At the Vector Optics booth at SHOT show, I got hands-on with an Owlset HEIM ES X-NANO mini thermal pistol sight. This claims to be the world’s smallest pistol-mountable thermal optic. Holosun has a similarly sized optic display but that actually comes in two parts, with a camera section mounted like a pistol light. This Owlset is a self-contained unit, with the lens in its front. It utilizes Vector Optics VOD footprint, which is a variant of the AimPoint ACRO. Vector Optics offers MOS, RMR, and Picatinny adapter plates.
The MSRP was tentatively targeted to be under $600, but with US tarrifs, that’s anybody’s guess at this point? But it’s already available in Asia and set to be released in Q1 here in the US.
Aquilifer’s HT line of scopes are hunting focused optics with paired down, traditional features such as capped turrets for protection against the environment, SFP duplex reticles, and illumination. The HT 3-12 offers a large 56mm objective lens for brighter images in low light.
The website product specs list the click adjustments in MOA but the turret markings are in MIL? But since hunting rifles are set it and forget it type of optics, this is embarrassing for Aquilifer, but it isn’t really a problem. As long as the reticle can be zero’d and the scope holds zero, the discrepancy is moot.
The view through the scope was bright and color-accurate but it wasn’t as sharp as I expected. On the plus side, It has a generous eye relief. Its reticle is a bold European-style T duplex that is easy to see in dark or complex backgrounds, but I would have preferred they end in spear points instead of squared off. The illumination was not quite daylight but brighter than many hunting scopes.
Today we’re giving away the AccuVista LPVO. And we’re going to meet with Matt-Hat Jerky. Find out about my newest contests to win prizes. 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
Matt Hat Jerky is my newest show sponsor. You get a discount when you use it and I get a small comission IF you order. That’s full disclosure.
At SHOT Show this year, the evening after Range Day, I attend a dinner organized by 2AMedia and co-sponsored by Matt Hat. Sitting next to me was young man, who turned out to be Matt Kuplak, the founder of Matt Hat Jerky.
CONTESTS
BRAND CONTEST CLUE
This meat company owns many better known meat brands such as Ballpark Franks, Jimmy Dean sausages, Sara Lee meats, and Hillshire Farms. This brand shares a name with one of the most famous heavyweight boxers of the late 20th Century, though he is not connected with this company.
Laser bore sighters are helpful tools to get your first shot on paper so you can more easily zero out an optic. The CVLife rechargeable magnetic bore sighter is tiny compared with the better-known Wheeler magnetic laser boresighter. Moreover, it recharges via a USB-C cable and can run for over an hour continuously between charges.
The CVLife bore sighter, snaps onto the end of your barrel using its magnetic base. Pressing on its pin turns the unit on, emitting a pinpoint laser out to 100ft or more. The accuracy of the device on your firearm is dependent on the squareness of the end of your barrel. Muzzle devices such as flash hiders and compensators can affect the trueness of the laser dot in relation to your bore.
The green laser version projected a point that was visible at 100 yards in daylight (projected onto a shaded target area) with my naked eye. A similar red laser was visible using a 6x magnified optic at that same distance, but not with my naked eye. While the green laser was the better of the two versions CVLife offers, the red laser is preferable when attempting a zero an optic with green illumination or a green reticle. So, I recommend getting both.
This prize supplied by OLight and is awarded at their sole discretion and direction.
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
Vector Optics (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. 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.
4. Entry Period
Contest email entries must be received between: 12:00pm EST 31 Jan 2026 and 12:00pm EST 28 Feb 2026
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.
2. Upload a screenshot showing you are FOLLOWING me on X.com
3. Watch the Monterey Bay Road Trip video on my Travel Channel @MoondogGo. Hit the LIKE button and post a COMMENT saying “Winning and loving it” https://youtu.be/EkkRDRxxItk
This prize supplied by Vector Optics and is awarded at their sole discretion and direction.
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
Vector Optics (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. 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.
4. Entry Period
Contest email entries must be received between: 12:00pm EST 31 Jan 2026 and 12:00pm EST 28 Feb 2026
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.
Stopping at the Vector Optics booth at SHOT Show 2026. Among the promotional banners announcing their new Frenzy green dots, and micro thermal optic, they walked me through a rundown of improvements to their flagship line of Continental long-range scopes. These scopes utilize German-made Schott ED glass and highly refined construction and in Q2 they will release the Gen2 models.
The Gen2 updates include a 50% increase in range of turret adjustment, a shorter 10-yard minimum focus, and the most welcome feature to me: shake awake. Auto-sleep/Motion Activation has become a manditory in red dots. Finally, a scope maker has introduced similar technology to an illuminated reticle scope. As in red dots, this promises to radically improve a scope’s battery life. This feature has the potential to be a game-changer in the category.
I’m back from SHOT Show 2026. Let’s talk about what I saw. This video is sponsored by Aura. Stop leaving yourself vulnerable to data breaches. 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
Moondog Reviews
Moondog Go
BRAND CONTEST CLUE
This brand is a Large Language Model Chatbot which takes its name from a verb coined by science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein in his 1960’s novel “Stranger in a Strange Land.” It was picked up by computer geeks in the 1980’s and means “To understand deeply.”
DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE
A.I. (Artificial Intelligence)
Copyright is a type of intellectual property that protects original works of authorship as soon as an author fixes the work in a tangible form of expression. In copyright law, there are a lot of different types of works, including paintings, photographs, illustrations, musical compositions, sound recordings, computer programs, books, poems, blog posts, movies, architectural works, plays, and so much more!
GUEST
David Lavine is an attorney
CONTESTS
This month, there are two contests you can enter and win a prize. Enter both.
At SHOT Show 2026, Discovery Optics showed off the prototype of an innovative internal electronic angle level in their ED and XED scope line. This electronic feature displays a green dot on either the left or rght side of your view indicating if your scope is not level. Canting (tilting) a scope can cause your point of impact to shift due to the position of your scope above your barrel.
Long-range shooters have relied on externally mounted spirit bubble levels. This internal electronic level allows the shooter see when their scope has lost level without breaking their shooting position or cheek weld to look at an external level indicator.
This new internal level feature will come standard in all of their ED and XED scopes, which will dramatically differentiate their scopes from other long-range optics.
