Mexico’s Aguila is the largest ammo maker in Latin America. Their ammo features in many of the .22LR ammo review videos on my YouTube channel, as have my various mispronunciations of their name. But I’m not alone, as evidenced in this video where I ask visitors and vendors at Shot Show 2022 how they pronounce, “Aguila.”
Category Archives: Shooting Sports
Firearms and shooting sports
Athlon Helos BTR Gen2 4-20×50
The Helos is step up from my Athlon Argos. This first focal plane scope has more refined and precisely designed turrets with a rock solid brass zero stop. The reticle is finer and less cluttered.
In other ways it is very similar despite being over $200 more. It shares similar optics performance. Both are argon purged (argon is a heavier gas than nitrogen and that helps purge the tube of lighter atmospheric gases and water vapor). Despite the Helos’ higher price it is still a good value when comparing performance and features to similarly priced scopes from Vortex.
I chose the 4-20×50 because it is slightly smaller and nearly a 1/2lb lighter than the more popular 6-25x scopes. I don’t feel I’m losing performance because at most matches I seldom dial my magnification higher than 12-16x. Lower power settings also afford you a wider field of view, that is sharper, brighter and more vibrant.
This scope has a street price under $600 and is available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3L5cPnR
RESOLUTION
Element: 3-4
Group: -1
SPECS
| Weight | 27.6 oz |
| Length | 13.3 in |
| FOV @ 100yds | 27.9 – 5.6 ft |
| Eye relief | 3.6 mm |
| Objective size | 50 mm |
| Zoom range | 4x-20x |
| Main tube size | 30 mm |
| Parallax adjustment | 10 – Infinity |
| Zero stop | Yes |
| Total elevation travel | 32 MILs (100 MOA) |
| Total windage travel | 25 MILs (80 MOA) |
| Turret travel per rotation | 10 MILs |
OVERALL RATINGS
Build: 5
Glass: 4
Reticle: 5
Holds Zero: 5
Box Test: 5
Turrets: 5
Eye Box: 5
Value: 4.5
Shot Show 2022: Cutting Edge 22LR Bullet Kit
In 2020, Precision rimfire shooters were equal parts, intrigued and dubious of photos of circulating on the interwebs of 22LR bullets with fantastically elongated sharply pointed bullets, not unlike those on a 6.5 Creedmoor or similar speciality ELR ammunition. As it turned out, these bullets were real, solid-copper spitzer-style bullets created by custom bullet manufacturer, Cutting Edge of Idaho.
I saw photos of these pointy spitzer-style bullets last year and they looked pretty wicked, but I wondered if these were some gimmick or just experimental? Regardless, I’m sure many of us thought, I’d give it a try if could get my hands on some?
These bullet were first shown off at Shot Show 2020 but due to the pandemic shutting down the show in 2021, I hadn’t seen or heard about them until I saw Josh of Pursuit of Accuracy posted a video about them. His initial tests seemed positive but he wasn’t convinced that their performance were worth the cost.
I got a chance to visit the Cutting Edge booth and learn a bit more. They only bullets and not as boxed cartridge ammo so strictly for Loaders/Reloaders. And given the unusual nature and barrel requirements, probably strictly for competition .22LR loaders.
Still I’m curious if anybody has bought this kit or have had a chance to load and fire them? So far it’s been second-hand word-of-mouth about their performance. For those who are reloaders, these bullets are sold in kits which include the bullets and brass for about $80 for 200rnds.
Shot Show 2022: Vaultek
You gotta be a fan of the Fallout video game series to get this joke. But I hear Amazon is creating a stream series based on the franchise so all you filthy casuals may eventually get in on this joke.
Sniper ZT 5-25×50
The Sniper ZT was sent to me by Texas Precision Optics of Dallas, TX which markets the brand. Any scope with the brand name “Sniper” either has the stones to actually live up to the name or just a poseur brand. With a price just under $300 for a 5-25x first focal plane, I suspected the later.
The ZT comes with a wealth of accessories in the box including a parallax focus wheel, sun shade tube, anti-flash filter, and heavy duty scope mount. In general, a budget scope that is loaded with this many accessories is a huge red flag that the product is pig in makeup. The scope and the accessories did appear well constructed but I was still not convinced.
The scope has an integrated throw lever of sorts, in the form of a raised skeletonize fin on the magnification ring. It features a red and a green reticle illuminator with 5-intensity settings. While almost daylight bright, it illuminates only the center T-shape of the reticle.
The First Focal Plane, reticle is configured in a german-stye ‘T’ with 1 and 0.5 MOA sub-tension hash marks for precision shooting. At 5x it appears very fine and light which may be hard to use in a hunting application as it is easily lost in the background, but the thinness is ideal for precision shooting, especially for rimfire. But for rimfire precision, I would have wanted the center ‘T’ to have had a gap for better target placement.
