Category Archives: Shooting Sports

Firearms and shooting sports

Shooting Sports

SIG Tango6T 1-6x LPVO

In 2019 the US Army selected the SIG Tango6T as the optic for their HK Designated Marksmen Rifles and for use by Special Forces. The model I tested is the civilian version, differing in its markings but effectively identical to the Army version. I have read conflicting articles stating that the DMR rifles is an SFP version of the Tango6T but I can not confirm this. Of the two Tango6T samples I tested, one lent to me by Monstrum Tactical and another was the personal optic of a friend in law enforcement.

The Tango6T is finally built with subtle body details that speak to extra time milling. The Tango6T has an Flat Dark Earth (FDE)/burnt bronze flat anodized finish specified by the Army. Its control surfaces have fine diamond checkering pattern for grip.

The scope came pre-installed on a SIG Alpha4, a high quality cantilever mount with convenient printed torque specs. Contrary to internet scuttlebutt, the Alpha4 is not a Geiselle mount (though superficially similar in look). The Alpha4 was designed by SIG for the Tango6T, fabricated in California and assembled at SIG’s factory in Oregon.

I had an opportunity to compare the newest model of this LPVO to a pre-DOD selection model of this optic. Superficially it appears identical save for a slightly darker shade of FDE which appears more burnt than bronze. After contacting the folks at SIG, they were very helpful in giving a historic background on the various versions of this LPVO. There are a number of configurations available from SIG, the current Mil and civilian reticle is the Hellfire DWLR-556 reticle.

The Tango6T has 11 levels of brightness on its illumination, 9 visible settings and 2 which are night vision compatible. It has a unique illuminator locking ring on which prevents the knob for changing or turning on or changing setting when engaged. The reticle appeared daylight bright though not quite the “red dot bright” intensity found on the Nightforce ATACR or Vortex RAzor. The unit is powered by a common CR2032 coin battery.

It has capped turrets which are wide diameter but low profile; the down side is that the area only allows for small font numbers which may be hard to read for some folks. Each click is 0.2MIL and is audible and tactile positive so you can infer your changes by click feel if you can’t do so visually.

The Tango6T’s DWLR6 is a BDC design with a Christmas tree of holdovers for long range shooting beyond 500yrds. As with most FFP LPVO’s the 1x seems to be an afterthought, feeling a bit too thin and easily lost against a dark or complicated background. The bright illumination makes up for this. It’s central horse shoe of death is intensely illuminated with a slight outline on the rest of the stadia elements.

Optically the LPVO had excellent brightness, and clarity. Even though it had noticeable chromatic aberration, I was still able to resolve detail at 6x that would only see in LPVOs that were 10x. At 1x the image was flat and much better than Razor or Riton FFP LPVO’s I’ve tested. This scope is world’s better than SIG’s similarly named Tango MSR 1-10x LPVO which I was underwhelmed by a few months ago. Save for it’s thin 1x reticle this is one of the best LPVO’s I’ve tested.

AFFILIATE RETAIL LINK

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3V2A5ug

Optics Planet: https://shrsl.com/4ja69

RESOLUTION

@50yrs: Element 1 / Group -1

SPECS

Focal PlaneFirst
Magnification1-6x
Objective Lens Diameter24 mm
ReticleDWLR-556
Adjustment Increments0.2 MRAD
Weight22.1 oz.
Maintube Diameter30 mm
Travel Per Rotation20 MRAD
Parallax Setting300 m
Field of View High/Low (@100yds)105.8/17.7 ft.
Eye Relief High/Low4.1/3.9 in.
Exit Pupil High/Low11.4/4.0 mm
Diopter Adjustment Range+/- 2.5
WaterproofingIPX 8
Ocular (Rear) Outer Diameter1.81 in (46mm)
Objective (Front) Outer Diameter1.18 in (30mm)
Internal Gas PurgeArgon
Illumination Settings9 Daylight/2 NV
Total Elevation Travel31 MRAD
Total Windage Travel31 MRAD
Battery(1) CR2032
IlluminationRed
Shooting Sports

Daylight Bright LPVO’s real or hype?

