At SHOT Show 2023, Leapers debuted their newest line of rifle optics: Accushot Pro. I wasn’t even aware of this new brand until I visited my buddy Kiyo at Leapers huge booth at the show. This new brand is positioned in in between their budget tier UTG scopes (sub $250) and their premium Integrix line (over $1000).
The Accushot scopes have many of the external design features of their Integrix scopes but with a few changes to lower the cost. These scopes will use Chinese HD glass and their turret design is similar to a beefed up UTG turret. They are expected to launch with an LPVO and a 3-12×44 model in later Q3 with an MSRP of around $500.
I was contacted by Discovery Optics a few months ago to review their new ED-PRS scope. What I got was a scope in a large box filled with accessories. Usually when you get a ton of stuff with a scope this is a bad sign; they are cheap accessories designed to distract you from a mediocre scope. The Discovery ED-PRS on the other hand contained some high quality accessories that were a step above what you’d often get with some other scope brands.
Instead of a simple sheet of fabric cleaning cloth, the ED-PRS came with a soft chamois. In addition to the chamois, it also included a photography lens cleaning pen with an optical nano carbon cleaning tip. It included a set of high-profile scope rings with recoil lugs and printed torque markings.
In the box was an all metal scope level kit which helps you level and square your scope to your rail. I’ve only seen this tool is usually sold as an after-market accessory. And perhaps the most unusual items was a 3-piece sun shade tube which ads about another 10″ to the 13″ long scope.
The scope itself was sizable. It weighs 24oz but feels heavier. Its most notable feature are its oversized turrets. The ED-PRS’s turrets are even wider and taller than an Arken EP5. The turrets are non-locking, resettable and contain a cog wheel style zero-stop similar to Athlon’s Gen2 scopes. The turrets have brass cores and were loud and tactile with no slop.
The turrets, wheels, and nobs feature aggressive fine knurling, which along with being oversized make them generally easy to turn even when wearing gloves. All except for the magnification power ring which was exceedingly stiff and difficult to turn; even with the removable throw lever attached. I found myself really having to manhandle the lever to change magnification which severely impact performance for hunting or competition.
Not that I would take this scope hunting. I think it’s probably too bulky and heavy for most hunters (except those shooting from pimped out blinds or truck beds). The ED-PRS is probably best suited for precision bench-rest shooting with its easy to read markings and fine lined first focal plane reticle. While the scope features a ELR style Christmas tree reticle, serious long range shooters may be disappointed with the glass.
The ED-PRS has what they call a SFIR reticle, which looks a lot like the Arken VPR reticle but with more subtension markings. Like the Arken, the Discovery’s reticle only illuminates the very center cruciform of the reticle, creating something of a red-dot effect when used in low magnification. The illuminator has 6 brightness settings each separated by an OFF setting.
The first unit I received also had a very dim illuminator. Even with the scope cap on I could barely see the illuminated center cross at its highest illumination setting. Discovery sent me and a replacement scope and return label for the defective scope but the process took 3 weeks. They did warm me of the delay due to Lunar New Year which causes many delays in factory production in China. The new scope had a much brighter illumination but even this was not quite daylight bright.
Looking through the scope the image was surprisingly good for a budget scope. Bright with good center to edge sharpness. The other edge of the sight picture had only a hint of distortion even at 25x. The scope kept focus and point of aim throughout its magnification range. The eye box and eye relief were good for a budget scope.
The scope advertises ED glass but I noted some softness in detail at long range that I attribute to chromatic aberration. This was noticeable in mid day light with the target backlight. Overall resolution was better than average for the scopes price tier but not the best in its class. The ED-PRS was still sharp enough to allow me to pick out .22cal holes on paper at 100yrs.
The ED-PRS’ glass is not in the same league as a Leupold VX, Athlon Argos, Vortex Diamond Back Tactical, or even an Arken EP5. But when comparing what you get in the box for a street price of $399 (as of this writing) I would still consider the ED-PRS a good value. If you’re a beginning long-range shooter with a limited budget, this scope is something to consider.
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Hi-Lux is well known for their Leatherwood hunting scopes and Malcom vintage reproduction scopes. But they also make modern tactical and target scopes. At SHOT Show 2023 I got a chance to see the PR5 5-25x56mm FFP, their newest precision tactical scope that is ready to compete in both NRL22 and PRS competitions.
The PR5 has all the features you’d want in a long-range scope like HD glass, 32 Mil-Rads of internal adjustment and a modern FFP Christmas Tree reticle. In addition, the PR5 has a more modern digital controlled illuminator with auto shut-off, a feature found in most red dots but still lagging in even more expensive rifle scopes.