The eye-relief was more than fair at 3.7″ with a decent eye-box that did become a bit unforgiving at 25x. The image quality was somewhat typical for a budget scope: milky, with low contrast and detail, and chromatic aberrations. But what did surprise me was that scope had exceptionally good resolving power beating both my Athlon Helos and Vortex Diamondback Tactical in this regard (though the later has a brighter and cleaner image).
All in all, the Sniper ZT was a surprisingly good scope for a street price under $280. Its turrets tracked and returned to zero. The optics are a mixed bag with very noticeable chromatic aberration. As to it’s durability and reliability, that I’ll need to discover over time.
This scope is available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3up8K6V
Learn more at Texas Precision Optics: ZT 5-25×50 FFP First Focal Plane (FFP) Scope
USAF OPTICAL RESOLUTION PERFORMANCE
Group -1 : Element 4
SPECS
MODEL: ZT5-25x50FFP
MAGNIFICATION: 5X-25X
WEIGHT/OZ: 27.2
MODEL: ZT5-25x50FFP
MAGNIFICATION: 5X-25X
WEIGHT/OZ: 27.2
LENGTH: 14.4
TUBE SIZE: 30
EYE RELIEF: 3.8~3.7
EXIT PUPIL/MM: 8.3~2.1
FIELD OF VIEW@100YARDS: 16~4
CLICK IN@100YARDS: 1/4 MOA
ADJUSTMENT RANGE: ±30
PARALLAX SETTING: 10 yd.- infinity
OPTICS COATING: Fully-multi coat
Fog PROOF: Yes
Shock PROOF: Yes
Water PROOF: Yes
Shot Show 2022: Aguila Ammunition
For most of last two years, Aguila ammo was absent from my stores in Northern California. I had read rumors of big-rig shipments getting hijacked in Mexico by the drug cartels. So when I went to Shot Show this year, I thought I’d ask the source.
Aguila had one of the largest booths at Shot Show. While not a well known brand in the US, it is one of the largest ammo producers in the world. Super Extra HV has been my go-to plinking ammo in my Ruger 10/22, H&K G36/22, and Marlin 60 due to it’s better than average groupings and relatively low CPR versus CCI Mini-Mags or Federal AutoMatch. Chatting with Kaleigh at Aguila’s large Shot Show booth, I was surprised to learn that Aguila makes 22LR match ammo. Though it really shouldn’t surprise me since outside of the U.S., they are the largest munitions manufacturer in the rest of the Western Hemisphere. But their match grade 22LR was never sold in California as far as I know.
I’m hoping that more of Aguila’s wide line of ammo, especially 22LR, makes to my local gun stores.
Pinty 4-12×50 Scope Kit
This Pinty scope is the epitome of Tacticool tropes, featuring a decent 4-12×50 rifle scope but tacking on both a full-sized reflex sight and a green laser designator to create a top-heavy scope/optics package. This is an example of the whole being less than the sum of its parts. Any one of these three accessories would be fine on its own but together it is ridiculously unnecessary.
Still, if you buy the package you can detach and use each part separately for good effect. The scope isn’t bad optically; well not great. It held zero with a .22. Will it hold zero on a .308? Who knows, but would you expect it to?
A big shortcoming about the scope is when you attach the reflex sight, you can’t read the elevation knob. And the reticles is the generic Chinese “range finder” that was common in the 70’s and 80’s for buck hunting but that never adequately explains how you use it to determine the range to your target for other applications.
Purchased separately the various pieces would cost more than buying this package. Is it a “bargain” well… my daughter won this in a fun match so yes, I guess it was since it only cost $10 for her to enter the match. Your milage may vary. This scope is available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/30k8GdE
RESOLUTION
Group: -2
Element: 3
OVERALL RATINGS (out 5)
Build: 3
Glass: 2
Reticle: 2
Holds Zero: 5
Box Test: 5
Turrets: 2
Eye Box: 3
Value: 3
Shot Show 2022: Leupold Patrol 6HD
I was fortunate to get an early look at the soon-to-be released Patrol 6HD LPVO scope at the Leupold booth. This +$1200 scope features Leupold’s legendary glass and quality in a lightweight LPVO with a choice of illuminated reticles. Old school hunters will prefer the simple firedot duplex but most modern shooters will prefer the tactical CM-R2 reticle which is perfectly usable for hunting as well. The additional advantage to the CM-R2 is that the illuminated horseshoe is bright and fat enough to be usable as a red dot at the scope’s true 1x power setting.
