Swampfox is a rising US optics brand that has made a name for producing value priced red dots. They’ve expanded into LPVOs and long range scopes. They’re following the template of Primary Arms by offering premium design features for a value tier price just a bit above budget.
I’ve never tried out their optics but many of my viewers have suggested I do. I stopped by their booth at SHOT Show 2025 to get acquainted with their red dots and LPVOs. Their red dots feature a selectable multi-reticle and their LPVOs have well designed reticles more in line with my tastes. I hope I can get an opportunity to test one later this year.
At the Aguila booth in SHOT Show 2025, they showed off such a no-brainer innovation. Their 5.56mm ammo will now also come in 30-round boxes. Considering 30-round magazines have been the military standard for the M16 platform for over a quarter century, it’s about time. Prior to this, 5.56 (and 223) ammo was normally sold in 20-round boxes. Moreover, Aguila is offering these boxes in 450-round sealed polymer Battle Bags with built-in handles for fast and environmentally protected handling and transport.
The Strike Eagle 5-25×56 is Vortex’s best long-range scope under $1000 (with a street price of around $700-$800). Optical technology has advanced as fast as prices have dropped. New “budget” scopes now offer higher optical quality and performance. One of the best examples is Discovery Optics’ ED-PRS which sells for half the price of the Strike Eagle.
The ED-PRS ships with more accessories than the Vortex. My model is the first edition Gen2. The newest version of the Gen 2 has updated tool-less turrets and does not ship with scope rings. The ED-PRS has tall oversized turrets which are easier-to-read numbering. The ED-PRS turrets had more precise feeling clicks and a wider range of adjustment. Both scopes appeared to be well constructed but the ED-PRS is almost a full pound heavier and certainly appears more chunky.
Both scopes offer bright and clear imagery that is very similar in quality. The Strike Eagle has a brighter and higher contrast image but with slightly more chromatic aberration at high power. The Strike Eagle also offers a more forgiving eye box.
Both scopes showed good color rendition at the gun range and the ability to see details in low light at 25x. Because of the Vortex higher contrast glass, the Strike Eagle seems a bit sharper but both scopes can resolve the same level of detail in the US Airforce reference chart.
Long-range shooters will be well served with either scope for their similar optical performance. But for conscious shooters, the Discovery Optics ED-PRS is the clear winner.
XVision specializes in digital optics. At SHOT Show 2025 I got a chance to see their Flex series of compact thermal scanners and sights. The Flex2 won Outdoor Life’s “Best Thermal Optic” award because of its high resolution and compact size. These thermals ran from $2500-$3000 MRP, but what caught my eye was their Shadow 100 night vision scanner because it has an MSRP of $149.
Back in January, I got a chance to see a pre-release sample of the Rangecraft Velocity Pro at Athlon’s booth. Athlon had planned to release the Velocity Pro in early April for a price of $350. Unfortuantely, nobody knew that the Trump Administration would be imposing over 100% tariffs on Chinese made products. Nor that this would cause widespread parts and shipping delays.
Some folks online were posting negative comments about Athlon, butthurt because the chrono didn’t ship in April and the price had gone up to $399; which is only about 10%. Retailers started getting their shipments at the very end of April and customers were getting their orders in the first week of May. I was pleasantly surprised to get a Velocity Pro from Athlon to test this early on. Often when a company has such high demand for a new product, they skip the gun-tubers until after they get their 2nd or 3rd shipments fromt he factory.
The Velocity Pro looks strikingly similar to the Garmin Xero. It is slightly larger in size with a slightly bigger display screen. The Velocity Pro has 2 additional control buttons on the top and has its menu arrow buttons on the side of the unit. Its physical dimensions are only slightly larger than the Xero and it also has a slightly bigger and brighter LCD screen. The Velocity Pro’s tripod base is heavier providing a more stable platform against high winds.
Comparing the two at the range, the Velocity Pro showed slightly faster readings on average to the Xero. The difference between the two chrono’s was less than 1% which is neglibable. While testing a pistol shooting in rapid fire, the Xero could not keep up with the Velocity Pro. The Xero would miss recording shots if there was less than a 1.5-2 second delay between shots. The Velocity Pro’s more reliable sensors, better menu layout and contols, and with less than a 1% difference in readings made the Rangcraft the better chrono.
