Outside of the U.S. military, the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) is probably the biggest users of the Trijicon ACOG combat gunsight. Almost two years ago and to my surprise, which I found out an Israeli optic company was working on a four-power fixed magnification prism sight design that’s similar to the ACOG.

Detail of the new MEPRO 4X Day Sight with 4x magnification was unveiled to the press the week before the SHOT Show.  When I stopped by the Meprolight booth, I found the sight was being used as part of a thermal imaging sight system.

Design:
The MEPRO 4X is a compact roof-prism design with fixed magnification like the ELCAN Specter, Trijicon ACOG and Zeiss ZO. It has a huge 40mm objective lens and a smaller ACOG style ocular lens. The sight’s exterior is encased in rubber armor, which I found it’s less bulky than those used on the ELCAN and Zeiss. There’s a small sunshade build-in for the objective lens.

Due to the poor lighting and lack of sufficient clearance in the exhibition hall, I couldn’t verify the optical quality of the sight. What I can see was the field-of-view (FOV) is big and according to the spec sheet it is over 8 degree FOV. The eye relief is more generous than the ACOG 4×32 at just over 2 inches.

Adjustment System:
Unlike others, the MEPRO 4X used external recessed adjustment dials instead of capped adjustment turrets. From my experience of using Meprolight sights, those actually works quite well with no caps to come lose and no need for a tether. On the MEPRO 4X all adjustments are in Mils.

Reticle & Illumination:
The display unit has a simple crosshair reticle with BDC and thicken outer bars at 3, 6 and 9-O’clock. I told Meprolight and its US distributor, Mako Group, that they need a more refined reticle design like the chevron or horseshoe style for the US market.

The reticle illumination is powered by single coin size CR2032 lithium battery with over 250 hours of battery life at the highest illumination level. There are 5 brightness levels with shut-off setting in between each level. It also has a power saving function that will turn off the illumination after certain amount of time. It’s unknown if the reticle illumination is daylight visible or not since the display unit didn’t have a battery in it due to it was being used with the thermal sight.

Size and Weight:
The MEPRO 4X weights 15.25 oz. (350g) with the included dual QD mounts base and it has a 5.78 inches (147mm) total length. It’s marginally smaller and lighter than the 4×32 ACOG model.

Price & Availability:
The price of the MEPRO 4X will be $200 less than a comparable ACOG and it will be distributed in North America by The Mako Group, (631) 880-3396, www.themakogroup.com.

The Meprolight M5 red-dot sight was also showcased in the company’s booth. It’s powered by one AA battery for 8,000 hours of illumination. It will be available for around $400.

One of the first optic makers that I checked out during SHOT 2013 was Hi-Lux Leatherwood. What I saw were couple of their interesting new products on display.

CMR-AK762
I have been testing their new CMR-AK762 model since late October 2012 for my 300 Blackout article in the upcoming issue of the Guns & Ammo: Book of the AR-15. The scope is a new model in their CMR 1-4x24mm scope series. It has a specifically designed reticle that features BDCs for the 7.62x39mm and 300 Blackout/Whisper calibers (7.62x35mm). My full review of the new CMR-AK762 model will be out shortly. You can checkout my write-up of the standard 5.56/.308 calibers CMR model for TFB here.

CMR4 production model
Another new CMR model on display in the Hi-Lux Leatherwood booth is their finalized CMR4 production model. The higher end CMR4 model differs from the standard CMR version with the following improvements:

• Superior grade of lens to improve the optical performance
• Redesigned reticle
• Upgraded illumination system with 3 night vision settings and has a longer battery life
• Mil/Mil adjustment
• Capped turrets
• The windage adjustment turret have been relocated on the left side of scope housing
• The scope housing will be coated with a new durable wear-resistant finish.
• It will be available in both the 5.56mm/.308 and the 7.62x39mm/300 Blackout versions.

You can read my preview of the CMR4 prototype for TFB from last SHOT here.

USMC Vietnam Sniper Scope
Following the previous success of their USMC 8x World War II sniper scope, Hi-Lux Leatherwood have developed a replica of the USMC Vietnam era sniper scope. In the 1960s, the original Redfield 3-9x40mm scope was selected by the US Marine Corps to complement the Remington 700 rifle to what came to be known as the M40 sniper rifle system. The Hi-Lux Leatherwood version retained the range finder feature of the original and it’s available in the unique green color of the military model as well as the standard black. It also features upgraded modern multi-coated lens, new 1/4″ click turrets and the range finder scale is now made from durable etched glass sheet instead of the thin plastic tape in the original Redfield.

The top 2 lines are for bracketing a torso size target. The animated range scale is at 5 o’clock.