What sets this scope apart from bigger brand name PRS scopes, is that the PR5 has a minimum parallax focus distance of just 10yrds. That means it’s perfect for airgun competitions, NRL22, Precision Rimfire, and indoor ranges. While far from a budget scope, it still manages to come in at a street price bellow $900, which is remarkable for all these features.
At the booth I also got a walk-through of Hi-Lux’s vintage scope line. With the recent heightened interest in lever action Western guns, Hi-Lux is one of the few scope makers that offers vintage looking optics that utilize modern mounting standards and contain HD glass.
I have very little experience with thermal optics because they’re so damn expensive. But what I do know is that cheap thermal scopes are pretty much a waste of time. I stopped by the iAiming booth because it was literally across the isle after my visit to Athlon and it was well worth my effort.
iAiming is an Australian based company with US sales offices in Texas. The showed me their newest scope, the iA612 which MSRP’s for $5799 with a street price closer to $5500. One of the nice things about SHOT Show is getting hands on with products I in no way can hope to afford.
The ia-612 has a digital zoom from 2.4x-19.2x and a digital viewfinder with 1024×768 resolution. It offers the user the ability to range find and to choose one of 6 different reticle types. It has built-in WiFi which allows you to broadcast the scope’s view a phone App so your friends can see real time scope views and potentially spot for you.
The newest feature that iAming was showcasing with the ia-612 is an automatic 1-shot zero feature. When you set it up on the onboard menu, the self-zero feature detects the heat signature that a bullet leaves on a paper target. The scope will automatically re-zero the reticle to that hole and Bobs your uncle, you’re zero’d out. That’s something I’d like to test out myself.
Short Elon Musk randomly gifting 1000 shares of Tesla to Twitter users with “moon” and “dog”in their handle, it’s not likely I’ll get a chance to test one myself. There is hope that iAiming might send me an evaluation model but we’ll see.
I’ve used various laser bore sighter devices to help me zero out a new scope but they can be a bit finicky and more than once, the battery died. Xaegis Tactical sent me a an traditional non-electronic bore sighter to test. These optical bore sighters sits on the end of your barrel and provide an alignment grid on visible when looking through your scope.
The kit comes with a 12 different caliber adapters, from .17 cal to .50 cal and a 20 ga-12ga shotgun bore adapter. These adapter arbor stems screw into the optical lens unit and are then fitted into your bore. Looking through your scope, you are presented with a 20×20 grid to help you align the reticle of your scope.
In my testing, using the kit on a Ruger 10/22 firing Aguila Super Extra High Velocity 40gr CPRN, was able to get on paper (30″x36″ paper target) at 100yrds. The impacts were low and to the left of bullseye by 15″-20″. This is not unexpected as target distance, barrel type, and bullet ballistics will alter the impact point from dead center of your bore. But being able to get on paper with my first shot meant I could easily make fine adjustments to zero out the scope.
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Athlon Optics already had a broad line of rifle scopes from budget (Talos) to high end PRS (Cronus) and Tactical scopes (Ares), and hunter (Midas). So it was surprising to find that they were coming out with a whole new line called Heras named for the Greek god and wife of Zeus.
The Heras are being called “crossover” scopes because these scopes combine the reticles and glass found in their PRS scopes, hunting features from their Midas, but with a minimum focus distance of 10yrds. This close range usability makes the Heras appealing to precision rimfire, airgun hunters or even airsoft players. The Heras will occupy a mid-tier price point of with an MSRP ranging from $500-$700.
The first thing most experienced shooters remark on the Arken EPL-5 and SH-4, apart from the low price, is the weight. For all the features you get in a sub $600 scope, the one thing you don’t want more of is weight. Compared to a similar magnification Vortex, Athlon, or higher end scope, Arkens are heavier. This isn’t much of an issue for benchrest or even NRL or PRS shooters but it certainly was a deal breaker for most hunters.
Arken listened to the feedback and came up with a new line of scopes with an “L” in their name for “light weight”. The new 6-24×50 EPL-4 shaves off 16oz of weight compared to a 5-25×56 ELP-5. That weight savings comes with a trade off a smaller range of adjustment due to its smaller objective lens and tube. But along with its capped windage turret, this 1-pound weight saving should make this new scope attractive to back-country hunters and most competition shooters alike.
I look forward to testing the EPL-4 later this year.
While visiting the Leupold booth at Shot Show 2023, I asked John Snodgrass which scope he would recommend for NRL22 and without hesitation he said any of the Mark 5HD line, because it offered the highest quality optical clarity for small rimfire projectiles, along with the widest variety of reticle design to suit most NRL22 shooters.