Too Much Information live chat show. In this episode, we’ll be talking with Gizzard Gary, a retired nuclear power IT specialist, turned YouTuber https://gizzardgary.com/. This video is sponsored by Aura. Stop leaving yourself vulnerable to data breaches. Go to my link https://aura.com/moondog to get a 14-day free trial and see if any of your data has been exposed. Read my notes https://moondogindustries.com/tmi-250514-gizzard-gary/
This company is one of the largest corporations in the US. It traces its origins to 1889 and Thomas Edison; this company was one of the first electrical energy utilities in the US. This company has “electric” in its name. Since 1955, it has been the largest builder of nuclear power plants in the US.
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SPECIAL GUEST Gizzard Gary Is a native of Burlington, Kansas (population 2,593); born and raised. He retired after 42 years working at the nuclear plant near Burlington, and started his YouTube channel in 2017. His channels include Gizzard Gary, Gary Reviews, Boomer Listens, and hosts a weekly livestream Fowl Territory.
CONTESTS
Brand Clue: Helmed by legendary and notorious CEO, Jack Welch, this company was one of the most profitable corporations in the 1990’s.
At SHOT Show 2025 Fenix showed me the update to their super bright 1200-lumen GL19R weaponlight. Fenix listened to user input and created the 2.0 following the principles of K.I.S.S. Not Rock-n-Roll all Night and Party Everyday, the other one: Keep it simple, stupid.
The GL19R 2.0 does away with the strobe and changeable brightness output. No fussing around with different modes or accidentally activating one. You get either Turbo (1200 lumens) or off.
The controls have been changed to mechanical finger-activated levers, which can either be flipped to constant on or pressed for momentary. There’s no fussing with the micro-seconds of pressure to activate momentary vs. constant. Moreover, Fenix includes 3 different levers with different lengths and heights. Finally, Fenix added a quick-release lever and innovative, tool-less adapters to use the GL19R 2.0 for either Picatanny or Glock rails.
The GL19R 2.0 retains the CR18650 battery which can be charged internally via a USB-C cable. Sometimes less is more. In the GL19R 2.0 having fewer brightness modes makes for a MORE reliable weaponlight.
I stopped by the Fenix booth at SHOT Show to see Fenix’s new offerings for 2025. I tested the GL19R last year and found it to be a reliable and bright weaponlight. This year, they showed me the GL23R with its new mechanical control switches and the new v2 GL19R with the same switches.
Too Much Information live chat show. In this episode, we’ll be talking about buying gold and silver to diversify your assets and SHTF with Mark Damsetter. This video is sponsored by Aura. Stop leaving yourself vulnerable to data breaches. Go to my link https://aura.com/moondog to get a 14-day free trial and see if any of your data has been exposed. Read my notes https://moondogindustries.com/tmi-250507-gold-with-mark/
EARLYBIRD Clue: This gold coin is known for the image on its opposite “tails” side.
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It is the name of the Apollo 11 Lunar Lander in which Neil Armstron and Buzz Aldren were the first to set foot on the moon.
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The volatile stock market. Gold and precious metals
Hedge against inflation
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SPECIAL GUEST Mark Damsteter Retired from Finanance and Accountant. Grew up in Buffalo NY. Served in the US Airforce. Is an avid coin-collector since he was a kid and through that got into Gold and precious metals.
CONTESTS
Brand Clue: This is the mascot and symbol of the United States. These are the largest birds of prey in North America.
EZShoot is a budget brand that looks it. Their new LPVO doesn’t even have a name, it’s just called their “1-6×24 LPVO”. When it arrived, it came in a generic black cardboard box without branding or identifying markings or printing.
Inside was a decent-looking LPVO with a dimple pattern on the turrets that reminded me of Discovery Optics or SIG. The turrets were nice with clear audible and tactile clicks and no slop between clicks. It included a metal throw lever and a cantilever mount. The latter was budget quality.
Looking through the scope, it was obvious where compromises were made. The image exhibited noticeable edge distortion, creating a fish-eye-like effect at 1x. At 6x the image was not tack sharp (despite my efforts to adjust the diopter) with chromatic aberration. Thankfully, it has a good tactical reticle design that offers daylight-bright illumination.
Despite its lackluster optical qualities, it has decent turrets and an appealing price. The total package comes in at around $100, give or take. While there are certainly better budget LPVOs like the Monstrum Banshee of CVLife Eagle Talon, they cost about 50% more. Or get one free. This June, I’ll be giving away an EZShot 1-6×24 to a lucky winner of my Moondog Go contest. Enter to win (ends May 31, 2025): https://moondogindustries.com/may2025ezshootcontest/