Blue CMR Reticle Illumination:
The president of Hi-Lux Leatherwood, John Wu, shown me an experimental illumination color that uses blue LED. He said the blue color offers better performance when is used with night-vision and infrared devices. However, they will not be offering the blue color since the popular green color illumination works nearly as good. It’s just that I think the blue color is very unique and the only other company that has it in production optic is Browe Inc.

CMR-AK762 reticle in blue color illumination

CMR 1.5-6x42mm
Hi-Lux Leatherwood is also working on adding their signature CMR double-ring reticle to their existing 1.5-6x42mm formula.  I’m looking forward for this CMR model to come out.

Contact:
Hi-Lux Leatherwood Optics, 1-888-445-8912, www.hi-luxoptics.com

The Big 3 East in Florida is an expansion of the original Big 3 event held at Kansas every Fall.  Both events were started by writers for writers. The Big 3 stands for Tactical gun, Tactical gear and Tactical training. All the companies and writers were handpicked and by invitations only. The Big 3 East event in Florida was organized by Dillard (CJ) Johnson, a highly decorated retired US Army vet and former PMC. Special thanks to WPA (Wolf Performance Ammunition) for providing the ammo, Action Target providing the steel targets and Revision Military providing the eye protections for the event.

Tim Harmsen from the Military Arms Channel (MAC) was one of the invited writers at the Big 3 East event. MAC is well know for their video reviews. I will feature two of MAC’s videos in this report.  

Alexander Arms was the first presenter. Bill Alexander introduced their new line of ultra lightweight AR-15 carbines in the 5.56mm and 300 Blackout calibers. Both feature fluted stainless steel barrels and modular hand handguards constructed from G10 composite material. Also, the Alexander Arms Ion-bond coated adjustable single-stage match trigger is now available in the standard curve shape trigger, in additional to the original blade style with lightening holes. Alexander Arms is also working on a large caliber semi-automatic platform that will be unveil at the NRA show later this year.

RS Regulate displayed their new AK-300 modular optic mounts for the AKM platform. Besides of the new streamlined locking lever and the high quality CNC works, the AK-300 mounts all use a high-strength titanium alloy bolt to hold everything together. The system is fully adjustable to accommodate just about all variants of the AKM and AK74 pattern rifles, plus the PSL, Saiga and Vepr rifles. In additional to the 30mm ring base and Micro T1 base, there’s also the AKOG base that allows low over-bore mounting of the Trijicon ACOG and Compact ACOG, the Browe BCO, the ELCAN Specter OS 3.0, the Burris AR-332 and AR-536 prism sights on the AK platform.

Another product from RS Regulate was their new BM-1 flashlight mount. It took over 2-years of R&D to make sure the clamp-on mount doesn’t affect the barrel hormonic or causing point of impact shift. This lightweight 4-slot picatinny mount should also works on AR-15 with lightweight pencil profile barrel in .625 diameter.

Hi-Lux Leatherwood presented couple of new models in their CMR series of 1-4x24mm tactical scope. Those are the feature packed CMR4 for the 5.56mm and 7.62mm calibers, the CMR-AK762 and CMR4-AK762 with reticles made specifically for the 7.62x39mm and the 300 Blackout/300 Whisper.

James from WPA (Wolf Performance Ammunition) clarified the cause of the current ammo price surge. He said on the supplier side, their cost went up an average of 5-10% (depends on the calibers) due to the demand plus another 5-10% from their distributors. The rest of price increase or price gouging are from your local and on-line retailers.

WPAA (Wolf Performance Arms) is the sister company of WPA and a major importer of the Russian made Saiga and Vepr shotguns and rifles in the US. WPAA is now offering new muzzle devices and a polymer collapsible stock for the Saiga pattern shotgun. The stock features a thick recoil pad and a second large rotating locking mechanism that helps to keep the stock in position under heavy recoil.

Marc Krebs of Krebs Custom is holding his new lightweight custom AK carbine that weights only 7.5 pounds and it comes with the new Krebs Keymod extended AK handguard and the Krebs 4-prong AK flashhider. On the table is the new Krebs DMR built from the Vepr hunting rifle in 7.62x54R. The accuracy of the Krebs DMR is around 1.5-inch at 100 yard with good ammo, which is more accurate than the SVD.

Marc Krebs always brought serveral Class III weapons for everyone to enjoy and this time he had a PKM belt-fed GPMG. Here’s a Military Arms Channel video featuring Tim and Dave on a closer look of the PKM.

Copyright Laura Burgess Marketing

Ashley from LBM is wearing a Revision Batlskin helmet, which I nicknamed it the “Master Chief” helmet. She is also holding the Krebs Custom DMR with the RS Regulate AK-300 optic mounting system and the Vltor ModPod bipod in the folded position.

