of traditional reflex sights in both RMR and RMCs models. At their SHOT both, they showed their newly released Bird of Prey (B.O.P.) shotgun dot. And they showed me a prototype of an upcoming enclosed emitter red dot, which didn’t have a name at the time.

Monstrum changed the budget optic landscape about 5 years ago with the introduction of good-quality LPVOs under $200. I was fortunate to be part of the awareness of this brand with my reviews of their Banshee and later a head-to-head comparison review of their Panzer vs a much more expensive one Vortex Razor HD Gen3. Spoiler alert, the Razor was the better optic but the Panzer was not bad in comparison.

Monstrums history of delivering better-than-good-enough quality for a shockingly low price bodes well for their new red dots. I look forward to testing them out this year.

SHOP

Nitro+ red dot: https://alnk.to/d3FY8t3

B.O.P. shotgun dot https://alnk.to/1N5tmev

The Cheese Shop, Carmel California

In the Carmel Plaza shopping center, you’ll find a well-stocked cheese shop. When you enter, find one of their cheese mongers who will guide you through a free tasting of their cheeses. They offer a wide range of California and European cheeses. My wife and I tasted a flight of French and Swiss hard and soft cheeses and she walked out with a delicious, stinky bag of them.

TMI 260304 Anarchy Outdoors

Today we’re talking with one of bolt-action rifle accessory maker, Anarchy Outdoors. Go to my link https://aura.com/moondog to get a 14-day free trial and see if any of your data has been exposed.

This episode is sponsored by Matt Hat beef jerky. Use code: MOONDOG to get 15%
Order a free sample using my link https://matthatjerky.com/products/sample-pack?ref=moondog

EARLYBIRD Clue:

THIS WEEK

Moondog2A

https://youtu.be/Rcb_3RQTdiE

Moondog Reviews

Moondog Go

BRAND CONTEST CLUE 2

This NBA team is based in Salt Lake City, Utah


DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

GUEST

Aaron Gines, Chief Product Officer
Anarchy Outdoors

CONTESTS

BRAND CONTEST CLUE 3

This basketball team got its name from it’s original home city, New Orleans. They moved to Utah in 1979 and for the first 10 years there was one of the least successful teams in the NBA until 1984 when it made its first Playoff.

MAR CONTEST DRAWINGCONTEST 1

ENTER THE CONTEST 1


CONTEST 2

ENTER THE CONTEST 2


YARD SALE

Fundraiser for St. Anne Middle School 8th grade class trip to Washington D.C.
https://moondogindustries.com/yardsale/

This week, you can get a Monstrum 2000 lumen weaponlight for half off.

CONTEST MAR: Klarus XT11GT

Win an Klarus XT11GT tactical light with a 850m throw!

Entries must be received no later than noon 12pm EST on March 31, 2026. This prize is supplied by Klarus and is awarded at their sole discretion and direction.


CONTEST INSTRUCTIONS

Prove you have the skills to follow instructions and upload screenshots correctly. There are up to two ways to enter:

A. Watch my NY Nintendo Store video on YouTube.
LIKE the video and comment: “I’m going to win the flashlight contest!”, then UPLOAD a screenshot of your post.


2. Subscribe to @moondoggo on YouTube and UPLOAD a screenshot of the Liberty Pikachu toy from my NY Nintendo Store video; be sure it also shows the BELL button.

Example:



RULES

NO PURCHASE OR DONATION IS NECESSARY TO ENTER. YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING DO NOT INCREASE WITH A PURCHASE. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.

1. Eligibility

Void where prohibited by law. Must be a legal resident in the USA. Moondog Industries employees, subsidiaries, affiliates, suppliers, advertising and promotion agencies, and employees’ immediate family members are ineligible to participate in the contest/giveaway.

Entrants must be willing and able to appear on YouTube to discuss the contest and post images of the prize on their social feed should they win the contest.

2. Sponsors and Platforms

Klarus (known as the SPONSOR) and Moondog Industries (known as the CO-SPONSOR) is a video Edutainment producer and game promoter based in San Francisco, CA. YouTube, TikTok, Rumble, X and online video platforms (known as PLATFORMS) are not SPONSORS or in any way affiliated with the contest or content.

4. Entry Period

Contest email entries must be received between:
12:00pm EST 1 Mar 2026
and
12:00pm EST 31 Mar 2026

3. Agreement to Rules

By entering the contest, participants agree to abide by the SPONSOR’s Official Rules and decisions. The SPONSOR retains the right to refuse, withdraw, or disqualify entries at their sole discretion. By submitting an entry, the participant agrees to accept the decision of the SPONSOR as final and binding.

