Discovery Optics is known for making high-quality optics for ridiculously affordable prices. But what I discovered at their SHOT Show 2025 booth was something even more surprising than a new scope, it was a prototype of a budget thermal scanner.
It was closer to a pre-production model than a rough prototype. The body was milled aluminium and the controls and displays were well thought out. The unit was about the size of an EOTech holographic sight. It has a QD Picatinny base that mates with an included handle.
Its primary use is as a handheld thermal scanning camera to look for living creatures such as game or search-and-rescue. Because of its base, it could be mounted onto a rifle rail and has been recoil-rated to .308 and higher. There was a high-resolution and a cheaper low-resolution version.
Just before SHOTShow 2025 KelTec announced the release of a pistol that was strange and unusual; even for KelTec and that’s saying something. The PR57 is a compact double-action-only pistol, chambered in 5.7, with an internal 20-round magazine, which means this is a clip-loaded pistol.
Stripper clip pistols haven’t been common since the early 20th century. And nobody I know of has made a new one in decades. It is probably no coincidence that the most recent clip-loaded pistol was the Zytec Grendel which the founder of KelTec invented.
I had a chance to try out this pistol at the SHOT2025 Range Day. Jokes about KelTec reliability aside, it appeared solid and equal to KelTec’s pistols in build quality and construction. Notable was its double-action trigger (which is also becoming exceedingly uncommon) which also functioned as the slide disassembly lever when pushed forward.
It was remarkably light at 14oz unloaded and loading and unloading it was simple enough using their adapter/loader which functions like a stripper-clip in function. Shooting, it had had a lot less recoil and snap than a 9mm or .38 of similar size. It shot flat and accurately (I was able to hit an IPSC plate a few times at 100yrds though any misses were shooter error).
It is a much better pistol than I gave it credit. But I think it’s a solution looking for a problem as its utility seems to elude me. And 5.7 is not a caliber I want to get into due to its cost per round. THE PR57 will probably attract the gun buyers who want something very different at the range, that can cause other folks to ask to try it.
Last year, Olight released the OSight, a revolutionary micro reflex sight (MRD) with a unique wireless charging cover. The OSight features an oversized window, which is great for fast target acquisition and re-engaging the target during rapid fire. However, a large window is a negative for those who want to mount an MRD onto a compact concealed carry pistol. OLight created the OSight S to address this issue.
The OSIght S (presumably this stands for “small) uses an RMSc footprint and is one of the smallest enclosed emitter red dots available. It is roughly half the physical size of the OSight but its smaller size means it also has a smaller battery. Fully charged an OSight can run for up to 21,000 hours, which is over 2 years. For those concerned with a non-replaceable internal battery, the OSight comes with a cover that displays the OSights battery charge level. Moreover, this cover functions as a mini-powerbank, capable of recharging the OSight up to 4 times.
Despite its small size the OSight S has the full-sized OSight X’s changeable reticle system. The user can press the “-” button to switch between a 2 MOA dot, 32 MOA circle, and a circle-dot reticle. This feature makes the OSight S one of the smallest MRDs on the market and also the most versatile.
BUY
Osight S Up to 25%OFF +Login Gift (a Free i3E keychain light)+a Free Challenge Coin
Bear Creek Arsenal is a value-priced ARs, firearms, and components maker. But it isn’t as well known as some other value-priced brands like Palmetto State Armory. What’s surprising to many more is Bear Creek Arsenal also sells branded rifle scopes and red dots. But more surprising to me is that they make a low-priced 30x scope.
The BCA SSCP is a 5-30x scope with a Christmas Tree reticle but in SFP which means the reticle doesn’t change size or thickness when changing the magnification. This means the ranging marks are only shown accurately when using it at 30x (without using mental math) but it also means the reticle is visually prominent and usable at 5x. For many hunters, this is a desirable trade-off.
Given its low price, there will be compromises. The turret numbers do not line up to the witness mark. Optically, it has a tight eye box and noticeable chromatic aberration. The image gets milky and dark at 24-30x.
For hunters looking for more magnification than a typical 4-16x scope but with a very tight budget the SSCP is a scope to consider. For someone interested in getting into long-range shooting on a shoestring, the optical limitations may be frustrating.
After the wildfires devastated Maui in 2023, one of the many victims left in the aftermath were the pets. These animals were left homeless and separated from their families who were relocated to shelters or relatives homes; some on other islands. These house pets were thirsty and hungry out in the open.
My neighbor Jessica, traveled to Maui as a volunteer to help locate these abandoned animals. Traumatized, they often hid from searchers. Fortunately, Jessica brought a Helion 2 thermal monocular which helped them locate many of these animals.
The Helion 2 is a handheld thermal imaging camera that has video and photo capabilities. Its lens has a built-in base magnification of 2.5x. The images look like black-and-white high-resolution security camera footage highlighted by bright red objects which are heat sources (it renders temperature differences rather than raw heat). It is also able to magnify its footage to 5x, 10x, and 20x but this is a digital zoom, which in effect enlarges the pixels and renders less detail.
Thermal imaging is a huge leap in detecting living things at night and even in complete darkness. In some ways better than Gen3 night vision goggles. But it does so with the same >$3000 dollar price tag as military-grade night vision. It’s certainly not something I will be purchasing anytime soon but I’m glad volunteers like my neighbor had access to this technology to do good.
The Vortex Strike Eagle 5-25×56 is one of the top-rated long-range scopes under $1000 (MSRP over $1250 but with a street price of around $700). In the five to six years since its release, optical manufacturing technology has advanced as fast as prices have dropped. How does a Vortex scope released in 2020 compare to a modern budget scope like the new $199 Monstrum Challenger?
