Arken has dominated the affordable PRS scope market with tactical scopes under $600. Their founders are long-range shooting enthusiasts and this passion drove them to create Outlier, a rifle component company. At SHOT 2025 they won the award for most innovative rifle with their new Backdraft suppressor barrel.
The Backdraft design isn’t limited to bolt-action rifles. At their booth in the Casesar’s Forum, they allowed visitors to at go to a portable indoor shooting range and test out the Backdraft on an Outlier Atlas AR9 PCC rifle. The Backdraft suppressor is a carbon fiber barrel sleeve and a short screw-on barrel can. The design has the side benefit of reducing heat build-up on the screw-on can.
I confirmed this with some trepidation by touching the can after running a mag of 9mm through the Atlas. To my genuine surprise, it felt only about as warm as a human hand. I’ve held hotter coffee cups. You can buy the entire rifle or just the Backdraft barrel from Outlier.
Companies spend thousands of dollars creating their brand that is supposed to be memorable and stand out. Their brand is exemplified in their logo but how unique is their logo design? I asked attendees of SHOT Show to identify these popular brands stripped of any identifying text of their name.
Some companies seemed easier to identify than others. Very few got all of them correct. Take part in my 2A industry quiz. Post your answers to the logo quiz in the comments of the Quiz Video and you’ll be entered into a contest to win a bag of SHOT Show swag.
Entries must be received no later than 12pm EST on 2/25/2025.
CONTEST INSTRUCTIONS
1. Subscribe to my travel channel on YouTube: Moondog Go to prove you’re not a bot. or Post a reply comment in my video giving your best guess to each of logo band identities.
2. Take a screen shot of your COMMENTS or the SUBSCRIBED button for Moondog Go .
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 legal resident in the USA. Moondog Industries employees, subsidiaries, affiliates, suppliers, advertising and promotion agencies, 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.
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Moondog Industries (known as the CO-SPONSOR) is a video Edutainment producer and game promotor 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 your 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 1 January 2025 and 12:00pm EST 25 February 2025
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. Send a screen capture image file of any of those sites to 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
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 Winners entry, name, and likeness for advertising, promotion, and trade without further compensation or remuneration unless prohibited by law.
7. Odds
The odds of winning is 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 that 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 no later than February 25, 2025. 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.
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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.
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The SPONSOR reserves the right to modify, suspend, cancel or terminate in the event that non-authorized 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.
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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.
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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.
The Arken EP8 is one of the best FFP LPVOs I’ve tested. So, I was very eager to get my hands on the LH6 when I first heard that Arken was releasing a 1-6×24 LPVO in second focal plane (SFP). I prefer SFP LPVOs because their reticle doesn’t change shape with magnification, and I find 1-6x LPVOs to have more forgiving eye boxes than higher power models.
In physical appearance and build quality, the LH6 is nearly identical to the EP8. The LH6 even shares the same KL-Box reticle that incorporates a ranging ladder into the BDC hold-over markings, making it one of the fastest optics to shoot. Unfortunately, while this design works for the FFP EP8, I find the design to be a bit too busy and cluttered for a 1x LVPO.
I still like the KL-Box reticle, but I suggest Arken simplify it for the LH6. They could remove all of the numbers from one side because they are duplicated on the other. And then remove every other number because people know that between 4 and 6 is the number 5. They could remove half of the L-shaped sizing stadia, and it would still be a usable ranging ladder because you can determine if the target is closer or farther if they are smaller or larger than the remaining L.
Here’s the original (left) and my suggested KL-Box Mod M (for Moondog).
MidTen is a budget firearms accessory brand that many consider to be Airsoft grade. Their products typically come in unmarked boxes, and their products don’t have logos. They released an update rifle reflex sight simply named the “Red Green Dot”. A generic name that perfectly matches their generic packaging.
This reflex sight appears to be a beefed up replica of the Ultradot style reflex; made of metal and polymer. Like Ultradot copies, it a rotary selector at the rear that changes an etched mask which changes the shape of the reticle projected. The unit offers a choice of 4 patterns: dot, circle-dot, crosshair-dot, and sunburst. The unit has a metal cage around a large sized mirrored lens but all reflex sights are not as rugged as a holographic EOTech. From personal experience, an airsoft BB hit from CQB distance can chip a lens so extra protection is required for actual airsoft use.