Brian from Savvy Sniper is demoing his custom quad sling that’s capable of quick change from a 2-point to single-point configuration. We used the Savvy Sniper slings through out the event on various different type of weapons. The standard carbine model worked very well on the new IWI Tavor due to its quick adjustably from the use of a patterned adjustment control loop design.

Huntertown Arms brought their suppressors and explained to us that suppressor should be more affordable since it’s essentially a muffler for the muzzle. The basic design and manufacturing technology are decades old. The Huntertown Arms .22LR models, which will work for .17 HMR, .22 WMR and 5.7×28, have a starting price of just $195. The 5.56mm model is $499 and for the 7.62mm caliber is $599. They also offer a $449 replacement stainless barrel for the Ruger 10/22 with an integral .22LR suppressor.

Sccy Industries is a local Florida company that makes CCW size 9mm pistol with affordable price. Their latest Gen 2 model has improved functionality with Eastern European made ammo that uses harder primer. The Sccy pistol retail for $299 to $339 depends on the features and finish and comes with two 10-rd magazine. Gunslinger Customs in Georgia produces regular and CCW holster for the Sccy pistol.

Definitive Arms showncased their $349 conversion for 5.56mm caliber AK to use regular AR15 magazine, like the popular Magpul Pmag and the USGI aluminum magazine. It took me a bit to get used to the AR style control on an AK platform. Here’s a MAC video on how the system works: AR Mags in an AK?

Copyright Military Arms Channel

Ron DeSantis, the United State Representative for the 6th Congressional District in Florida, stopped by and let us know his firm stand on protecting the 2nd Amendment and his support for veterans. The congressmen is a former naval JAG officer.

Afterward, Representative DeSantis had some range time with both the IWI Tavor and the locally built Sccy pistol.

IWI US‘ Michael Kassnar, who spent years to bring the Tavor to the US Market. The IWI Tavor bullpups were definitely the highlight of this Big 3 East event.

Everyone at the event had the chance to shot all the current Tavor models. No issue at all with the steel case rounds from WPA. I did noticed that the hotter brass case mil-spec ammo ejects the spent case toward the front quarter, which clears the shooter to do weak-side firing.  While the steel cases were ejected more toward the side and few a little toward the rear quarter. I recommend use the higher pressure ammo if you are planning to do weak-side shooting with the Tavor. Again, the Savvy Sniper carbine sling works great on the Tavor.

Open range for the rest of the day…

Our target vehicle down range before we let loose the PKM on it.

Big thanks to CJ for putting this event together. Please check out his upcoming book: Carnivore: A Memoir by One of the Deadliest American Soldiers of All Time. The book covers his combat tours in the sandbox and the stories of how 2400+ confirmed kills, including 121 as a sniper, were credited to him.

Source: China Defense.com

Rumor Control: .50 caliber Sniper Rifle in Syria IS NOT an AS50 , it’s Chinese M99

The media is awash with “news” of how the Syrian rebels now have the AS50 Accuracy International .50 caliber sniper rifle…but they don’t.

Many Western media sources have erroneously identified the video in this video as an AS50.  However, the rifle is in fact a Chinese M99 sniper rifle in 12.7x108mm.

If you were a member of the world’s premier internet Chinese military discussion, China-Defense.com Forum, you would have known weeks ago that the Syrian rebel forces had Chinese M99 .50 caliber sniper rifles.  Forum members generally agree Sudan is the most likely source of the rifles.

M99 is visually similar to AS50, but is a different weapon. The AI is like a FAL while the M99 is more like an M-16. M99 is a direct gas, rotating bolt action, whereas the AS50 is a short stroke, tilting bolt action.  The M99 is also 2 kg lighter than AS50.

Here’s a pic of the M99 in service with PLA Marines:

China-defense.com Forum is currently vetting new members, register with a distinguished email address, or ask a current member for access.

Few months prior to the 2013 SHOT Show, Hi-Lux Leatherwood launched the new CMR-AK762 model in their popular Close Medium Range (CMR) 1-4x24mm series of tactical scope with a ballistic reticle made for the 7.62x39mm and 300 Blackout calibers. I had the opportunity to used the CMR-AK762 for my 16-inch barrel 300 Blackout AR-15 uppers from Noveske Rifleworks and Faxon Firearms. Since I don’t own an AK rifle in 7.62x39mm, this review will be focus on using the CMR-AK762 as a 300 Blackout/300 Whisper optic for the AR-15 platform. (Click here for my review of the standard Hi-Lux Leatherwood CMR model for the .223 and .308 calibers).

