I finally got my hands on the long-sold-out Discovery Optics HD 2-12×24 MPVO. Unlike an LPVO, an MPVO’s low end starts at 2x or 3x, and is better optimized for long-range shooting, with features such as an adjustable parallax focus. MPVOs fill a niche between LPVOs and heavier full-sized 3-9x, 3-12, or 4-16x scopes.
The HD 2-12x looks like an LPVO but weighs only 16.6 oz and is just over 9″. It has locking turrets, that have crisp, audible turret clicks. Its illuminated reticle is unfortunately only twilight bright. Optically, the glass is clear with minimal chromatic aberrations. It gets dim at 12x, losing contrast with a milky cast unless your eye is exactly centered in its tight eyebox. It’s unusable indoors only in 2x.
The HD would be a better tactical scope if it had a horseshoe center reticle like their ED-AR, with brighter illumination. Despite these shortcomings, its lightweight compact size and sub $200 price tag make it a good scope for the price.
Too Much Information live chat show. In this episode, we’ll be talking with Brandon Rudge, a professional PRS shooter, about designing the WBR reticle and consulting on the design of the March-FX 5-42×56 PRS Edition scope. Read my notes https://moondogindustries.com/tmi-250702-march-scopes-brandon-rudge
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March Scope is the sporting and tactical scope brand created by Deon Optical Design of Nagano Japan.
DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE
PRS Precision Rifle Series is a shooting sports body that organizes standings of PRS matches regionally and nationally. Unlike traditional bullseye or benchrest competitions, these events incorporated targets placed at varying distances and required shooters to engage from improvised positions such as barricades, rooftops, or natural terrain.
Earlier this year, Olight released the OSight S, a compact, enclosed wireless-recharging red dot. I reviewed it and found it to be one of the most feature-rich micro red dots with an RMS-c footprint. People liked its features, but for some the recharging battery was a dealbreaker. Well now there is an OSight with a replaceable coin battery.
OSIght listened and has released the SE. This new red dot replaces the magnetic recharging top with a side battery tray that holds a CR 1620 battery, which can be replaced without dismounting the unit and retaining zero. The user can press the “-” button to switch between a 2 MOA dot, 32 MOA circle, and a circle-dot reticle. The battery can drive the SE for up to 70,000 hrs on dot mode at level 3 brightness.
I still prefer the original S because its recharging cover allows me to see its current battery charge and recharge the unit easily. For people who prefer optics with a battery that can easily be sourced and replaced, the SE has more features than most enclosed red dots, for a reasonable price.
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March Scopes is known for producing world-class premium optics. But they aren’t very well known, because of their eye-watering prices and because their scopes are only sold by specialty optics stores. Their scopes have been in high demand among professional F-class and benchrest shooters. Last year, March enlisted a professional PRS shooter to help optimize a March-FX High Master scope for PRS and NRL style shooting.
I got a chance to see a prototype of the March-FX High Master PRS Edition FX Gen II at SHOT Show 2025. And I got an opportunity to meet the designer of its FML-WBR reticle, Brandon Rudge. This scope was eye-catching for the silver bands around its turrets. But this wasn’t just for style, Brandon got March engineers to make turrets out of a metallic material that could be written on with whiteboard, dry-erase markers to mark off target dope during competitions. A simple yet brilliant feature that I predict will be ripped off and copied by other scope makers.
The scope has some other differences from the standard March-FX. It has non-locking turrets, so there is no chance of an accidental lockup during a stressful match when adrenaline makes turret adjustments challenging. The reticle illumination has been removed to allow for a thinner, finer etching of the reticle. All of these features enhance this scope’s already stunning glass, exceptional range of magnification, and wide field of view, to make a scope that is optimized for PRS / NRL competition.
One additional note, the testing demo sample I received was missing the break-away throw lever and MD aperture filter normally included with this scope.
At SHOT Show 2025, I stopped by our friends at Evike.com who had a large booth near Holosun and Baretta. We got a chance to see their new licensed airsoft guns which are spot on copies of Kimber, Stacatto, Daniel Defense, and Noveske firearms. These are perfect training devices for dry-fire and non-lethal CQB training.
Monstrum released the Challenger 5-25×56, a new budget FFP long-range scope. This improves upon their older G3 4-24×50 long-range scope with features appealing to PRS style shooting with a larger 56mm objective lens, zero-stop turret, and a Christmas tree reticle. Remarkably it has all of that at a lower price than the G3.
The Challenger ships with several accessories including a decent set of high-height rings. It does not include a sun shade which many budget PRS scopes include. The Challenger has a built-in fin on its magnification ring so doesn’t need an additional throw lever.
The illumination knob has 6 levels of brightness with an Off in between the settings. The elevation turret is non-locking but has a built-in Zero-Stop activated by screwing down a worm screw accessible under the turret cap. An odd design feature is the screw-down turret top on the elevation which covers the turret screw and access to the Zero-stop worm screw. This makes resetting the turret zero a little bit more work.