5. How to Enter

This contest requires your skill in navigating your phone or computer controls to screen capture an image of the following YouTube channels/Social Media accounts. Subscribe or Follow and make a screen capture of those pages showing a greyed out Subscribe button or indicator that your account is Following that page. If the page is not functioning, please contact contest@moondogindustries.com . One entry per person or per Social Media account. Fraudulent methods of entry, photo retouched, or other methods of circumvention of the rules may result in the SPONSOR invalidating a participant’s entries.

6. Prizes

The winner must be able to receive the prize by e-mail or by physical mail. Prize may be substituted at the sole discretion of the SPONSOR. Acceptance of the prize grants SPONSOR permission to use the winner’s entry, name, and likeness for advertising, promotion, and trade without further compensation or remuneration unless prohibited by law.

7. Odds

The odds of winning are dependent upon the number of eligible entries received.

8. Selection and Notification of the Winner

The winner will be chosen at random by the SPONSOR from among the entrants who demonstrated the skill to navigate the electronic entry and have met the minimum requirements. Winners will be contacted via the email used to enter the contest. Winner must have a legal address within the US to ship the prize.

SPONSOR is not liable for the winner’s failure to receive notification of winning if he or she provided the wrong email address or if their email security settings caused your prize notification to go into the spam or junk folder. If a winner does not respond within 24hrs of sending a notification, the SPONSOR will select an alternate winner. Receipt of the prize is upon the condition of compliance with federal, state, and local laws.

9. Rights Granted by the Entrant

The SPONSOR, upon submission of an entry into the giveaway or contest, has the right to use the participant’s submission, voice, likeness, image, statements about the contest, etc., for publicity, news, advertising, promotional purposes, trade, and so forth, without any further notice, review, consent, compensation, or remuneration.

Participants shall defend or settle against such claims at their sole expense, and shall indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the SPONSOR from any suit due to damage of or by the prize.

10. Terms & Conditions

The SPONSOR reserves the right to modify, suspend, cancel, or terminate if unauthorized human intervention, a bug or virus, fraud, or other causes beyond your control impact or corrupt the security, fairness, proper conduct, or administration of the contest/giveaway.

11. Limitation of Liability

Entry into this contest constitutes the participant’s agreement to release and hold harmless the SPONSOR and PLATFORMS, subsidiaries, affiliates, employees, etc., against all claims, liability, illness, injury, death, loss, etc., that occur directly or indirectly from participation in the contest or use/misuse of the awarded prize.

12. Disputes

As a condition of participating in the promotion, the participant agrees to resolve all disputes with an arbitrator designated by the SPONSOR in the state of California, without resorting to any form of class action. Entrants waive all rights to punitive, incidental, or consequential damages, and waive all rights to have damages multiplied or increased.

13. Privacy Policy

Participants agree to abide by all privacy and NDA laws in the State of California and any federal laws of the United State of America.

14. Winners List

Participants may request a list of winners by submitting a request in writing to Moondog Industries for up to 30 days after the contest ends.

15. Social Media Platform Rules

Winners will agree to post a photo of the prize on their social media channels in such a way as does not violate any rules of that platform. The winners also agree to appear for an interview where they will discuss the prize and its performance. If there are functional problems with the prize, the winner agrees to make a good-faith effort to resolve all issues with the SPONSOR prior to posting reviews or opinions about the prize.

16. Affirmation of Acceptance of and Agreement to All of the Official Rules

By entering the contest, the entrant has affirmatively reviewed, accepted, and agreed to all of them. 

CONTEST MAR: CVLife LPVO

Win your choice of an LPVO from a selection of scopes provided by CVLife.

Entries must be received no later than noon 12pm EST on March 31, 2026. This prize is supplied by CVLife and is awarded at their sole discretion and direction.


CONTEST INSTRUCTIONS

Prove you have the skills to follow instructions and upload screenshots correctly. There are up to two ways to enter:

A. Watch my Sac Valley Range video. LIKE the video and comment, “I’m going to win the CVLife contest!”,
then UPLOAD a screenshot of your post.


B. Subscribe to @MoondogGo on YouTube and UPLOAD a screenshot of “Target #12” from my Sac Valley Range video; and be sure it also shows the BELL button.

Example:


RULES

NO PURCHASE OR DONATION IS NECESSARY TO ENTER. YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING DO NOT INCREASE WITH A PURCHASE. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.

