Since the departure of Nikon from sporting optics, March Scopes has stepped up to become Japan’s maker of premium rifle scopes. They are known among competition Precision Rifle Series (PRS) shooters for their high power scopes. At SHOT Show I was introduced to their new 80x Majesta scope, the highest power rifle scope I’ve ever seen. And the Genesis, a 4x-40x scope that puts the Extreme in Extreme Long Range (ELR) shooting with 400 MOA (116 MIL) of adjustment.
Aguila, one of the worlds largest makers of ammunition showed off their newest product at SHOT Show 2024. Surprisingly this wasn’t a new caliber or cartridge, it was clothing. They created a whole product line of Aguila branded clothing and accessories available on their online store aguilastore.com
PCC’s gained in popularity in 3Gun competitions for their manual of arms and component compatibility to standard 5.56mm ARs .While shooting 9mm is a lot cheaper than shooting 5.56mm ammo, PCC ARs have generally cost more than a basic AR.
Known for making budget price, yet reliable AR components, Anderson showed me their most budget friendly PCCs. Their AM-9 is priced under $900 and their UTILITY pistol AR at under $600; that’s the price some AR makers charge for just an upper receiver! Anderson brings their extensive AR manufacturing experience and skills into creating a solid and reliable Glock-compatible PCC.
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Leupold has updated their entire BX4 line. These scopes still offer the exceptional optics we’ve come to expect from Leupold. The Gen 2 offers a lighter optic, enhanced non-slip skin, and eyecups.
PSA has made a name for themselves in creating a wide range of ARs, AKs, famous and fantasy firearms. This year at SHOT Show they brought over a dozen new designs including a pump shotgun, a bolt action rifle, and an MP7 look alike. All in all, too many for them to realistically bring into production next year. So they’re asking the public to help choose their next 3 guns by voting for their 3 favorite. Cast your vote on PSA’s website. https://palmettostatearmory.com/shotshow2024
At Industry Range Day, I rang steel at 1000yrds using a precision build rifle with what I thought was a Leupold Mk5 scope. It turns out it was a brand new Mark 4 HD. In the 1980’s Leupold developed the Mark 4 tactical rifle scopes, the first rifle scopes built specifically for the US military. As other optics companies developed tactical scopes for military needs, Leupold developed the Mark 5 and discontinued the Mk4.
This year at SHOT Show, Leupold brought back the venerable Mk4 for their new line of Mrk4 HD “affordable” premium scopes. This line includes an LPVO and selection of long range and ELR scopes. These scopes will fill the gap between their top-of-the-line Mk5 scopes and their paired down Mk3 scopes. They’ll range in price between $1000 and $1600.
At roughly half the price of a Mk5, the Mk4HD was as clear and sharp as it’s big brother. The Mk4 it may not have as many bells and whistles or the bragging rights of a Mk5. But if you’re looking for a prime example of Leupold performance, you can’t go wrong with a Mk4HD.
Palmetto State Armory are the Mad Scientists of gun makers, coming out with new designs and recreations of guns. This year they brought out over a dozen prototypes including their MP7-a-like named the X5.7 (which may not be the final name). This PDW is based on their Rock pistol they debuted 3 years ago at SHOT. With a polymer housing, and retractable brace, at first glance it could be mistaken for a mini HK MP7.
PSA has too many ideas and but too little engineering time so they’re asking fans to vote for their favorite prototype guns that PSA should focus on. This means the 3 guns with the highest votes will be most likely to see testing and production later this year. Cast your vote at https://palmettostatearmory.com/
5.11 is one of the most respected brands in tactical apparel. They got their start in climbing and outdoor wear and became sought after by Special Forces teams for their pants ruggedness, durability, and flexibility. Working with SWAT teams, they developed their line of V.XI pants. This year, the V.X1 will be available to the civilian market.
These pants feature well thought out reinforcements, elements and details to enhance ergonomics and protection. EDC pockets are reinforced for wear and cinch points for add-on pads and soft armor are reinforced and adjustable. They will come in a new line of colors for both civilian and professions.
Many LPVO’s claimed to have “daylight bright” illumination, but until recently that was largely a boast. Monstrum sent me a 1-6×24 Banshee. This LPVO appeared physically identical to the 1-6×24 Banshee I previously reviewed but this sample comes with their new BDC-C1 fiber optic reticle.
The package comes with the an offset mount and flip-up caps. The scope has capped turrets that are resettable to zero. This sample’s turrets had audible clicks but were a bit sloppy indexing.
