We had twice as many competing at this match. Still plenty of room for more next month. If you’re an experienced or competitive rimfire shooter and would like to compete at next month’s match, reach out to the Rifle Executive at the Coyote Point Rifle and Pistol Club website. https://coyotepointrpc.org/cprpc-board
https://youtu.be/SpTZ7H4dGW0 #22LR #rimfire
SVBony SV28 25-75×70
SVBony sent me a SV28 70mm scope after seeing my review of the 50mm SV28. The model they sent me wasn’t pre-inspected as it had some minor defects in the alignment and assembly of the sunshade and a bump in the action of the focus knob when focusing at 50mm objects at 45x.
Despite these defects, the overall resolution and sharpness were good for a budget spotting scope. There was good sharpness from edge to edge. It was able to resolve lines down to Element 6 in Group -1 at 100yrds using the USAF 1951 resolution chart.
A street price of about $60 makes this a good value. Be sure to keep your receipt.
SHOP
AMAZON: https://amzn.to/3wJWf6G
MoTac KSG/KS7 Recoil Pad
I review the Missouri Tactical Recoil Pad for the KelTec KSG/KS7 shotguns, filmed at the Santa Clara Field Sports Park rifle range. Thanks for SoloFettR2 for letting me use his KS7 for this evaluation. He actually bought the MoTac pad on his own before I was contacted by MoTac and asked to review it.
You can bid on this brand new unopened Missouri Tactical Recoil Pad shown at the beginning of this video. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to middle-school students fundraising for their school trip to Washington D.C. in 2022.
EBAY AUCTION
http://ebay.us/b3UOdE?cmpnId=5338273189
If you miss the auction you can still donate to the middle-school students by sending a donation here:
https://www.paypal.com/pools/c/8EIs51ARvi
You can purchase one on Amazon or on the MoTac website.
AMAZON https://amzn.to/3omv5PH
MISSOURI TACTICAL https://motacpro.com/shop/ols/products/ksg-ks7-recoil-pad
Do Cleaning Rods Foul?
I recently discovered that if you rub an aluminum gun cleaning rod with a cleaning patch, it leaves “faux” fouling marks on the patch. Why? I assume it’s the metal rubbing off on the cloth but far less staining when rubbing a brass cleaning rod.
It begs the question, have we mistakenly thought our guns were dirtier than they really were? I honestly don’t know. I’ve switched to all brass rods from now on.
AMAZON PRODUCT LINK
Hoppes Cleaning Rod https://amzn.to/3CXQF30
Avid Pistol Cleaning Kit https://amzn.to/3D1IX7X
SVBony SV28 70mm Focus Fail
I started testing a SV28 70mm scope sent to me by SVBony and found a defect in the focus knob which effected the optical image.
Coyote Point 100yrd Rimfire Match: Halloween
I competed in my 2nd match with my new CZ457 VPC. A made a few minor changes to the setup. I returned my Athlon Argos to my AR and replaced it with a Vortex Diamondback Tactical 6-24×50; the finer reticle lines makes spotting .22cal holes easier. I lightened the factory-stock 3lb trigger pull to just under 2lbs.
Perhaps the biggest change in performance came from the ammo. Instead of running CCI Standard again, I stumbled upon the performance potential of Federal Champion when I used it to initially sight in the Vortex Diamondback (not wanting to waste my limited match-grade ammo). I noticed the surprisingly small group it was printing. I ran out of time before the match to properly test other ammo, so opted to take a risk. I ran with “Blue Box”.
I ended up winning the match, coming in 1st place to my utter surprise. It was a very close score. I scored only two points more than the next highest scoring competitors. I hope to fine tune my setup and find an even better ammo than “Blue Box” for the next match. But if it turns out this is the best ammo for this rifle, so much the better as far as my wallet is concerned.
Stay tuned for more ammo test videos.
Celestron 10-30×50 Landscout
Celestron is probably the biggest brand in consumer astronomy telescopes. They also make a varied line of terrestrial spotting scopes and binoculars. I wanted to see if Celestron’s Landscout 10-30×50 lived up to its brand reputation.
The most striking thing about the Landscout 50 is its compact size. It is the smallest 50mm spotting scope I’ve yet tested. My Bushnell Spacemaster is slightly shorter but only when compressed into its telescoping body. The Landscout 50 looks even smaller.
Notable among the competition is its ring mount which allows the eyepiece to be repositioned to allow use both on a tripod base, wall mount, or hanging from a roof mount.
Despite its small size optically, it performed big. Despite its BK7 prism, the view through the scope was bright. It produced no noticeable chromatic aberration at maximum magnification. Its resolution and sharpness were only middle-of-the-pack; not quite as sharp as an equivalent GoSky or SVBony 50mm.
It is sharp enough to use as a range spotter for 22LR at 100yrds. But it only offers 30x magnification, which is slightly less than competitive brands that offer 36x or 40x. That means your eyesight will be doing some of the heavy lifting to make out those .22 holes on paper.