1. Eligibility

Void where prohibited by law. Must be a legal resident in the USA. Moondog Industries employees, subsidiaries, affiliates, suppliers, advertising and promotion agencies, and employees’ immediate family members are ineligible to participate in the contest/giveaway.

Entrants must be willing and able to appear on YouTube to discuss the contest and post images of the prize on their social feed should they win the contest.

2. Sponsors and Platforms

CVLife (known as the SPONSOR) and Moondog Industries (known as the CO-SPONSOR) is a video Edutainment producer and game promoter based in San Francisco, CA. YouTube, TikTok, Rumble, X and online video platforms (known as PLATFORMS) are not SPONSORS or in any way affiliated with the contest or content.

3. Entry Period

Contest email entries must be received between:
12:00pm EST 1 Mar 2026
and
12:00pm EST 31 Mar 2026

4. Agreement to Rules

By entering the contest, participants agree to abide by the SPONSOR’s Official Rules and decisions. The SPONSOR retains the right to refuse, withdraw, or disqualify entries at their sole discretion. By submitting an entry, the participant agrees to accept the decision of the SPONSOR as final and binding.

5. How to Enter

This contest requires your skill in navigating your phone or computer controls to screen capture an image of the following YouTube channels/Social Media accounts. Subscribe or Follow and make a screen capture of those pages showing a greyed out Subscribe button or indicator that your account is Following that page. If the page is not functioning, please contact contest@moondogindustries.com . One entry per person or per Social Media account. Fraudulent methods of entry, photo retouched, or other methods of circumvention of the rules may result in the SPONSOR invalidating a participant’s entries.

6. Prizes

The winner must be able to receive the prize by e-mail or by physical mail. Prize may be substituted at the sole discretion of the SPONSOR. Acceptance of the prize grants SPONSOR permission to use the winner’s entry, name, and likeness for advertising, promotion, and trade without further compensation or remuneration unless prohibited by law.

7. Odds

The odds of winning are dependent upon the number of eligible entries received.

8. Selection and Notification of the Winner

The winner will be chosen at random by the SPONSOR from among the entrants who demonstrated the skill to navigate the electronic entry and have met the minimum requirements. Winners will be contacted via the email used to enter the contest. Winner must have a legal address within the US to ship the prize.

SPONSOR is not liable for the winner’s failure to receive notification of winning if he or she provided the wrong email address or if their email security settings caused your prize notification to go into the spam or junk folder. If a winner does not respond within 24hrs of sending a notification, the SPONSOR will select an alternate winner. Receipt of the prize is upon the condition of compliance with federal, state, and local laws.

9. Rights Granted by the Entrant

The SPONSOR, upon submission of an entry into the giveaway or contest, has the right to use the participant’s submission, voice, likeness, image, statements about the contest, etc., for publicity, news, advertising, promotional purposes, trade, and so forth, without any further notice, review, consent, compensation, or remuneration.

Participants shall defend or settle against such claims at their sole expense, and shall indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the SPONSOR from any suit due to damage of or by the prize.

10. Terms & Conditions

The SPONSOR reserves the right to modify, suspend, cancel, or terminate if unauthorized human intervention, a bug or virus, fraud, or other causes beyond your control impact or corrupt the security, fairness, proper conduct, or administration of the contest/giveaway.

11. Limitation of Liability

Entry into this contest constitutes the participant’s agreement to release and hold harmless the SPONSOR and PLATFORMS, subsidiaries, affiliates, employees, etc., against all claims, liability, illness, injury, death, loss, etc., that occurs directly or indirectly from participation in the contest or use/misuse of the awarded prize.

12. Disputes

As a condition of participating in the promotion, the participant agrees to resolve all disputes with an arbitrator designated by the SPONSOR in the state of California, without resorting to any form of class action. Entrants waive all rights to punitive, incidental, or consequential damages, and waive all rights to have damages multiplied or increased.

13. Privacy Policy

Participants agree to abide by all privacy and NDA laws in the State of California and any federal laws of the United State of America.

14. Winners List

Participants may request a list of winners by submitting a request in writing to Moondog Industries for up to 30 days after the contest ends.

15. Social Media Platform Rules

Winners will agree to post a photo of the prize on their social media channels in such a way as does not violate any rules of that platform. The winners also agree to appear for an interview where they will discuss the prize and its performance. If there are functional problems with the prize, the winner agrees to make a good-faith effort to resolve all issues with the SPONSOR prior to posting reviews or opinions about the prize.

16. Affirmation of Acceptance of and Agreement to All of the Official Rules

By entering the contest, the entrant has affirmatively reviewed, accepted, and agreed to all of them. 

Gear Reviews, Education, and Adventure