The Monstrum ships with more accessories than the Vortex, including its own set of high-height rings. But lacks a sun shade included with the Vortex. The Strike Eagle also comes with a throw lever but the Challenger comes with a built-in fin on the magnification ring so it doesn’t need one.
Holding them both in the hand, I noticed the Challenger was a 6-7oz heavier. The turrets of the Strike Eagle looked slightly better milled and its numbers precisely lined up with the scope’s reference marks, whilst the Challenger did not (a blunder common in budget scopes). The Strike Eagle had the better build quality of the two.
Looking through the glass, I immediately noticed more chromatic aberration in the Challenger. This was disappointing after testing Monstrum’s ED-glass LPVOs last year. The Challenger also showed softened focus around the edges of the scope view, even at its lowest magnification. Both scopes had similar eye relief and eye box.
At the gun range, the Strike Eagle was a bit brighter and noticeably sharper, with less chromatic aberration than the Challenger which showed purple fringing even at 5x. Both scopes showed good color rendition and the ability to see details in low light at 25x. The Strike Eagle resolved resolution lines 3-4 steps smaller than the Challenger.
One other key difference for me was in each scope’s reticle design. The Strike Eagle was better suited for precision target shooting with finer stadia lines and a floating dot-point. The Challenger had a bold central cross as its aimpoint which was visible even at lower magnification, making it a much faster to aim tactical or hunting scope. Overall the Strike Eagle was the better scope. Factoring in the price, the Challenger at 1/3 the price was the better value.
I bought a cargo cover for both my 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander and my 2019 Kia Sorrento. Both covers came in generic brown boxes from Amazon without any branding or instructions. By external appearance and function, they were essentially identical despite being sold by to “different” companies on Amazon. They are primarily black sheet metal tubular pillars with spring-loaded ends, allowing them to pop into the square indents inside the front of my SUV’s cargo compartment walls just behind the rear seat.
Once in place, it’s a simple matter to pull on the cover and notch it into the J grooves in the rear pillars of the cargo compartment near the cargo hatch. These cargo covers come in a variety of sizes for various car brands and models, including hatchbacks. Time will tell if these are durable but by all appearances, they are identical to the “factory” model at less than half the price.
Car break-ins and petty crime have exploded in cities around the country since the 2020 Summer of Love. Driven by souring economic prospects, lefty soft-on-crime laws such as California’s Proposition 47, progressive prosecutors not charging criminals, and Defund The Police Movements. San Francisco is notorious for this.
“Don’t leave valuables in the car” is a mantra I live by. When liberal laws also require you to carry reusable shopping bags, at a bare minimum, I store a couple of empty shopping bags in my SUV. These bags, first aid kits, emergency water supplies, etc. could be easily mistaken for tempting store-bought products to petty thieves and addicts.
Both of my cars have been broken into and burglarized, some multiple times. This is why I finally decided to buy a retractable cargo cover for my SUVs to obscure these empty shopping bags and whatever ends up in the back of my vehicle. These cargo covers are similar to retractable window blinds that you can pull back to cover over your entire cargo compartment or be retracted quickly when the full space is required.
The cargo covers often come with luxury or upgraded models of vehicles but alas, I am a miser and bought the basic model of both of my SUVs. As a dealer upgrade part, these covers easily cost over $200. However, when purchased as an aftermarket car accessory, they cost a fraction of that.
Anduril originally named Narsil is a sword in The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. Narsil was forged in the First Age by the first Dwarves, was broken by Sauron and reforged by the Elves during the Lord of the Rings, and renamed Anduril (which means Flame of the West) by Aragorn.
DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE
Andruil Technologies
Anduril Industries, Inc. is an American defense technology company that specializes in autonomous systems. It was cofounded in 2017 by Oculus Rift inventor and entrepreneur Palmer Luckey
Next Livestream Wed January 15 for our SHOT Show episode
EARLBIRD CLUE: This gun brand’s M9 pistol replaced the Colt 1911 as the issued sidearm of the US military in 1985, until it was in turn replaced by the SIG P320.
BoomStick @FukuYTmark6 and LongRilfe @MnShootingSports have set up a 50-yard rimfire challenge that is right up my alley: Budget. This challenge target has six 3/4″ target rounds which is pretty standard but the real challenge is the limitations on the price of the gear and ammo you can shoot it with.
This challenge is limited to factory rifles (no upgraded trigger or barrel) and optic must have a retail price of less than $700 combined. Moreover, the rimfire ammo used must be bulk box 22LR and excludes more premium ammo types such as CCI Standard and Norma Tac22 (CCI standard is premium? love it!).
I’m a dumpster diver at heart so I accept this challenge with a smile. My rifle is a factory Ruger Precision Rimfire which I bought on a Black Friday sale at Sportsmans Warehouse for less than $300, but for the sake of this challenge, I’m going to count the average sale price today which is about $400. That means the scope I choose has to cost less than $300. Fortunately for me, I recently reviewed the Discovery Optic LHD 8-32×56. A very high magnification scope for a very budget price of about $249 https://youtu.be/Jn7LcnJBsbg
For the challenge, my Ruger RPRF was installed with UTG Reconflex bipods (retails for about $49) and I shot it with Aguila Super Extra High Velocity 40grn CPRN.
During the challenge run, I initially aimed at the center of the dots but experienced a climbing point of impact. While attempting to compensate by aiming toward the bottom, the point of impact sometimes shifted downward. By the 3rd target circle, I gave up compensating and simply aimed at the center. About 50% of my shots were flyers. All in all, I only scored 11 out of a possible 18.
