Monstrum Tactical makes some of the most underrated budget scopes available. Many cost less than $300. But they are one of the most innovative optics companies in the industrial design of their scopes.
At last year’s SHOT Show they showcased their Archangel concept LPVO which looked like a prop out of Mass Effect or HALO. Due to positive interest and comments to my booth visit video, Monstrum pushed forward with changes to create an affordable producible Archangel 1-6x and 1-10x LPVO for this year’s show.
This year, the concept LPVO was the Terminator, with a crazy large sun shade that makes it look like a prop out of Star Trek. Like the Archangel, if there is enough popular support of this design, Monstrum will create a production model for next year’s show.
Micro-reflex sights with reticles that can be changed between dots and circles are rare. Rarer still are compact red dots that fit on a compact pistol. CVLIfe’s WolfCover X M01 has that rare compact MRD with a changeable reticle that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.
The M01 compact MRD has built-in fiber optic rear sights that are a bit too high to use with factory sights but can be used with raised front sights. The box comes with an MOS adapter plate and a Picatinny adapter. The CVLife was a bit small for my slide, so I opted to test it with the Glock EOM RMSc adapter plate.
I ran 50 rounds through my pistol and the M01 held zero. The 32MOA circle looked just a tad smaller than the 32MOA circle on my OSight and I found myself wanting a bit more visual separation between the 2MOA dot and the sunburst circle. I hope CVLife offers a 40MOA or 60MOA circle option in the future.
One other minor nitpick was that the white paint they used to fill in the logo and lettering was a bit sloppy and smeared in places. This is not unusual for a budget product as compromises have to be made and corners have to be cut to lower production costs. If it’s just the paint job, I can live with that.
OLight has been branching out beyond EDC lights with products like gun red dot sights, lighting strips, tools, and pens. At SHOT Show 2025 they debuted something completely different: an automated AA battery charger.
The OStation X is a colored translucent box that reminds me of a Tangerine iMac knock-off PC from the 2000’s. This unit holds up to 32 drained AA batteries. Simply drop in your batteries—no need to check (+)/(-) polarity. It auto-detects battery type and offers both a standard 3.8-hour and fast 2.5-hour charging mode. It will automatically test them ancharge 4 of them at a time and drop the charged battery into a dispenser tray at the bottom. Any defective batteries will be kicked out and held in a reject tray for disposal.
The unit will only charge AA NiMH batteries. A different model changes AAA batteries. It should prove invaluable for working environments where AA batteries are often used for work comms, devices, and tools. They may also appeal to young families with kids and their many toys. But this should have come out 15 years ago before everything became USB-C rechargeable.
Twin Peaks is a hill above downtown San Francisco that offers a panoramic view of San Francisco Bay, Downtown San Francisco, and the Golden Gate Bridge. This is a popular spot with locals and tourists. But if you are a visitor, be warned that car thieves are known to frequent the area, so don’t leave anything valuable in your car.
Telson is a new optics company out of Texas that I’d never heard of prior to making this video. A fellow Pewtuber asked if I’d be interested in reviewing a premium, mid-range scope with Japanse ED glass. A few days later, I got a box sent to me from @GunTotinMinnosotan
The plain white sample box is not the retail version and I can’t confirm what sort of accessories a consumer will receive such as lens caps, throw levers, etc. My sample was the actual production version, albeit with scope rings attached (which may not be present in the retail version either).
Physically the scope reminded me of a Leupold Mk5 or a US Optics. It had a unique diamond-weave design motif in the contact surfaces of the turrets and rings. It came with a removable throw lever with a diamond-shaped design. The rings turned smoothly and the turrets were crisp, audible, and tactile positive.
The elevation turret has a zero-stop which is engaged by lowering the turret onto an internal pin. The turret has a pop-up indicator when the turret is turned past its second revolution. This indicator is actuated by the zero-stop pin under the turret and does not function when the zero-stop is deactivated. Neither the windage or the elevation are locking.
The image through the glass is impressive owing to its quality ED glass. Bright, clear, and color-accurate with minimal chromatic aberration. I liked its thin clean Christmas tree reticle with a small floating central dot. The only disappointing aspect I found was its tight eyebox.
I had one other disappointment: I had to return the Toxin. I handed this scope back to Telson at SHOT Show so that they could display it at their booth. But they did give me something back in return: a coupon code to share with my readers to get 6% off buying one for yourself.
Telson is a new Premium Optics company based in Texas. I had never heard of them prior to testing their Toxin 3-18×50 scope. I met their founders (Canadian precision shooters) for the first time at this year’s SHOT Show.
Their scopes are all over a $1000 but have features usually found on scopes that cost many times more. Telson scopes feature high end Japanese glass, practical design features and quality construction. I was also impressed by the thought they put into the quality of their mounts and accessories.
Only time will tell if Telson succeeds in the crowded and competative PRS optics market but the quality of their products, design, and marketing are on target and all center X.
At SHOT Show 2025 UTG Pro released the Goliath bipod. This is a heavy-duty bipod designed for PRS, bench rest, and F/class shooters. The Goliath is notable for its extra low 6-inch stance when collapsed. Like all UTG Pro gear, this bipod is made in Michigan, in the good ol’ USA.
The Vortex Strike Eagle 5-25×56 is one of the top-rated long-range scopes under $1000 (MSRP over $1250 but with a street price of around $700) when it first came out a few years ago. Vortex took many of the features found in their top-tier Razor HD and created a virtually identical-looking scope for a 1/3 of the price. But is it a “Budget Razor” or a “cheap knockoff”?
The Strike Eagle shares a nearly identical-looking external design to the Razor, save for the Razor’s MilSpec FDE/Burnt Bronze finish. But on closer inspection, there are some differences. The illumination knob does not lock and the elevation and windage turrets don’t feel as crisp or precise as the more expensive Razor. While the controls are lackluster, its glass is not.
Looking through the scope, I was treated to Vortex’s glass. The image was bright, sharp, color accurate and high contrast. At the range, I did notice some chromatic abortion at high magnification, but not as pronounced as seen in the video footage. The Strike Eagle is able to resolve fine details to a degree I usually see in much more expensive scopes.
The Strike Eagle is not cheap. With the arrival to the market of brands such as Arken and Discovery Optics, its performance has been matched or even exceeded to some degree by budget High-Performance scopes. The Strike Eagle is still Vortex’s best glass for long-range under $1000.
This company was founded by an animator named Walt. Who’s first full-length movie was Snow White, earning the first Oscar fo an Animated Film.
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This animated film company created a world wide chain of amusement parks including the Magic Kingdom in Anaheim California, Epcon Center in Orlando FL, and eponymous parks in Paris, Hong Kong, Tokyo Japan, and Shanghai China.