The CMR-AK762 has the 2^nd generation of Hi-Lux’s fast aiming double-horseshoe reticle with a number of caliber specific changes. The most obvious of those is replacing the BDC (bullet drop compensation) to ones that are calibrated for the 124gr 7.62×39 projectile. According to the company, the CMR-AK’s BDC is good to 550 meters for my favorite 300 Blackout/Whisper supersonic loads: the 110 gr Hornady V-Max, Barnes VOR-TX black-tip 110 gr and the Black Hills 125 gr w/ Sierra Match King OTM projectile. I actually have shot those supersonic 300 Blackout loads way passed 550 meters.

The reticle’s interior horseshoe has a small inverted chevron or small “V” at the 12 O’clock position for use in 100 meters or closer distance. The strata lines extended to the edges on three sides with small 1 MIL hash marks. The right side of the reticle included a cleverly designed stadiametric range-finder that’s calibrated for use with multiple measuring methods: the height (5’10” height), shoulder-width (19-inch width), torso height and head size.

The CMR-AK762’s zeroing procedure is a bit different than the standard CMR’s because of the ballistic difference. The center 1 MOA dot inside of the double-horseshoes needs to be zero at 200 meters or yards for the rest of the BDCs to work. If a 200m range is not available, use the small “V” on top the smaller horseshoe for a 100m zero. For subsonic 300 Blackout ammo, I used the MIL hash marks in the CMR-AK762’s reticle. In general, the subsonic 300 Blackout rounds drop 3-5 MILs (10.8 in to 18 in) at 100 meters range depended on the velocity, ballistic co-efficiency and the bullet weight. I found the vertical strata line has enough holdovers to use out to 500 meters with good subsonic loads like the Hornady 208 gr A-Max, American Eagle 220 gr and the PNW Arms subsonic with the excellent Sierra 220 gr Match King OTM projectile.

The reticle illumination covers the double-horseshoes, the center dot, a small section of the vertical strata line and the stadiametric range-finder on the right. A common CR2032 lithium battery powers the illumination system for estimated over 100 hours. The reticle illumination is not daylight visible, but it offers night-vision compatibility and the battery life is great. There are specific red or green illumination models of the CMR-AK-762. Most buyers of the Hi-Lux Leatherwood CMR series seem to prefer the green color illumination models.

The CMR-AK762 uses the same ½ MOA adjustment turrets as the standard CMR models. Each turret included the easy to use patented Zero-Lok return to zero feature. Also available is a higher-end CMR4-AK762 model that offers capped turrets with 1/10 MILs adjustment, superior grade of lens and scratch resistant hard-coat on the tube body. The CMR-AK762 retails for $450 and the CMR4-AK762’s MSRP is $550.

Specifications:
Model: Hi-Lux Leatherwood CMR-AK762 1-4x24mm
Magnification: 1x to 4x variable
Objective Lens Size: 24mm
Ocular Lens Size: 33mm
Lens Coating: Diamond Tuff14 multi-coat
Field of View at 100 yards: 1x: 94.8 ft. and 4x: 26.6 ft.
Eye Relief: constant 3 inches
Exit Pupil size: 11.1mm at 1x and 6mm at 4x
Tube Size: 30mm
Adjustment: 0.5 MOA per click
Length: 10.2 inches
Weight: 16.5 ounces
Reticle: Double-horseshoes with 1 MOA center dot, stadia lines with BDC and MIL hashmarks.
Reticle Illumination: Green or Red color, 11 levels with Night Vision setting.
Power Source: 3-volt Lithium CR2032
Warranty: Limited Lifetime
MSRP: $450

For those that are not familiar with the ELCAN model that the LDS is based on, you can read my detail write-up of the ELCAN Specter OS 4X here. The last component of the L85 bullpup that needs to be update is its SUSAT optic. Over two years ago the British military have chosen the ELCAN Lightweight Day Sight (LDS), which is based on the ELCAN Specter OS 4X model, as the replacement of the SUSAT sight. Although the UK MoD have been buying the Trijicon ACOG 4×32 sight as the substitute of the obsolescent SUSAT sight for some of their deployed troops in Afghanistan, but that’s regarded as a temporary solution. Many assumed that the combat proven Trijicon ACOG 4×32 would be the logical successor of the SUSAT on the L85 bullpup.

The announcement of the selection of the Canadian-made fixed 4-power ELCAN within one year of its introduction by the UK MoD was a surprise. It’s interesting that the British military didn’t consider the switchable-magnification ELCAN Specter DR 1x/4x model, which is in service with the U.S. Special Forces as the SU-230/PVS-C. I can only presume the reason probably has to do with the 1x/4x model’s heavier weight, 50% higher cost and the optical compromise due to using a complex lens mechanism.