Not a few years ago, when a scope’s illumination was described as “daylight bright” that just meant that you could see a color cast on the reticle on a cloudy day. With advances in technology, daylight bright really means you can see it in daylight. Engineers embedded a fiber optic thread inside a reticle cross hair. This projects dot to in the center of the reticle that can be as bright as a red dot.

This fiber optic reticle was first rolled out on premium optics but in short order, budget tier optics like the Monstrum Banshee now offer daylight bright reticles. Some premium LPVOs like Vortex and Nightforce have developed a way to illuminate floating FFP reticles so that it is also daylight bright at 1x. This brightness does come at a premium with the Razor and ATACR costing around $2000. If a you don’t need a FFP reticle, a daylight bright budget fiber optic LPVO can be had for less than $200.

These optics are available on Amazon through these affiliate links which support my channel:

Banshee https://amzn.to/424Kfwz

Viper PST Gen2: https://amzn.to/48DwR4X

Shooting Sports

CVLife WolfCovert Multi-Reticle RMR

CVLife offers one of the most affordable multi reticle micro red dots I’ve found. While many budget companies make RMR-style micro sized red dots, almost none allow for the change in reticle style. The WolfCovert allows you to choose between a typical 2MOA red dot, to a 32MOA circle (with a sunburst), or a 32MOA plus red 2MOA red dot configuration.

Personal tastes in reticle design aside, the large 32MOA circle burst benefits shooters with astigmatism (such as myself) who have trouble resolving a pinpoint cleanly. To me most red dots have a smeared or star-burst appearance which can make pinpoint accuracy impossible when not wearing corrective eyeglasses. The unit has 9 levels of brightness and lowering brightness helps improve finer resolution of the reticle. CVLife only offers red illumination but is working on a greed version.

The WolfCovert has some premium features like motion-activation and 4-minute auto sleep to conserve battery life. The unit has a stated 50,000hr (10year) battery life. The battery chamber is accessible from the top of the unit so you don’t have to unmount it. It is built with an Trijicon RMR footprint and comes with an RMR to Picatinny and a RMR to Glock MOS adapter.

The reticle can be adjusted using a small flathead screwdriver (a flathead tool is included). The adjustment screws are faintly audible, tactical positive and distinct, with no slop. Each click is 1MOA. In my testing with 50rnds of 115gr 9mm on my Glock 17 the unit held zero.

ONLINE RETAIL AFFILIATE LINK

Amazon https://amzn.to/3x9FWVp

Get 10% off with code: moondog10 https://www.cvlife.com/products/cvlife-wolfcovert-multiple-reticle-rot-dot-sight

SPECS

Style: Multiple Reticle 2MOA dot / 32MOA circle
Material: Aircraft grade aluminum
Mount Type: ‎RMR Footprint, Picatinny, and MOS
Length: 1.81″
Width: 1.06″
Height: 1.02″
Weight: 1.34oz
Range of Adjustment: 45 MOA
Click: 1 MOA
Waterproof: IPX-7
Battery: CR1632
Battery Life: 50,000hrs
Warranty: ‎3 years


Shooting Sports

Maven S.1A 25-50×80

Maven is a new optics company that is arguably makes the most stylish premium sporting optics available. They sent me their top of the line spotting scope to test. The S.1A is an angled 25-50×80 spotting scope with a removable 5x eyepiece. The checkerboard texture pattern on its focus and power rings, look like the fine workmanship of vintage European photographic lenses from the 1950’s.

In my testing this scope checked all of the boxes for a premium higher end spotting scope. It was clear and bright and exhibited only a moderate amount of chromatic aberration. On the USAF-1951 chart the S.1 was able to resolve details comparable to a 60x scope. Its large eyepiece provided a generous eyebox for a spotter. It can be swapped out for either an MOA or MIL reticle tactical eyepiece for spotting in long range precision shooting.

