Tag Archives: red dot

Shooting Sports

Monstrum Ghost Forward Magnifier

At SHOT Show earlier this year I got a first look at what could potentially be a game changer. Monstrum created a 2x magnifier with an exceptionally long eye relief so that it is positioned forward of your red dot or prism. This allows you a clearer field of view than a traditional magnifier but if you use a magnified prism optic, you can multiply it’s magnification by 2x and get even higher power.

A few months later, I got my hands on one. It lived up to my expectations, surprised me in some ways, and disappointed me in others. It truly magnified the target image by 2x which really made a noticeable difference in my in PID (positive identification) of my targets at ranges beyond 50yrds.

I’ve not been a fan of traditional red dot magnifiers because of they block too much my peripheral vision, especially when flipped to the side to clear the view of the primary optic. Traditional magnifiers also have tight eyeboxes and small eye reliefs. The Ghost 2x has nearly unlimited eye relief and when positioned farther away from the face, minimizes blocking of my peripheral views.

This extreme eye relief is a key feature of the Ghost 2x, which makes it an ideal optic for scout rifles, AKs, or folding carbines like my Sub2000. Theoretically it could even be used on a pistol. This also allows it to be placed in front of magnified prism optics as well as red dots. This effectively doubles the intrinsic magnification of that prism; turning a 4x ACOG into a 8x optic.

But as Heinlein said, there is no free lunch. By adding a Ghost 2x in front of a prism, it reduces the brightness and introduces more distortion on the outer rim of the image. Moreover adding a optic in front of your primary optics aimpoint, causes the point of aim to shift; you have to zero out the Ghost 2x independent of your primary optic.In theory this could be an advantage, allowing you to set a long distance zero with the Ghost 2x to compensate for bullet drop, while keeping a point blank zero for your primary optic.

But fantasies of turning a 4x ACOG into a long range precision optic with a Ghost 2x, should be dispelled by the side-flip mount. The hinge of the side-flip will inherently never keep an absolute zero. As anybody who’s had to tighten the hinge on a kitchen cabinet knows, over time and use, a hinge will loosen up. Traditional side-flip magnifiers also have this issue but that doesn’t stop people from using them especially for 3-gun. That’s because at close to moderate distances (ie 100yrds or les) the side-hinge mount shouldn’t impact action-shooting level accuracy with man sized targets.

As I said, I’m not a fan of traditional magnifiers and for the same reasons, nor am I fan of prism optics. But the benefits imparted by this unique magnifier avoid most of those negatives. I’m looking forward to seeing how this new class of optic impacts the shooting industry.

BUY ONE

Amazon affiliate https://amzn.to/4cpLAkS

SPECS

Magnification:2x

Objective Lens: 35mm

Coatings: UltraLUX Multi-Layer

Materials: 6061 Aircraft Grade Aluminum

Gas Purge: Nitrogen

Length: 2.5 in

Height: 1.5in S

Centerline Height: Up to 1.9in with spacers

Weight: 8oz

Shooting Sports

CVLife WolfCovert Multi-Reticle RMR

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.

ONLINE RETAIL AFFILIATE LINK

Amazon https://amzn.to/3x9FWVp

Get 10% off with code: moondog10 https://www.cvlife.com/products/cvlife-wolfcovert-multiple-reticle-rot-dot-sight

SPECS

Style: Multiple Reticle 2MOA dot / 32MOA circle
Material: Aircraft grade aluminum
Mount Type: ‎RMR Footprint, Picatinny, and MOS
Length: 1.81″
Width: 1.06″
Height: 1.02″
Weight: 1.34oz
Range of Adjustment: 45 MOA
Click: 1 MOA
Waterproof: IPX-7
Battery: CR1632
Battery Life: 50,000hrs
Warranty: ‎3 years


Gadgets, Shooting Sports

Lucid Optics at SHOT Show 2023

SHOT Show is a great opportunity to meet the people at a brand face to face. But it’s not often that you get to meet a company’s CEO and have him personally walk you through their new products. At SHOT Show 2023 at the Lucid Optics booth, I did just that. Lucid’s CEO, Jason Wilson, showed me their newest Prism scope, red dot, monocular, and spotting scope.

Their products appear to be well made and have impressive specs (and impressive premium prices). I hope to test their products later this year to see if they live up to it.

Shooting Sports

M40 Red Dot Magnifier

Feagle sent me their new M40 3x red dot magnifier to test out. I was a but hesitant because I’m not a big fan of red dot magnifiers. I don’t think they have enough magnification for the weight they add to a firearm and their eye-relief is less than I’d like for anything larger than a 5.56mm or other light-recoil rifle. That said, I was impressed with the build quality and features of this magnifier.

It came in totally plain brown cardboard box. Inside is an owners manual, Picatinny side-flip mount, 1/3 co-witness riser plate, and a bag of screws and an allen wrench. The tube/body design looks like an oversized red dot. Even including turret caps with adjustment tools in the cap, which function like flathead screwheads. This allows adjustment to recenter visual position of the red dot in the magnifier’s field of view.

The 3x magnified image seen through the M40 was good with no noticeable color shift, though the image was not sharp from center to edge. The extreme outer edge of the image was soft with slight distortion. While I would not consider this durable enough for LEO duty or combat use, for action shooting, this should be perfectly usable.

M40 3x magnifier: https://amzn.to/3fkMA1U

RDS-22 red dot: https://amzn.to/3rab296

UTG 1” riser: https://amzn.to/3BOipaR

M40 Specifications

  • Magnification: 3x
  • Objective Lens Diameter: 21mm
  • Field of view (FOV): 7°
  • Exit Pupil: 7 mm
  • Eye Relief: 62mm
  • Diopter Range: +/- 3
  • Weight: 10.5 oz
  • Length: 2.85 in / 72 mm
Shooting Sports

Leupold Deltapoint Micro

With the growing popularity and acceptance of pistol red dots aka RMR’s (Ruggedized Miniature Reflex sight), it’s an unfortunate truth that the majority of pistols were not designed to mount them. This is all the more true with the Glock, with over 20 million produced in various models.