Noted that a mini red-dot sight was added to the ELCAN sight as part of the LDS package. The piggyback mounted mini red-dot is the homegrown Shield CQB, which 20,000 have been acquired by the British Army. ELCAN also developed a similar size mini red-dot sight know as the ELCAN MRDS for their Specter line of small arms optic. From the look of the objective lens and the relocated battery compartment, the ELCAN MRDS seems to be based on the Shield design but with a more robust housing.

I’m interested to see if Armament Technology, the distributor and service provider of ELCAN, would make the ELCAN LDS and the ELCAN MRDS available to the commercial market in the near future.

Famous for their ACOG combat gunsights, Trijicon also makes a series of reflex sights for small arms. The first of those is the Trijicon Reflex with the dual-illumination and a 24mm objective lens. Next was the Trijicon TriPower with 30mm objective and the addition of battery power to the fiber optic and tritium illumination. Recently, a new larger 42mm objective lens model was added to the Trijicon Reflex line. While all three are robustly built, however, I am not enthusiastic about the dark green lens color or their illumination systems.

All that changed when Trijicon developed their own long-lasting battery-powered illumination system for the battery models of the Trijicon RMR mini reflex sights. Those have clear lens and bright red reticle illumination with a battery life of 2-3 years. Some are using the RMR on rifles and carbines, but I found the tiny RMR offers a field of view which is too small for use as a primary sight. The RMR series is really designed for mounting on pistols or to use as auxiliary optic. It took another 3 years for Trijicon to adapt their new illumination technology to the full size weapon sights.

In mid-2012, Trijicon released the Trijicon SRS, which stands for Sealed Reflex Sight. I was expecting Trijicon would just incorporate their new battery illumination system into the existing 1x42mm Reflex sight. Instead, Trijicon developed a completely new design with a number of unique features.

Optical Performance:
Trijicon’s main optical design emphasis for the SRS is to have the largest field of view without tunnel effect while keeping the sight housing as short as possible. To accomplish that the SRS features a large 38mm objective lens, and together with the earlier dual-illumination 1x42mm Trijicon Reflex, the two Trijicon sights have the largest field of view among the reflex sights on the market. The SRS’s objective is actually mounted at an angle to help shortening the sight housing. The lens coating has a magenta color from the front and a slight green tint from the rear. When look through the SRS at the operator’s point of view, the lens is clear in all light conditions and there’s no tunnel effect no matter what’s viewing angle or eye relief. As with all Trijicon optics, the lens of the SRS are made from Schott glass, the best optical glass in the world.

Illumination and Power:
The SRS has a red 1.75 MOA dot as its reticle. I found the dot is extremely precise focused and bright. Its brightness allows me to use the sight up close with great speed, yet the dot is small enough to fit into a torso target at 300 meters. I even used the SRS for subsonic 300 Blackout out to 400 meters with steel torso plates. Even at that distance, the sight’s huge field of view permitted me to observe the impact and make quick correction while keeping the target in view.

A single common AA size battery powers the SRS. There’s also a secondary power source from the molded small solar panel on top of the sight housing. The solar photovoltaic cells provide sufficient energy to power the SRS in ambient light. Battery power is still needed to turn on the sight and to powering it in lowlight or indoor. Trijicon claims that the combination of both power sources would give the SRS a 3-year battery life at combat condition.

Sight housing and Mount:
Like all Trijicon sights, the SRS is built to a level of near indestructibility thanks to its forged 7075-T6 aluminum alloy housing. The sight is completely sealed and water submersible to 165 ft. (50m) depth. The SRS is relatively short at 3.75-inches but due to its large 38mm lens, it’s thick at 2.5-inch. The 14.2-ounce weight is not bad for its size which includes the integrated sight mount. The SRS is available with the plain dual thumbscrew mount or for $75 more, with the quick-release Brobo mount.

What’s my take on the Trijicon SRS?
I think Trijicon has finally created a worthy challenger for the King of the Hill in reflex sights. (Aimpoint). While the Trijicon is more expensive and the illumination technology is not quite as long lasting as the Aimpoint CompM4, but the Trijicon SRS has a significantly larger field of view while being shorter. It also seems to be even more resistant to battle damage because there’s no exposed battery compartment or adjustment turrets.

Excluding the high price, I would like to point out two areas of the SRS that still needs improvement. The angled objective would occasionally catch low angled light and causes some internal reflection. This can be mitigated by use an anti-reflective device. The early production SRS has the problem with internal reflection from the LED illuminator’s square protective window. This issue is corrected on my late 2012 production sample. Trijicon seems to have changed the internal coating to address the problem. If you have one of the early SRS model with this problem, please take advantage of Trijicon’s lifetime warranty.