The standard model comes with a grey rubberized armored body with black or orange metal accent rings that form the joins of its body sections. The body armor and accent rings can be individually customized on the Maven website to allow the buyer the widest possible aesthetic selection. No other optics company or sporting good maker comes close, not even Nike.

While this customization may seem like a gimmick, if you’re going to spend around $2000 for a scope, why shouldn’t you have a say on how it looks? Given that most major brand scopes in this price tier perform remarkably similar (eg. Vortex, Leupold, Nikon, Kowa, etc.) aesthetics may be the most significant differentiator.

AFFILIATE RETAIL LINK

Maven S.1: https://alnk.to/8tOMbpp

Amazon (Angled body): https://amzn.to/4ccrJGe

Amazon (Straight body): https://amzn.to/3VBFmt1

RESOLUTION

Element 6 / Group 1

SPECS

 Magnification Range25x-50x
Obj. lens diameter80mm
Exit pupil3.2mm / 1.6mm
Field of View (FOV)2.2° / 1.6°
Apparent FOV (FOV x Power)55° / 80°
Field of view (ft/1000 yds)115ft /84ft
Brightness10.24 / 2.56
Twilight factor44.7 / 63.2
Multi Position Eyecups Y/NYes
Eye relief17mm – 18mm
Eye piece construction5 group 7 element
Near focus5m
Dimension WxHxD14.9″x6.3″x3.9″
Weight64.5 oz
Prisms typeSchmidt-Pechan
Prism reflective coating typeDielectric Coating
Phase correction coatingYes
Lens coatingOilphobic + flat multi
Pressure tested to what pressure1m for 30min. (IPX7)
Storage temperature-40°~158°F
Functional temperature-13°~140°F
Frame materialAluminum / Polymer / Magnesium
Internal gas purgedNitrogen
Objective filter thread82mm
Focus systemVari-speed focusing system
Lens typeFluorite glass
OriginJapanese components assembled in the US


Shooting Sports

Discovery Optics Lightweight Scope Mounts

Discovery recently updated their premium scope ring and scope mount offerings with their new Lightweight Scope Mounts. The “Lightwenght” typo in the first batch of boxes was not an intentional Trademark name. I pointed this out to them to their embarrassment but I won’t judge given the number of typos in my articles.

The rings are made of 7075 aircraft grade aluminum and make extensive use of lightening cuts to reduce the weight. Technically these aren’t cuts but milled indents into the surface that do not go all the way through. This allows a thin wall of material that helps keep it stiffer.

The mount comes in 30mm, 34mm, and 35mm tube sizes in 1.5″ center height and higher profile 1.93″ heights. Its my understanding that more SOF trainers prefer higher profile mounting of optics to promote a more heads-up shooting position for operators. Discovery also offers mounts with a 20 MOA tilt for long range; the mounts I tested were standard 0 MOA.

On close surface inspection the milling and construction appears of high quality. The mounts have recoil lugs, use Torx screws (star), and a unique indexing pin on the rings which in theory provides more precise alignment of the ring tops and additional stiffness without having the rely on the quality and alignment of the screw/bolt supplier. Using my Monstrum laping kit, I found the mount to be nearly perfectly aligned, requiring no lapping (Those competing in ELR will probably still want finer tolerances). Overall the mounts look as good as those made by big brand mounts for a lot less.

AFFILIATE RETAIL LINKS

Discovery Optics https://discoveryopt.us/collections/0-moa-scope-mount 10% off code: MOONDOG

Amazon https://amzn.to/3xmt92g

Alignment and Lapping Kit: https://amzn.to/3KO0RRp

Shooting Sports

Blackbeard Fire Starter Rope

In a survival situation, without a means to create a fire, can you slowly die of hypothermia. Cold is debilitating and demoralizing. Plus its hard to make a decent cup of hot chocolate.