The windage turret is a more typical, push-down-to-lock design. It has an exposed slotted turret screw top to reset the turret to 0. Unfortunately, my model’s turret markings did not exactly line up with the tube’s indicator dot, a tell-tale sign of cheaper, budget construction.
Glass and optical quality are also where Monstrum compromised to achieve its low price. The image at its lowest of 5x shows noticeable chromatic aberration. The image was not sharp from center to edge, with noticeable softening and distortions at the outer 1/4 of the scope image. Color fidelity was good but with a slightly warm balance. The was average for a budget PRS scope: tight.
The new reticle is the Challenger’s best improvement over the G3. It is a more tactical style reticle than other PRS Christmas tree reticles, with a thick “+” as its central aim point. This made the reticle much more usable from 5x-16x than typical FFP reticles but was too thick for Precision target shooting as it obscures the central X ring of a bullseye. This reticle will be more appealing to hunters than Benchrest shooters.
For long-range hunters or gong plinkers on a budget, this scope is priced low enough to be worth a try. As a competition PRS scope it has disappointing optical performance. But factoring in its jaw-dropping street price of $199, the value calculous for this scope shifts radically toward its favor.
CVLife is known for producing basic budget scopes. Some would derisively call them airsoft grade. Recently, they’ve upgraded their product line with more feature-rich optics. The Bear Swift is a 1-10×28 LPVO with a wide 34mm tube for an impressive 80 MOA range of adjustment. The box includes the scope with flip-up lens caps, 2 button batteries, and an offset mount. The mount is basic with unmatched rings and lacking recoil lugs but they are marked with their recommended torq settings for its screws. The scope costs just under $200 on Amazon https://amzn.to/3FcbDl6 which puts it in the same price tier as a Montstrum Panzer. The Vortex Crossfire is also the same price but it is only a 1-4x SFP.
The scope appeared nicely designed and constructed. Better than most expect for a budget scope. It has resettable, locking turrets that are tactile positive with loud and distinct clicks. Its illumination knob has 5 brightness settings in red and green with an off in-between each color half. The magnification right turned smoothly and comes with a very short screwed in throw lever.
The scope has a First Focal Plane (FFP) reticle that appears to be a copy of the Vortex Razor HD. The reticle is very thin and hard to see at 1x but unlike the Razor HD, the illumination of the Bear Swift is only average in red and not daylight bright. It’s green brightness is rather dim. At 10x the reticle is much more usable but like many 1-10x FFP, the eyebox is tight and unforgiving.
Optically, the scope exhibited a slight image distortion and wasn’t the flattest image at 1x. But the glass had good clarity and sharpness and reduced chromatic aberration. The initial sample I received from CVLife had a small optical defect. The reticle was parallax focused at 100 yards and exhibited a slight 1/2 shift at 100 yards. Despite this parallax shift, I was able to stay on target during live-fire testing, and the scope retained zero after 50 rounds of .556. I sent photos and a short video to CVLife to explain this issue, and they quickly sent me a replacement without defect.
The Bear Swift’s features and glass clarity make it a good value for a $200 scope, putting it on par with the Monstrum Panzer series and better than most entry-level FFP LPVOs from bigger-name brands. If CVLife could improve its weak reticle illumination and the overly thin 1x reticle design, this would be an amazing budget scope.
Tippmann is best known for making paintball guns/markers but many don’t know that they also make 22LR and rimfire firearms. Their 22LR AR model comes highly recommended by my club members for its compatibility with standard AR upgrades and accessories. At SHOT 2025 they showed off their new 22LR conversion kit which allows you to convert your AR15 to shoot 22LR rounds reliably.
Safety on a gun range is paramount. Communication between Range Safety (RSO) staff is vital to do their job, and two-way radios are a useful tool, but this can be a challenge when wearing electronic earmuffs. It is possible to connect earmuffs to walkie-talkies, but it requires additional attention to wire management.
The RHO8 is a clip-on accessory to ProHear shooting electronic earmuffs, adding the ability of walkie-talkie radio communication using FRS/GMRS. The unit clips to Howard Leight Impact Sports compatible headphones into the earcup that has a 3.5mm audio jack. The RH08 has a built-in battery and is recharged via a USB-C cable.
In testing, I was able to clearly communicate with a fellow RSO who was using a handheld walkie-talkie. The talk/transmit button is on the mic stem, which pokes a few inches beyond the earcup. It is comfortable to wear, and the added weight and bulk isn’t really noticeable. The only downside to using this instead of a handheld radio is that the LCD display is only visible when you take off your headphones.
SPECS
Number of Channels
22
Frequency Range
400-470 MHz
Talking Range Maximum
3 Mile
Water Resistance Level
N/A
Battery
Internal Lithium-ion
Compatible Devices
Howard Leight Impact Sport, ZOHAN EM054, PROHEAR 066, 030, 036