The finalized production version of the Trijicon VCOG (Variable Combat Optical Gunsight) 1-6x24mm at the pre-SHOT Show Media Day at the Range Event. The VCOG will be available to Trijicon dealer shortly after SHOT Show 2014.

The VCOG features a non-protruding battery compartment at the center-line 6-O’clock position. Its integral mount is perfect for the AR-15/AR-10 sight-height. I would probably replace the standard ACOG slotted thumb screw base with a LaRue LT681 QD mounting base and flip it around for more forward off-set and eye relief.

The rheostat on left has six settings for the reticle illumination with the off position between each setting. The capped adjustment turrets offer 90 MOA of total windage and elevation range at 1/2 MOA per click.

The VCOG at 1x magnification. This image shows it features a true 1x magnification. The horseshoe reticle as shown is available with BDC for 55 gr and 77 gr .223 Rem/5.56mm caliber and 175 gr .308/7.62x51mm caliber. The segmented circle reticle variant includes the same 5.56 and 7.62 BDC plus a new 300 Blackout reticle calibrated for 115 gr supersonic load. I am assuming the 300 Blackout reticle would also work for 7.62x39mm out to 450m.

The VCOG at 6x magnification with steel targets at 435 yards. The reticle is located at the first focal plane and changes its size according to the magnification range. At the high settings, the reticle illumination is daylight-visible even in a bright day with a desert background. Due to the use of a large capacity AA battery, the battery life is outstanding at 700 hours on the setting #4.

At just 10 inches long, the VCOG is shorter than many 1-4x scope on the market. Its 24 ounce weight may seems to be a lot but please noted that the scope mount is build into the VCOG. A set of good quality SPR style scope rings typically adds 7-8 ounce weight to other scopes without integral mount. I found the VCOG has a more forgiving eyebox than all the 1-6x scopes, and many 1-4x scopes as well, I have used.

Trijicon VCOG 1-6x24mm Spec 

WOLF Performance Optic, a sister company of WPA (WOLF Performance Ammunition), introduces at the SHOT Show 2014 the PSU 1x/4x32mm gunsight. It’s a switchable 1x to 4x magnification optic in the similar style as the highly regarded ELCAN Specter DR 1x/4x gunsight.

The new PSU 1x/4x is build by the Russian NPZ optic plant and imported by WOLF Optic for the US market. The NPZ optic plant was started by Carl Zeiss in the 1905 and it have been producing optics for the Russian military optic since World War I. A number of features were added for the US market such as MIL adjustment, 1.5 inch sight height, 1913 rail mounting interface and markings in English.

The PSU offers a true 1x magnification and at 4x magnification it covers 6.5 degree field of view. It’s between the Trijicon ACOG 4×32′s 7-deg and ELCAN’s 6-deg FOV. The PSU also features a large ocular lens size with a large 8mm exit pupil and a consistent 2.75 inch of eye relief. Two QD levers are included with it’s 1913 Picatinny mount.

The WOLF PSU 1x/4x32mm sight is 7.4 inch in length and it weights 24.6 ounces. The sight housing is machined from solid aluminum alloy and it’s shock and water proof. The illuminated reticle is power by a single common CR2032 lithium 3V battery. There are 7 intensity settings for the reticle illumination. Since the reticle is etched into the glass, the sight will work without battery.

A close-up of the lever that switches the magnification from 1x to 4x. The PSU’s reticle is consist of a large horseshoe for fast CQB, inside it there are BDCs for 200m to 800m ranges. There are two short track bars on either side of the horseshoe. A stratametric rangefinder is located under the horseshoe.

For just $250, Cabela’s Tactical 3X Prism sight is great bargain for shooters that are on a budget.

The field of view is 35.4 feet at 100 yard. It’s not bad but not as large as the premium prism sights like the Trijicon or ELCAN. Optically, the Cabela’s 3X Tactical Prism sight is very good. I would say it’s better than majority of the budget scope in its price range. The included slotted screw mounting base is basic but it’s serviceable and it can be replaced with an ACOG comparable 1913 sight base.

The Cabela’s sight has the standard AR-15 sight height. The adjustment turrets offers 1/2 MOA per click and it’s not capped. The sight housing is aluminium and it has two removable short rails mounted at the 2 and 10 O’clock positions.

The reticle is simple yet it offer BDCs up to 600 meters for the 5.56mm caliber. The reticle illumination is daylight visible. I have found the red color illumination is brighter than the green color. The battery life from the single CR2032 lithium battery is not great but the reticle will just turn back when the illumination is off.