Blackbeard is a small company that was founded by Kai and his brother, who are avid hikers and outdoorsmen in Utah. They invented the Fire Starter based on trail and experiments, setting up camps in rain or after crossing creeks and rivers with wet gear. They invented a special cloth rope impregnated with a secret blend of ingredients that are non-toxic yet easy to light even after getting them wet (by accident).

The braid of black rope is in a plastic wrapper. The ends are open so the wrapper itself is not a weather seal. Cutting and peeling back the wrapper, the rope end felt like soft cotton to the touch and does not have a petroleum smell as I expected.

As a torture test, I dropped a Fire Starter cord into a pitcher of water and let it soak for an hour. During that time, the cord took in water and sank to the bottom of the pitcher. After 62 minutes I took the wet cord out of the water pitcher and gave it a quick shake and cut off about 1/2 an inch of the rope end and captured the cut fibers.

Blackbeard’s online demos advise users to rub the cut fibers together into a loose ball with the palm of your hands to fluff them. Despite the fibers being damp, to my surprise the tinder lit up without too much effort. Despite it also being a gusty day, I was able to get a small fire started.

If you’re a hiker or packing for an extreme bug-out-bag, adding a Blackbeard to your kit is good “fire insurance.”

BUY IT

Amazon affiliate https://amzn.to/3VKnqwu

Pirate Plunder Kit on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3VL6XYX

Or it direct from Blackbeard Fire: https://alnk.to/6TAekmO

Shooting Sports

Will a Monstrum Banshee Hold Zero?

I’ve tested the Monstrum Banshee and discovered it was a surprisingly good for a budget LPVO. No, it’s not just as good as a Leupold, Vortex, or [INSERT YOUR FAVORITE PREMIUM OPTIC BRAND HERE]. But optically, features, and performance it checks the boxes, especially for a street price under $200.

One most common question about the optic is, does it hold zero? Over the course of five months, I’ve put the Banshee through hundreds of rounds of 5.56mm and .22LR and it’s held zero. And it’s not just me, regular viewers of my channel have posted similar results shooting the Banshee on their .308 AR10s. Regardless I still get the occasional doubter challenging the number of rounds shot or the caliber of the rifle used.

To address doubters I proposed a torture test. I asked my buddy Mark on the GD Boomer Channel if he would try a Monstrum Banshee on his Barrett M107A1 rifle to see if it could handle the recoild and hold zero after 10 rounds of 50BMG. I contacted Monstrum Tactical and they agreed to sponsor the video to reimburse GD Boomer for the ammo he would use. Monstrum ordered a brand new Banshee 1-10×24 from Amazon and shipped to him directly.

At his local rifle range, GD Boomer zero’d out the scope at 100yrds and set up a two targets. He was able to print a decent 5 shots group on the first and a similar sized 5 shot group on the second, with one flyer on the 9th round. He was shooting military surplus rounds so nothing close to match grade or hand loaded cartridges, or user error jerking the shot, or both. Ok, it was user error.

Hopefully this test will satisfy most folks that the Monstrum Banshee is capable of holding zero on their rifle.

AFFILIATE RETAIL LINKS

Monstrum Banshee 1-10×24 BDC (B1 reticle) on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3WN08Hi

Monstrum Banshee 1-10×24 BDC (C1 fiber optic reticle) on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3WIo9iF

Monstrum Banshee 1-10×24 (MX1 MOA reticle) on Amazon: https://amzn.to/44MZ7ku

Monstrum Banshee 1-6×24 BDC (C1 fiber optic reticle) on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3wO337O

Recoil testing, conducted at a rifle range, courtesy of GD Boomer. Ammo sponsored by Monstrum Tactical: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwZssTN1oGs&t=1s

Shooting Sports

CVLIFE CONTEST

June 15 Bearpower Contest

Win a Bearpower 6-24×50 rifle scope. The contest winner will be chosen from all entries submitted. Winner must be present in the online chat on Hillbilly Up Guns, Beer & Therapy Livestream starting at 10pm EST. Watch Live https://youtube.com/@moondoggo or https://www.youtube.com/@HillbillyUp

CONTEST INSTRUCTIONS

Show you have the skills to subscribe to my YouTube or Rumble channel and uploading your screenshots.

