A Marketing Rep at LERTDAI contacted me through Facebook about reviewing a set of their battery-powered LED string lights. They come in a box of 16 lights. All turned and worked though one was flakey at first. Pressing the battery box flat seemed to fix it and it didn’t cause any problems afterward. Some of the LED bulbs do flicker/twinkle adding to the “fairy” or “firefly” effect.
A product photo on their Amazon page shows the lights in a glass of water. Their product specs say they are IP44 rated, which doesn’t mean they are resistant to spray jets of water. The first number in 2 number IP rating is dust penetration, the second number is its waterproof rating. An item has to be IP7 or IP8 rated for it to be classed as immersive waterproof. While I believe the LEDs and wiring is coated to allow them to be waterproof, the battery compartment is not, so I wouldn’t expose that part of the device to water.
The lights can be put in a bottle, vase, or jar to make a decorative centerpiece. Or you can wear it as portable holiday lights. It’s perfect for the season. Currently the entire box set of 16 lights retails for less than $15 on Amazon which makes them a pretty good deal.
I needed to get a new cleaning rod after I bent my 25 year old Hoppes aluminum cleaning rod. I opted to get a brass rod and I wanted a segmented rod that I pack away more easily than a 1-piece rod. I found the Baby Bore Rod Kit.
I was honestly surprised at how small the envelope was. And when I first took it out, I still couldn’t believe it could form a +30″ cleaning rod. But it turned out to be the perfect packable cleaning tool. I’ve since bought a second kit to put in my range bag in case I need to clear a squib or to clean my bore between ammo tests.
I’m sharing coupon codes and deals from some of the products I’ve tested and reviewed this year. This is by no means an exhaustive list and I hope to be updating in the days up to and after Thanksgiving as deals pop-up. Let me know if you find anything better or have updates.
SPORTSMANS WAREHOUSE
In store deals. $239 for Savage Axis rifle and Bushnell 4-12x scope package, and Aguila 22LR is reportedly $15/250 box?
My go-to local gun store and sporting goods. Throughout the pandemic, lines regularly form on their “ammo delivery” mornings and popular calibers usually sell out that day. Aguila Super Extra HV will be on sale for $20/250rnd box https://www.big5sportinggoods.com/store/ways+to+save/Weekly+Ad
AliExpress is kind of like the Amazon of China. Yeah, that’s not as bad as it sounds. Or maybe it is? It’s a step up from buying from Wish.com. If you’re not above directly supporting CCP affiliated companies (Chinese Communist Party), and don’t mind +30 day slow delivery from China. Here are some discount codes: Black/Super Friday Fest
On Sale: 25th Nov 00:00:00-29th Nov 23:59:59 PST Codes have been effective already (limited quantity, please hurry to promote). Promo Codes all products on Aliexpress (valid for 25.11.2021 PST – 29.11.2021 PST) $7 OFF $50 with code: BFCM7 $12 OFF $100 with code: BFCM12 $18 OFF $150 with code: BFCM18 $23 OFF $190 with code: BFCM23 $30 OFF $250 with code: BFCM30
COMSOON
This company contacted me directly with a coupon code for the Bluetooth Adapter that I used to add Bluetooth connectivity to my range earmuffs. 10% discount code for the J25: UXB5555T valid through 3rd December.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