Cabela 3X Tactical Prism Sight Spec 

Hi-Lux Leatherwood displayed their new MaxTac Dot red-dot sight at SHOT Show 2014. This new red-dot packs a lot of features for just $199 MSRP. Some of those include a robust machined aluminum housing, dual-mode digital illumination control, build-in picatinny mount and a screw-on anti-reflective filter comes with it.

On top of the Hi-Lux MaxTac Dot, there’s a ambient light sensor which is part of the automatically illumination control feature. The user has the option of override that and manually adjust the reticle brightness. The objective lens size is the standard 30mm and all lens are multicoated.

On the left side of the new Hi-Lux red-dot, there’s the battery compartment for the CR2032 lithium battery. The battery life is between 400-500 hours and there’s an automatic shutdown to save battery power. A touch of either buttons will wake up the sight from the sleep mod. Hi-Lux is working on an add-on dedicated mount spacer that will increases the sight height to 1.5 inch for the AR style rifles.

The Hi-Lux MaxTac Dor’s lens covers are metal and those screw on to both lens. The included anti-reflective filter is also threaded for use with this metal lens cover. The sight’s capped adjustment turrets offer 1/2 MOA per click. The sight housing is sealed for water proof and shock resistant.

The Hi-Lux MaxTac Dot has a 4 MOA red dot reticle (the dot is off focused in this image). I found the lens coating has a noticeable greenish tint at low light. Due to its use of larger honeycomb grids, the Hi-Lux anti-reflective filter doesn’t seems to dim the sight picture as much as other similar type of ARD filters.

At the SHOT Show 2014, Burris introduced their unique AR-1X sight. It’s a compact prism sight with a true 1x magnification. It’s a red-dot alternative for those that have bad astigmatism, such as myself. The MSRP for the new Burris AR-1X prism sight is $299.

The sight is relatively small and the battery compartment is part of the integral 1913 mount. Burris engineers did great job in designing this optic. Unique to the prism sights, the AR-1X will co-witness with iron sights and magnifier, such as Burris’ own AR-Trippler 3x magnifier, can be with it.

The sight height is perfect for the AR-15.  While it doesn’t has a true unlimited eye relief like the red-dots, the Burris AR-1X has big enough of an eyebox that will covers the usually head positions and it also has a very flexible eye relief.

The reticle illumination is daylight visible and it’s powered by a single AA battery. The battery life is 5000+ hours when a lithium AA battery is used. The reticle being etched on the prism, it will just turn black when the illumination if off or the battery died.

The Burris AR-1X’s reticle offers BDC to 600 meter for the 5.56mm caliber. It could be also use for some elementary rang-finding. I found it to be very fast at close range with or without illumination.

The Burris AR-1X’s digital control on top. The power button will cycle the reticle illumination between red or green color. Holding it down it will turn on or off the sight. The other two triangle buttons control the illumination levels.

Burris AR-1X Spec 

Armament Technology Inc., the distributor of the ELCAN optics, unveiled the switchable ELCAN SpecterTR 1-3-9x gunsight at SHOT Show 2014. With a MSRP of $3100, the new ELCAN SpecterTR competes against the new high-end 1-8x scopes with the traditional scope design.

Like their popular DR 1X/4X model, the new ELCAN SpecterTR is also utilized a prism based optical design. The new TR model features a switchable 1x-3x-9x magnification. Similar to the DR model, there’s no in-between in each of those three magnification settings.

ELCAN only uses the best German glass in their sights. While the new TR model retains the ELCAN signature external adjustment base, it have been upgraded to use the MIL system. Each click is now 0.1 MIL of adjustment. The ELCAN SpecterTR offers a true 1x magnification.

The new SpecterTR uses the standard CR2032 lithium battery instead of the lesser common DL-1/3N battery. The reticle is illuminated in all three magnification setting. At the 1x, the reticle is a daylight visible red color dot. At the 3x and 9x magnifications, the whole reticle is illuminated. The ELCAN SpecterTR will be offer with two different reticles for the 5.56mm caliber w/ BDC to 800 meters, and the 7.62x51mm NATO version w/ BDC to 1000 meters.

Instead of the lever on the DR model, the new TR uses a large dial on the left for changing the magnifications. The same dial also switch the reticle illumination type between the each magnification settings. There’s also the possibility of having a different QD mounts on the production model. For the new TR, Armament Technology and ELCAN are no longer restricted to use the unpopular ARMS QD lever, which is an US military requirement on the previous ELCAN sights.

