One of my range buddies brought out an oddball rifle to the range the other day: his pump-action AK-47. You heard that right, pump-action. This is a Romanian PAR-1, chambered in 7.62×39. It was developed in the 90’s as a result Clinton’s Administration’s Assault Weapons Ban.
As odd as it looked and seemed in concept, it functioned as you’d expect. It fed from a 10rnd CA plugged 30rnd magazine. Everything else on the rifle was standard, including the AK’s notoriously thin leaf iron sights. I was able to get all of my shots on paper at 100yrds without any difficulty.
I can’t say that I know how to feel about this rifle. On the one hand it’s cool that somebody built a unique rifle. But putting a pump action on an AK only makes sense in a post-apocalyptic Fallout setting.
Monstrum Tactical asked me to compare their new Panzer 1-6x FFP to the LPVO that was chosen by the US Army, the Sig Sauer Tango6T 1-6x FFP. Monstrum sent me samples of both LPVOs new in the box. You can about each LPVO in greater detail in my previously posted reviews of the Tango6T and Panzer 1-6x
As a quick overview, the most striking difference between the two optics was the color. The Tango6 comes in a metallic Flat Dark Earth (FDE) color which was a US Army requirement. Their was far less difference between the two LPVOs when looking at their specs. One notable difference was that the Tango6T comes in MRAD and the Panzer comes in MOA. Moreover, the Panzer’s turrets have a range adjustment more than double that of the Tang6T.
Optically both are great but the Tango6T was ever so much better in brightness, flatness, detail, and sharpness despite having more visible chromatic aberration than the Panzer. Both had pretty good eyeboxes (for LPVOs) but again the Tango6T was just a little bit better, a bit more forgiving.
All in all both LPVOs preformed quite well in my range and live fire testing, holding zero. The Tang6T offers true daylight bright illumination of it donut-of-death. This new release (Gen2?) of the Panzer, just months newer than the model I tested in March, now offers daylight bright red illumination on par with the Tango6T.
Whilst the Tango6T is hands down the better optic, the Panzer is still a solid LPVO. But the Tang6T costs more than 10x the price of the Panzer. Yes, the Tango6T is a better but I don’t think 10x better. If given $2000 and the choice between the two, I’d pick the Panzer and use the left over money to buy Level 5 body armor, digital night vision nods, and extra ammo.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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