1. Subscribe to any of these YouTube channels:

Moondog Go https://youtube.com/@moondoggo

American Hillbilly https://www.youtube.com/@HillbillyUp

D.J. Playnice https://youtube.com/@djplaynice

Marc Thomas https://youtube.com/@marcthomas2482

Hazzbro http://www.youtube.com/@hazzbro1964

JH586 https://youtube.com/@jh5869

A Great Start Shooting School https://www.youtube.com/@AGreatStartShootingSchool

Pat in a bunker https://www.youtube.com/@patinabunker5340

Garage Guy https://www.youtube.com/@garageguy879

Gizzard Gary https://www.youtube.com/@gizzardgaryreviews

2. Take a screen shot of your SUBSCRIBED button showing you have Subscribed/Followed.



3. Upload those screen shots https://forms.gle/z7K6yDunys7hVgYQ9

SUBMIT ENTRY

RULES

NO PURCHASE 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 within the USA or Canada. 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.

2. Sponsors and Platforms

Moondog Industries (known as the SPONSOR) is a video Edutainment producer and game promotor based in San Francisco, CA. YouTube, TikTok, Rumble, 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:
10:30pm EST 9 June 2024
and
10:30pm EST 15 June 2024

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 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 December 31, 2024.

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.

9. Rights Granted by the Entrant

The SPONSOR, upon submission of an entry into the giveaway or contest, has the right to use the participant’s submission, voice, likeness, image, statements about the contest, etc., for publicity, news, advertising, promotional purposes, trade, and so forth, without any further notice, review, consent, compensation or remuneration.

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.

10. Terms & Conditions

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.

11. Limitation of Liability

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.

13. Privacy Policy

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. 

Shooting Sports

Aero Ambidextrous M4E1

The M4E1 lower has been one of the most popular components made by Aero Precision. This year they’ve released an upgraded design which offers true ambidextrous controls on this popular lower receiver. I had a chance to shoot an Aero AR build during Industry Range Day and it was indeed easy to shoot and intuitive.

Shooting Sports

Ideagle Adjustable Target Stands

Ideagle sent me a set of their adjustable target stands to test. These steel square tube bases allow you to clamp up two vertical wooden planks to staple or hang archery or firearms targets. Unfortunately no instructions or photos were included in the generic brown cardboard box, so I had to figure it out on my own. I contacted Ideagle and they said they were still working on downloadable instructions.

The two main arm sections are square tubular frames that can adjust from 16″ to 24″ apart. The sections telescope into each other and allow the mounting of full sized and letter sized targets. At the end of each arm, one screws in perpendicular bar to form the legs to create an overall “H” like base. At each end of the H base, two rectangular sockets allow you to insert up to a 1″x2″ wood plank or steak to form the vertical stand for your target. Knob screws at the sockets lock the planks in place.

My first impression was how rough, spotting, and minimal the welding was in its construction. The edges were not finished leaving sharp edges which almost sliced open my thumb during assembling so take caution and I recommend deburring it with a file before assembly or using thick work gloves. Thick black paint covers this to provide rust protection but the spottiness of the welding, I would not recommend leaving these stands out year round exposed to the elements.

The weight of the mount should be sufficient to keep a target up. Should you be in gusty conditions, the base has slots to insert ground stakes. The box came with a bag of steel ‘U’ lawn stakes. The wood for the vertical planks can be purchased at any lumber store. Overall, it works well as a target stand at most ranges and does its job. You get a set of 2 stands so it’s a reasonable price for the pair.

ONLINE RETAIL AFFILIATE LINK

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3yJa6j1