Arken SH4 6-24×50 FFP Gen 2
No, these are not AS GOOD as a $2000 Leupold, Nightforce, Zeiss, or [INSERT HIGH END BRAND HERE]. The glass is about as good as a Vortex Diamondback/Viper but the Arken SH4 is almost too good for a FFP scope under $500.
Without a huge advertising budget, through word-of-mouth and YouTube reviews, Arken has earned an outsized reputation. Claims by other YouTubers of high quality glass and top quality turrets seemed almost unbelievable. After meeting them at Shot Show 2022, Arken sent me a sample of their new Gen 2 SH4 to test and evaluate and spoilers: the turrets do live up to the hype (they are outstanding!) But the scope itself is not without flaws.
The scope uses Chinese HD glass which is bright and sharp, resolving down to Element 4 in the Group -1 in the USAF optical resolution chart. This placing its x24 resolution in the same league as a Vortex Diamondback Tactical or an Athlon Helos. But subjectively, it’s detail and contrast seem slightly below those scopes. At magnifications higher than x12 I could see a gradual cloudiness and drop in brightness. At x24 the lack of contrast and detail made it hard to pick out .22cal holes on paper at 100yrds.
It makes up for these optical shortcomings with its amazingly precise, high-quality turrets. Adjustments were audibly clear and extremely tactile positive. They built in zero-stop was well designed and precise, using a set screw to engage and stop-bar inside the elevation turret. My only nitpick is a lack of a turret lock, especially with windage.
The biggest complaint people seem to have is imprecise range markings on the parallax focus. But this should be a non-issue; you shouldn’t be using them as a range finder at this price tier. Anybody who depends on range markings on a dial more than their own eye’s sense of focus should return these scopes; they don’t deserve them.
Reticle preference is largely personal. But I found this scope possibly my favorite reticle design of any U.S. scope maker. Designed by former US Navy S.E.A.L., Arken’s reticle strikes a perfect balance between data and reference points for long range adjustments at high power, while keeping the center clear and focused. The Gen 2 SH4 utilizes the same reticle design of the EP4/EP5 with the addition of the SH4’s illuminated center cross-hairs. This aids finding the reticle in dusk and low light situations though is not “daylight” bright even at i’s highest magnification.
And no, the optics are not as good as a Leupold Mark 5 but its turrets are. Like everything else, Arken’s scope prices are going up slightly (Post-Pandemic Inflation) but they are still below anything comparable on the market. One of the ways they keep costs down is by not spending money on marketing or advertising and only selling their products direct to consumers online. Their current promotion offer is a free Combo Pack when you register which is an awesome deal with a set of 34mm scope rings, scope covers, throw lever, spirit level, and pouch.
From what I’ve read, some Gen 1 SH4’s and EP4’s had quality control issues. While rare, even big name brands like Vortex and Leupold put out lemons or experience “user accidents”, which is why they are so well known for having no-hassle returns and lifetime warranties. Arken is no different.
To their credit, while Arken is a small company, stand by their lifetime warranty and are responsive to customer service issues. The first sample of the SH4 that Arken sent me, had an off-center reticle and a tiny near the top left edge of the image (most people wouldn’t have noticed it). I emailed their general customer service page, just like any other customer, and the next day they emailed me a return label. I sent back the scope and the next week I got brand new scope at no cost.
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ONLINE RETAILERS
Amazon https://amzn.to/3PPVWPO
RESOLUTION
Group: -1
Element: 4
OVERALL RATINGS (out 5)
Build: 5
Glass: 4
Reticle: +5
Holds Zero: +5
Box Test: +5
Turrets: +5
Eye Box: 3
Value: 5
SH4 Gen2 Specs
ARKEN SH-4
Eye Relief: 3.5 inches
FOV: 20.88-5.22 ft @100 Yards
Tube Size: 34 mm
Turret Adjustment: 1/10 MIL
Reticle: First Focal Plane
Reticle Details: VPR MIL
Zero Stop: AZS
Elevation Adj. Range: 32 MIL
Windage Adj. Range: 10 MIL
Adjustment Per Revolution: 8 MIL
Parallax: 25Yds – Infinity
Illuminated Reticle: Red
Battery included: CR2032
Length: 14.1 inches
Weight: 36.6 oz
Shot Show 2022: Harris M-Lok Bipod
Just a few months ago, I reviewed a budget Feyachi bipod which at the time was the only Harris-style direct-attach M-lok bipod on the market. Well at Shot Show 2022, I discovered that it won’t be for long. The original, Harris Engineering, was showing off their prototype of a low-profile direct-attach bipod with a beefed up base that allowed for cant/tilt; a feature that cheaper clone makers do not have.