At a $70-$80 price point, I consider this a good value. The compact size sold me. It’s small enough to fit inside an ammo can, field coat pocket, or even cram into a full range bag.
One significant footnote: the first time I ordered this scope from Amazon, I got a lemon that had problems with the inner lenses that were misaligned (it would not focus). I returned it and ordered a second one which is used in this review. While Celestron is a very well-known brand, it’s always important to inspect your purchases no matter who makes them.
PRO
- Tiny size
- Rotating mounting ring
- Did I mention, it was really tiny?
CON
- Middle of the road optical quality
- Low magnification
- No built-in sunshade
USAF51 RESOLUTION
Group: -1 / Element: 3
PRODUCT LINK
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3joIFAg
LANDSCOUT 10-30×50
Magnification: 10 – 30x
Objective Lens: 50mm (1.96″)
Eyepieces: Zoom
Field of View: 3.2° – 2°
168 – 90 ft (56 – 30 m)
Focal Length: 170mm
Eye Relief: 0.70″ – 0.60″
Brightness: 25.0 – 2.9
Lens Coatings: Fully Coated
Prism Glass: BK7
Weight: 15.5 oz (440 g)
Water Resistant
Dimensions: 8.9″ x 2.6″ x 4.9″
Alec Baldwin “Rust” Leaked Footage *SPOOF
Vortex Diamondback Tactical 6-24x50mm
Vortex describes the Diamondback Tactical 6-24x50mm riflescope as a “long-range wolf in sheep’s clothing” Instead of gee-whiz features such as zero-stop turrets, a removable throw lever, or illumination, it focuses on basics: bright XD glass and a first focal plane reticle.
On the glass part, I have to hand it to Vortex. The glass really is exceptionally bright even at its maximum magnification of 24x. There is a trade-off: while its eye-relief is very good at 3.9″, it has a rather narrow eye-box. I wouldn’t say it’s unforgiving as the edges gradually dims, giving you good visual cues that your eye position is moving out of the eye-box.
Its other strong features are its loud and tactile positive turret adjustments and its Christmas tree reticle. Even when zoomed in to 24x the reticle has fine lines; of course, this could be a negative for those preferring to shoot at 9x, the cross-hairs may be too fine and hard to see. That is a trade-off with FFP reticles.
This scope is a value in Vortex’s lineup but “value” is a relative term. I originally picked up this scope for about $400; which is still the typical street price. But today, I would also look into scopes by Athlon and Arken which both offer more features at a similar price. Again, these are entry-level optics for Long Range Precision optics and the sky’s the limit from this point; both figuratively and monetarily. While I do not regret owning this scope, if I had to buy it today, I would have a harder time choosing it.
RESOLUTION
Group: -1 / Element: 2
PRODUCT AFFILIATE LINKS
Diamondback Tactical: https://amzn.to/3nadcCS
Athlon Argos BTR: https://amzn.to/3be1O3i
Arken EPL4: https://amzn.to/3X1gs6K
SPECS
- 6-24x50mm
- Tube Diameter: 30 mm
- Eye Relief: 3.9 inches
- FOV @100 yards: 18-4.5 ft
- Reticle: EBR-2C (MOA)
- Click Value: 1/4 MOA
- Max Adjust Elevation: 65MOA
- Max Adjust Windage; 65MOA
- Parallax: 10yds-Infinity
- Length: 14.28 inches
- Weight: 24.6 ounces
Roxant Blackbird 12-36×50
The Blackbird is a small, light-weight, 50mm spotting scope from a brand I’d never heard of before. I had seen it come up in my Amazon “suggestions” when I started this series of episodes reviewing various 50mm spotting scopes for 22LR range use but on the surface it seemed to me to be yet another Chinese Off-Brand scope. But Maria Freed, a Subscriber to my YouTube channel, posted a comment suggesting I check out the Blackbird.
The Blackbird is small for a 50mm scope. Not quite as small as the Celestron Landscout but still small. It also had the best external features I like in other spotting scopes:
- Captured lens caps so you can’t lose them (both front and back!)
- Rear pop-up eyecup
- Magnification ring turns independently of the eye-piece.
The optics are bright due to the PAK4 prism, but I found in the 100yrd range test, it was not as sharp or detailed as comparably priced scopes (save for the terrible Barska Colorado) with noticeable distortion on the edges of the image. When enter focused at the USAF resolution chart it managed to resolve down to element 6 in the -2 group, placing it near the bottom of previously reviewed 50mm scopes in terms of resolution and sharpness.
It runs about $70-$80 which is cheaper than an Orion but about $10-$15 more than the SVBony S28 which has slightly sharper image resolution. It’s still a bit better in color and brightness, so this scope may be a better choice for bird watching.
PRO
- Built in Sun Shade
- Pop-up Eyecup
- Captured lens caps
CON
- Middle of the road optical quality
USAF51 RESOLUTION
Group: -2 / Element: 6
AFFILIATE LINK
AMAZON: https://amzn.to/3mT1g8t