I tied for 3rd place in my first Falling Plates rifle competition hosted by the Coyote Point Rifle and Pistol Club. For the match I wanted to try out the Monstrum Spectre LPVO I recently reviewed. It’s the perfect type of optic to use for these short to medium range action shooting competitions. It offers a wide field of view of a 1x red dot with the ability to dial up the magnification as the engagement distances pushed out from 30 yards to 45 yards.
I had competed in a Falling Plates pistol competition a few months so was somewhat familiar with the format but this was my first rifle match which was a little different. This match involved 2 back-to-back rounds of shooting six 6″ steel plates. Each shooter was limited to 6 cartridges of ammunition, so any miss meant an a lower score. The shooting string had to be completed within 10 secs at 30 yards, 11 secs at 35 yards, 12 secs at 40 yards, and 13 secs at 45 yards. The target distance increased after each stage.
I rarely managed a perfect round, missing at last 1 plate every time. I rushed the last shots. I failed to properly pace myself and give myself the maximum aiming time. Often my last shot was a miss and 2-3 seconds would elapse before the timer ran out, which meant that I should have used those precious extra seconds to take more careful aim.
Steve, the other shooter who I tied with had the same complaint of his performance. We both had the pistol competition in mind which only allowed half the time to a complete each round. I hope I’ll know better next time.
The biggest surprise of the day was how well the Monstrum Spectre 1-6×24 LPVO worked during the match. In my previous target testing, I had some concerns that the Spectre’s thin target-style reticle wouldn’t provide sufficient visual boldness to quickly sight a target. But with the reticle illumination turned on to medium power, it easily allowed me to acquire a sight picture. I take back every negative comment I made about it.
Chances are if there’s a scope on an AR at the range, that scope is going to be an LPVO (Low Power Variable Optic). LPVO’s are a cross between a traditional 6-10x magnified rifle scope and a red dot because LPVO’s have a low end of 1x, 1.2x, or similar. An LPVO allows you to use them with both eyes opened to quickly engage targets up close at 1x and crank up the magnification to engage targets at 200yrs or more (and especially helpful for older eyesight).
Monstrum is a Southern California based importer and designer of tactical accessories and red dots. I’ve helped install one of their scope rings on a friend’s rifle and was impressed that it had features like Torx screws and recoil lugs. I was aware of the Monstrum brand but didn’t know much about it so I was surprised when Monstrum reached out to me and offered to have me test and evaluate their newest LPVO, the Spectre 1-6x24mm.
The Spectre ships with some nice accessories like flip up lens caps, a kill-flash filter, and one of Monstrum’s excellent cantilever offset mounts. The scope has a 30mm tube, is made of 6061 aluminum, and is nitrogen purged. On initial inspection, the body and components appeared solidly constructed and well made, though I did find some nicks and rough edges on the magnification wheel which was disappointing.
The other big disappointment was that the elevation turret’s MOA markings didn’t line up with the the scope center indicator. This is common with budget scopes and has even been known to occur with better known scopes but it’s always disappointing when it happens. The windage was spot on to the zero so it’s not like Monstrum’s factory couldn’t make better built turrets.
The turrets are 1/2 MOA per click and the clicks were moderately audible and tactile positive though soft. There was a bit of slop in the elevation clicks but when pushed down, they did lock solidly. Both turrets are resettable with a coin.
The magnification dial turned smoothly but was difficult to turn. An LPVO’s central benefit is that it is the word “variable” so not being able to change you magnification easily is beyond frustrating. Thankfully it does have a large fin that helps assist in leveraging the dial but only time will tell how quickly it will loosen up?
The scope has an illumination knob opposite the windage. It is CR2032 powered with 5 brightness settings in red and green which illuminates the center octagon and dot of its MX1 Reticle. The reticle has thick outer T-style hunter crosshair lines a very thin and fine central crosshairs with MOA hashmarks. I found this central reticle structure too faint to use for action shooting without full illumination.
The scope itself performed quite well in my range tests. It has a decent 4″ eye-relief and the forgiving eye-box typical of lower power scopes. It returned to zero in my box test and probably passed my nipple-twister turret test but my results were not definitive.
In target testing at 25yrds it was able to hold its zero after being subjected to repeated hits from my polymer ammo can to simulate heavy recoil. In practical tests with rapid fire on steel plates, I was able to quickly and accurately place my shots (any misses were entirely shooter error). But as mentioned earlier, I found the reticle was too thin to use without illumination.
I came in with low expectations because I really didn’t know Monstrum’s optical products. In overall build and performance the Spectre lives up to the quality and value of Monstrum’s scope mounts and accessories. If you’re hesitant of trying a Monstrum because of their lack of reputation in optics, consider that the Spectre has a street price under $200 and a lifetime warranty from a US based company, and don’t be afraid of this monster value.