The Ultradot design is simple and reliable but quite a bit out dated by a couple of decades. Two other disappointing aspects of the design is its QD lever and battery. It has a quick detatch lever with a Picatinny base which does not offer a secondary lock, which means it could work itself loose after repeated recoil. Most red dots are powered by a CR2032 coin battery, but oddly this reflex is powered by a 3 x stacked, tiny LR41 button batteries.
I tested the unit on my Ruger 10/22 at 50yrds. I ran over 100 rounds of 22LR and the unit held zero. While 22LR doesn’t have much recoil, in my experience airsoft optics don’t hold zero on firearm even after a mag or two. This reflex may be a cheap as an airsoft optic but it appears to be a suitable to take to the range on a real firearm.
EARLYBIRD Clue: This submachine gun inspired by the CZ Model SA 25
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EARLBIRD CLUE: This gun was first issued in 1954/56 and used in combat during the 1967 Six-Day-War. And seen used by Secret Service Agents during the attempted assination of President Regan.
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WORD(s) OF THE WEEK
Colly
The lyrics to the “The Twelve Days of Christmas” was first published in the 1700s and based on a French poem. What we sing as Day 4: Four Calling Birds was originally written as “Colly” which is a European Black Bird. “Colly” is derived from “Coal-y” meaning black and where Border Collies get their name.
12 Days of Christmas The 12 days of Christmas is the period in Christian theology that marks the span between the birth of Christ and the coming of the Magi, the three wise men. It begins on December 25 (Christmas) and runs through January 6 (the Epiphany, sometimes also called Three Kings’ Day).
Stille Nacht / Silent Night “Silent Night” (German: “Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht”) is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria.
Day at the Range is a popular YouTube channel that creates uniquely designed and fun rimfire challenge targets. He shoots them on his channel and encourages other shooters to download them and share their results. This December he created a snowman themed target where we have to protect Frosty The Snowman (code name: FTS) from being melted by evil suns.
I downloaded the target and added some festive holiday colors to the otherwise black and white target. I posted my target at the prescribed 50yrds and after zeroing my scope, proceeded to shoot at each sun. I missed about half of them unfortunately. Worse yet, I hit FTS with one of the misses. I only managed a meger score of 2 points but it was a fun attempt nonetheless.
If you’re interested in the scope I was using in this video, its the new Discovery Optic LHD 8-32×56. A very high magnification scope for a very budget price. I reviewed it https://youtu.be/Jn7LcnJBsbg
Olight is a flashlight company known for making high-performance flashlights for a more reasonable price point than more tactical brands such as Surefire and Streamlight. It was a bit surprising when Olight quietly previewed a micro-reflex sight at SHOT Show 2024. OLight makes weapon lights but is the first flashlight company to make a weapon optic (that I’m aware of).
The OSight is unusual among micro-reflex sights for having an oversized lens window and for being powered by an internal rechargeable battery. Moreover, it is unique in that its lens cover is also its charger and a mini-powerbank capable of recharging the OSight up to 4 times without being plugged into a USB-C cable. Fully charged the unit can run for up to 70,000 hours on low brightness which is impressive.
The Osight functions like a perfectly normal red dot and now comes in a green dot version as well. It also has auto-dimming, motion activation, and auto-off. And like OLight’s other products, the OSight comes in at a reasonable price compared to premium brands such as Trijicon and Holosun.
70,000 hours is a long time, nearly 8 years at low power; and they claim it will run continuously on the highest brightness for 17 days. But why would you need to constantly keep it charged? It seems a bit of an overpowered solution to the problem of changing a CR2032 coin battery. But overpowered for a reasonable price is something Olight is known for. I’ll leave that for the consumer to decide.
6500 lumens is a lot of light. Several flashlights now can output that much brightness or more, but typically they are the size of small water bottles. The Nitecore Luminblade is the first pocket-sized EDC that can output 6500 lumens.
I found out the hard way that 6500 lumens isn’t just bright, it’s freak’n hot! When I pressed the button to test out its max output “Lumen Shield” mode, I immediately saw smoke and smelt burnt plastic. At first, I thought the unit was defective and burnt itself out but upon closer inspection, I discovered a hole melted through the outer layer of my puffy vest, right through to the insulation. Damn!
The unit is made of lightweight metal alloy with a few plastic plates which look like heat dissipaters but the fact they are plastic makes me think otherwise. It has two activation buttons at the top, a smaller primary on-off/mode button, and a wider and slightly recessed multi-function button; which can be configured for Lumen Shield, Search, or Strobe modes. The flashlight has mode memory.
There is a small but very informative LED display near the activation buttons. This display shows the brightness mode, lumen output, estimated run time, battery level, and voltage output. Under a silicone cap near the buttons and display is a USB-C charging port. Opposite the charging port is a button lockout switch, which seems like a good safety precaution after accidentally burning a hole in my clothing.
Given its high output and wealth of features, it shouldn’t be surprising that the EDC29 has a decently long runtime. Nightcore claims a 2hrs runtime when started in High (1200 lumens). In my test, my unit exceeded 3 hours (stepping down to low mode after about an hour).
Overall this is an impressive EDC flashlight in most respects. The only disappointing thing is that it is only IPX5 water resistant, which means it is rainproof but won’t survive dropping into a toilet bowl. To be better Nitecore should add the option of a double-bend pocket clip to allow you to clip it onto a cap brim as a headlamp, and a magnetic panel to allow the unit to be affixed to metal and be used as a work light.
Max Output: 6,500 Lumens Max Beam Distance: 370m Max Beam Intensity: 35,360 cd Max Runtime: 61hrs (15 lum) LED Type: 2 x UHi 20 Battery: Built-in 2,500mAh LiOn Beam color: White Length: 133.5mm / 5.26 in Width: 34.6mm / 1.36 in Weight: 160g / 5.64 oz IPX Rating: 5/4
Ian Conolly Unix Systems Administrator with the US Department of the Interior. SONIC my co-producer for OP: Bad Blood and line producer joining me at SHOT Show for the first time next year.
SHOT SHOW interviews planned
Athlon Optics
Aguila
Evike
Primary Arms
Sightron
Olight
Palmetto State Armory
SIG
X-Vision Optics / Thermal
Discovery Optics
Nitecore
Monstrum
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EARLBIRD REMINDER #flag
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EARLYBIRD DRAWING #
#COLT
WORD(s) OF THE WEEK
Maliprop
noun: malapropism the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one, often with unintentionallyamusing effect, as in, for example, “dance a flamingo ” (instead of flamenco ). Yogi Berra, regarding switch hitters, “He hits from both sides of the plate. He’s amphibious”
When Primary Arms (PA) introduced the ACSS about 10 years ago (an evolution of the Trijicon ACOG reticle), PA quickly became the must-try LPVO. When PA introduced the 1-8×24 they set a new bar for high-power, budget LPVOs. SupersetCA, Garandthumb, MrGunsnGear reviewed it and raved about it, and I bought into the hype and I bought one.
Because so many other big Guntubers had already covered this optic, I didn’t see a need to do a review of mine. But after I started posting reviews of LPVOs from SIGs, Vortex, even Monstrum, one of the more common comments I’ve gotten is some like “You should try a Primary Arms”. So here I am 5 years after I bought mine, with a review of the PA SLx 1-8×24.
This scope doesn’t come with a lot of accessories in the package. All the magic is in the scope. It has a decent eyebox, pretty clear glass (though not edge to edge clarity), bright illumination, and one of the best SFP combat reticles available, the ACSS.
4 years ago, I had taken 1-8x off my ready rifle to put it into rack storage to make room for optics I was testing for my channel. It was sitting in storage when I pulled it out to test on camera. I discovered that it had a parallax alignment flaw causing objects to shift in position when brought into the scope’s field of view at 1x. I suspect 99% of the buying public would never notice this flaw (I didn’t when I bought it nor in the time I used it).
I contacted Primary Arms about the issue and sent them photos and they were amazing. They called me immediately and sent me a return label and inspected my scope. And this was a 100% joe-blow customer interaction. I had never reviewed their products nor had a contact at PA; to them I was just any other customer. PA confirmed what I was seeing in the scope and sent me a brand new one to replace it. I was pleased to discover this SLx had slightly better glass and illumination than my original scope: Great job PA, twice!
The PA SLx 1-8x may not have the sharpest or flattest glass (fisheye) but I still love the ACSS reticle for its fast and intuitive design. The ACSS is not really great for precision shots over 500 yrds away but honestly, that’s not what I use a LPVO for. I’m looking to engage man-sized targets from CQB distance to an 8″ plate from 150yrds. Sadly the SLx also taught me that more is not better: the trade off in higher magnification with an LPVO is a tighter eyebox at 1x.
The SLx may not be the best. It may not be the cheapest. But the SLx remains my benchmark for a solid, practical, “budget” combat optic.