You can purchase an after-market RMR cut Glock slide but these cost almost as much as a new pistol and still require the purchase of an RMR as well. Leupold saw a need and developed a simple add-on RMR for the Glock and S&W Shield, that replaces your rear sight. Leupold was kind enough to supply me with a Deltapoint Micro to test and review.

Installation was as easy. After knocking off the factory rear sight with a punch, you slide the small mounting plate in the dovetail sight grove. The Deltapoint Micro screws into the plate and the tension between the plate and the Deltapoint locks the RMR onto your slide.

The unit is very low profile with a small tube approximately 7mm in diameter. The tube contains the lens and emitter, providing a ghost-ring like sight picture. The unit is powered by CR1632 battery which overhangs the back of the slide. The screw-on battery cap also functions as a clicky switch, turning the unit on/off and cycling through 5 different brightness, projecting a 3MOA dot.

I was dubious at first, thinking any RMA with a sight window this small would be less than useful. I was surprised to find that I had not trouble presenting the dot because the top of the unit visually functioned like traditional rear sight, with the small lens window occupying the traditional gap.

It only took me a mag and a half for me to get a hang of using it. I can usually get my shots within a 6″ bullseye ring at 10yrds with iron sights. With the Deltapoint Micro I was readily able shoot even better, getting most of my shots in the same ragged 1″ hole! I was a doubter no more.

Despite the Deltapoint Micro’s demonstrative ability to make me a more accurate shooter, the unit is not without faults. Those used to typical RMRs will probably hate the tiny sight picture of the Deltapoint Micro. The other big negative factor is the price of $399 for this tiny red dot. That makes it only marginally less expensive than buying an after market slide and a new RMR.

But for those compact or micro-compact CCW pistol, the Deltapoit Micro is the smallest, lowest profile RMR available. It is only a few millimeters taller than the original rear sight on a Glock. As such, it is likely far more comfortable to wear than any RMR.

My biggest pet peeve is that the designers at Leupold failed to take into account the height of the battery cap blocks you from removing your slide during normal disassembly. You must first remove the battery and cap from the Deltapoint to allow you enough clearance from the Glock’s receiver rail. If the battery cap was just 1mm or 2mm thinner, this wouldn’t be necessary. It seems like just a glaring mistake that should have been corrected.

This red dot is available through these retailers using my affiliate link:
Amazon https://amzn.to/3wmmC3R
Optics Planet https://shrsl.com/3o67k

Airsoft, Shooting Sports

Feyachi RDS-25 Red Dot

When Feyachi offered to send me a budget red dot to test and evaluate, I was a little puzzled when one arrived the next week. The box I received was a red dot but it did not have any Feyachi branding at all on the exterior graphics. Nor did the red dot inside. Fortunately the brand appeared in the user manual to let me know it was indeed from Feyachi.

The red dot itself looked fairly generic. This model looks identical to a Marmot red dot I reviewed over a year ago. But this box included a 1″ Picatinny riser. The red dot itself looked well made. The same could not be said for the riser, which had casting pits and a gauge when exposed the aluminum under the black oxidized finish. Whoever was making the riser mounts wasn’t as good at QC as the scope maker.

The red dot had 11 brightness settings. At its brightest setting the 4MOA red dot was visible in broad daylight. The dimmest setting was nearly invisible in all the but the darkest background. The red dot is powered by a CR2032 coin battery. The box came with two.

At the range, I was easily able to zero the scope and it retained zero throughout 20rnds of fire. To simulate years of use or heavy recoil, I banged the unit with my ammo can for about 30 seconds. I found that the red dot dit not lose zero despite the physical impact and abuse.

The poor QC and construction of the riser gave me serous doubts about its overall quality. The unit surprised me, passing my requirements for a basic red dot that could hold its zero. Time remains to be seen if it durable enough to survive long term use and abuse or just a heavy downpour.

Available on Amazon through my affiliate link: https://amzn.to/39SeGic

Shooting Sports

AT3 ARO Red Dot

AT3 ARO (Adaptable Reflex Optic) is a micro red dot optic and mount system. For those who aren’t familiar with the AT3 brand (which up to this point included me), AT3 is an AR parts maker and retailer based in Minnesota. They sent me an ARO to review.

I found the fit and build on the ARO to be excellent. There was a slight blem in the paint job of the co-witness mount, it was not visible when the red dot was mounted. It was designed to fit Burris Fastfire/Vortex Venom compatible mounts and slides (check their website for a list of compatible pistols and slides).

The ARO retails for about $150 with the co-witness mount. The Sig Sauer Romeo Zero is about the same price but doesn’t come with mounts. Unlike the Romeo, the ARO lacks any printed markings or design on the rear of the unit, which would allow it to be used as a rear iron sight when mounted on a pistol slide.

The ARO has 6 levels of brightness. While plenty bright for indoor range or CQB use; in mid-day outdoors, the dot is not bright enough. If AT3 could double or treble the max brightness, they’d have a serious competition to the Sig Sauer Romeo or Vortex Viper.

AMAZON LINKS https://amzn.to/3kmofZ8

THE GOOD
Upon testing at the range, I found the ARO to hold zero even after banging it up with a plastic ammo box. On the riser adapter, it co-witnessed to my KAC flip-up sights.

THE BAD
Even at its brightest, the red dot was hard to see in bright daylight. With only 6 levels of brightness, it is too dim for outdoor and seems better suited for indoor range or CQB.