Unlike the standard Banshees, this version’s illuminator rheostat only has red as its color and has an ‘off’ setting between its numerical intensity levels. To make the reticle daylight bright, a hair thin fiber optic strand is embedded inside a BDC duplex reticle to provide a bright illuminated point at the center of the crosshair. In my tests, I found that at at its maximum intensity the reticle was red-dot bright, easily visible in broad daylight even pointed into the sunlight sky.
It checks the boxes. At 1x it’s a flat 1x view with no fish eye. It provides a surprisingly clear and sharp image with little to no chromatic aberration even at maximum magnification. It’s held zero over multiple range visits. This makes the Monstrum the most affordable daylight bright LPVO that’s worth a damn.
This optic is available on Amazon through this affiliate links which support my channel:https://amzn.to/3SndrLQ
Vortex was one of the first optics companies to roll out true “daylight bright” illumination on their LPVOs; bright enough to be seen outdoors in daylight sun. Monstrum recently released their first LPVO with a reticle that claims to be “daylight bright”.
Monstrum sent me a sample of their newest Banshee with a new BDC-C1 fiber optic reticle. They also sent along a brand new Vortex PST Gen2 and asked me to test and compare them. Both are 1-6x SFP LPVO’s with 30mm tubes so it would make for a fair apples-to-apples comparison.
Both LPVOs looked broadly similar. The Viper has larger diameter turrets and some small details in its construction that cue anybody who has milled metal that it’s a higher value scope. Both have 30mm tubes but the Viper manages to offer more than twice the range of adjustments of the Banshee’s 70MOA.
Both have illuminator rheostat that offer an ‘off’ setting between its numerical intensity levels. The Viper offers 10 levels whilst the Banshee offers 6; and unlike the other Banshee models, only in the color red. The Vipers rheostat dial had an annoying slop that made me turn past and accidentally turn the unit off when changing intensity levels.
Both have capped turrets with 1/2 MOA adjustments per click; which were clear and loud. The Monstrum’s turrets were mildely tactile positive with a fair bit of slop between clicks. The Viper’s turrets were crisp, tactile clicks with very little slop. I didn’t bother with tracking tests as capped LPVOs, the designs intent wasn’t for futzing during use. These turrets were meant for zeroing the reticle and then shot adjustments should be made by the user using the reticle’s sub tensions.
The Viper had a smoothly turning power ring but was stiff enough that I would have wanted a throw lever that the Viper’s retail package lacks. It did come with a 2″ sun shade which none of the Monstrum LPVOs include in their package. The Banshee’s power ring was stiffer and not as smooth but compensates for it with a built in fin-style throw lever.
Looking through each scopes, the Viper had a brighter view. But both appeared crisp and sharp at 1x. The Vortex had very, very, slight fish eye curve at the outer edge of the view. In most other ways, the LPVOs were evenly matched. Only at the covered range did the Vortex show a clearly greater sharpness and brightness offering 3 levels of resolution better than the Banshee and less chromatic aberration.
The reticles were also very similar looking semi t-style; the Viper having MOA sub tensions whilst the Banshee has bullet drop calibrated sub tensions. Both have a bright central point which illuminates creating a red-dot like focus point. Comparing both at their brightest settings, both were similarly daylight bright and visible even when aimed into the sky near the sun.
At this point there really wasn’t much else to test. While the Viper at 11 may be a bit brighter than Monstrum’s new BDC-C1 Banshee at 6, both are truly is daylight bright. How much brighter do you need?
At the range, I could quickly and accurately aim and hit my targets. Like so many of their features, I found the eye boxes to be effectively identical. Because these scopes were short-term loaners, I wasn’t able to test durability or ruggedness but both held their zero during my day at the range on my 5.56 AR.
Both scopes come with lifetime warranties on workmanship but the Viper comes with Vortex’s no-fault policy, covering accidental damage and user error. Recently Monstrum revised their warranty to cover accidents but their fine print requires a receipt and I haven’t had any feedback with ease of returns. Vortex seems to have an easier return policy but recently has a reputation for sloppy QC.
By far the biggest difference between the Banshee and the Viper is their price. The Viper is one of Vortex mid-range models and sells for $599 on Amazon, which is 4 times the price of the Banshee ($149). Moreover, the Banshee includes a quality offset mount. The Viper does not include a mount and the Vortex Sports mount costs an additional $100.
Comparing the Monstrum Panzer vs Vortex Razor HD 1-10x FFP the differences in the quality of the scopes was significant. But comparing the Banshee to the Viper, the differences were harder to find. Certainly the Viper was sharper, brighter, had more range of adjustments and a better warranty. But if I had to the choice to buy either of these scopes, I think I’d choose the Banshee because its a better value.
These optics are available on Amazon through these affiliate links which support my channel:
