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
THIS WEEK
Moondog2A
Moondog Reviews
Moondog Go
EARLBIRD REMINDER #flag
THUMBNAIL THIS
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.
The OLight send me a special holiday limited edition OClip Pro, which has snowflake graphics on the front of an anodized candy cane red body. A large spring clip runs the length of the unit on its back allowing it to be clipped onto clothing, gear, and objects. Furthermore, the base of the clip contains an embedded magnet allowing the unit to be attached to metal surfaces.
The unit is about the size of an OLight Arkfeld if you cut off 2/3 of the length. The Pro model has a trio of LED emitters on the front side of the unit which face outward when clipped onto a pocket, lapel, or backpack strap allowing you to illuminate the area in front of you whilst leaving both hands free. The three emitters are controlled by a selector dial on the side with an integrated button.
The unit’s emitters include a long throw beam with a tight hotspot capable of illuminating objects over 100ft away. A wide flood beam which casts a broad defuse light, and a high intensity red LED. The flood and focus beams have a Turbo, High, Medium, and Moonlight mode (and strobe). The red emitter has constant or beacon mode.
The flood beam was able to emit about 455 lumens in Turbo mode, which aligns with the 500 lumens Olight claims when fully recharged. In my endurance testing, I was able to achieve a 120 minute runtime starting in Turbo mode. Unlike many of Olights flashlights, the OClip uses a standard USB-C port for charging which I find to be a welcome option. The USB-C port cover does not allow the unit to be submersible in water.
The only drawback to the right-angle design is that he clip and ergonomics do not lend itself to be used as a clip on headlamp. When clipped to the brim of my baseball cap, the majority of the light hits my chin and some of the spill does also blind the user. Despite this one mode of use, the OClip is a useful secondary light and is bright enough to be used as a primary and is compact and light enough to truly an Every Day Cary flashlight.
A mondegreen (/ˈmɒndɪˌɡriːn/ⓘ) is a mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase in a way that gives it a new meaning.[1] Mondegreens are most often created by a person listening to a poem or a song; the listener, being unable to hear a lyric clearly, substitutes words that sound similar and make some kind of sense.[2][3] The American writer Sylvia Wright coined the term in 1954, recalling a childhood memory of her mother reading the Scottish ballad “The Bonnie Earl o’ Moray“, and mishearing the words “laid him on the green” as “Lady Mondegreen”.
They say “Less is More” that could certainly be said of the ED-PRS GenII 4-20×52 scope. Earlier this year, I reviewed Discovery Optics new GenII revision of their ED-PRS 5-25×56 scope. The GenII EP-PRS boasted improved optical clarity by using Japanese ED glass. So, why would they make a 20x scope when they already offered a 25x? And why would you want to buy one?
The 20x version appears nearly identical to the 25x. In terms of performance, the 20x has a 4x magnification factor which means in theory it should provide slightly a sharper and brighter image when set to the same power numbers as the 25x. In my testing, the differences were too subtle for me to see. But what I could clearly see is that the 20x is slightly shorter, slightly lighter, and slightly cheaper than the 25x.
Moreover, most hunters and target shooters don’t typically shoot a 5-25x scope at its maximum 25x; preferring a setting of about 12x or 16x to improve clarity and brightness. A 20x scope is able to be used at 12-18x. Let me again remind you that the 20x is slightly shorter, slightly lighter, and slightly cheaper than the 25x. It all starts to make more practical sense.
Athlon makes a wide range of spotters but doesn’t have as storied name recognition as other bigger brands. The Cronus is Athlon’s top tier product line. Their Gen2 UHD 20-60x86mm spotting scope is not in the same class as a Kowa or Swarski, it still does not disappoint. This scope is a beast weighing in at nearly 5lbs, which isn’t surprising given it’s large 86mm objective. This large lens gathers in a lot of light providing a very bright picture especially during dusk.
The Cronus comes with a set of rubber lens caps. The front has a loop for a lanyard but no lanyard was included. The body is rubberized and armored for durability and grip. The body comes with an ARCA-Swiss compatible tripod ring which rotates 180º with indexing for an easy return to 0º. The eyepiece has a large diameter lens for a wide eyebox and a built in retracting eye cup.
The Cronus sports UHD glass which is Athlon’s term for their flavor of Extra Low Dispersion glass. While my testing camera does show some slight chromatic aberration at 60x, this is not noticeable with the naked eye. The image I was seeing was clean, accurate, and sharp from center to outer edge.
The only disappointing aspect of this scope isn’t the scope but its accessories. The padded sleeve style case is designed to allow you to keep the scope inside the soft case while mounting and using the scope on a tripod. While a laudable attempt, the materials and construction feel a bit cheap compared to the the scope. And the lens caps should have come with optional lanyards to keep them retained onto the scope. These issues are superficial and don’t detract from the actual performance of the Cronus.
Athlon sent me their new dual focus model with a fine focus knob sitting on top of the fast focus. This model is not yet released but their standard model with a large focus ring around the tube is widely available.
Mandela effect, popularized phenomenon in which a group of people collectively misremember facts, events, or other details in a consistent manner. Paranormal researcher and author Fiona Broome conceptualized the effect after discovering that she and others possessed strong, yet false, memories about the death of South African anti-apartheid activist (and later president) Nelson Mandela while in prison during the 1980s. Research has found evidence for a specific Mandela effect concerning the misidentification of certain pop culture images; however, intense debate has occurred over potential causal mechanisms, many of which include pseudoscientific explanations.