The ELCAN SpecterTR is significantly longer and heavier than the 1x/4x model. The TR is 10.4 inch in length and weights in at 30.4 ounces with the integral external mount base. However, the ELCAN SpecterTR is slightly shorter than other 1-8x scopes and the weight is comparable when a heavy duty SPR rings is added to those.

ELCAN Products from Armament Technology 

Tangent Theta is a new optic company from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The name is new but the company was start by Andy Webber, the founder and former president of Armament Technology, the distributor and service provider of ELCAN sights for the military and civilian market. He’s credited with bring the ELCAN sight to the commercial market, introduced the SpecterDR and the M145 to US military and the ELCAN LDS to the UK Armed Forces.

Tangent Theta acquired all designs and assets from the now defunct Premier Reticles. That included the 3-15x50mm design used in the USMC Scout Sniper Day Scope. The new Tangent Theta 3-15x50mm TT315M model is developed from the same combat proven optical design as the Marine’s sniper scope. The rest of the TT315M is a completely new design with no connection to the Premier product.

The Tangent Theta 3-15x50mm features a side parallax adjustment and 11 levels of reticle illumination powered by a single CR2032 lithium battery. Both the elevation and windage turrets feel amazing with very precise clicks, great tactile feel and clearly audible. A very clever feature for the turrets is the small indicator cutouts just under the serration that let the shooter know what revolution is the elevation turret on and which direction is the windage turret in.

Tangent Theta uses German lens and some German made components but everything else is made in house. Their engineering team consist of members that have previously worked for Zeiss, Leica, ELCAN, Schmidt & Bender and other high-end optic companies.

Each Tangent Theta scope is hand-built in Canada. The 3-15x50mm TT315M model features a 30mm tube size, 13.81 inches in length, 26.6 oz in weight, 3.54 inches of eye relief, 0.1 MIL adjustment and it comes standard with Tenebraex anti-reflective device and lens covers. Priced at $2995 MSRP, the Tangent Theta scope is in the very high-end of the optic market and competes against the premium Euro scopes.

Tangent Theta TT315M Specification

New from Israel is the MSE series of red-dot sights. It was developed by retired Lt Col. Mikey Hartman who founded and was the commander of the IDF marksmanship and sharpshooter school with over 20 years of training experience.

The MSE sight is constructed with a combination of aluminum base and advanced polymer body. Windage and elevation are adjustable without using a tool. Size and weight wise the MSE sight is similar in size to the full-size EOtech 550 series. The sight will co-witness with the iron sights on an AR-15. The battery life is 1875 hours from a CR123 lithium battery.

The MSE sight features a large EOTech-style view window on top and its control is simple yet effective. It’s almost grunt proof (nothing is truly grunt proof!) with buttons for illumination level, power and reticle selection. No doubt, the MSE sight was designed by an infantry officer.

One of the special feature of the MSE sight is that the controls are duplicated on the PTT remote control cable mounted on the handguard or forward grip. This allows the soldier to adjust the sight without taking his/hers support hand off the weapon. It also function as a redundancy control for the sight in case of battle damage.

Another special feature of the MSE sight is the selectable reticles. I was able to tried out all three reticles that the MSE sight has during the pre-SHOT Show Media Day at the Range. The bullseye reticle is quick in CQB and the 1.7 MOA dot with trackbars reticle is good for shooting farther out. After those two, the plain red dot is just boring to shoot. I would like to thank Lt Col. Hartman for coaching me on the range.

The MSE sights will be distributed in the USA by Command Arms Accessoriess (CAA). Price starts from around $700 for the thumb screw mount version and multiple configurations will be offer by CAA. Those will be including upgrades like QD mount, PTT cable control and integral visible and IR laser designator.

Many new 1-6x rifle scopes were introduced at the SHOT Show 2014 and one of the best among those is the new Meopta MeoStar R2 1-6×24 RD. The new Meopta 1-6×24 features a true 1x magnification, lightweight 30mm tube, daylight visible reticle illumination with great battery life and what I like the most: German Schott glass. Not a bad deal for $1595 MSRP. I always considered the top-end Meoptas are on the same level as the premium German and Austrian optics but with a lot less money.

Many TFB readers may not be familiar with the Meopta name. The company was founded in 1933 and it is one of the best optic producer in Europe. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, Meopta began to produce optics and components for well known names such as Carl Zeiss and Aimpoint. Meopta is now own by American and has its US headquarter and US factory in the New York State. The majority of the company and its main manufacturing facility are still based in Prerov, Czech Republic.

Designed mainly for the hunting market, the front part of new Meopta R2 1-6×24 has almost 2 inches of empty space that functions as a build-in lens shade. I think if Meopta ever come out with tactical version of this optic, they could eliminate that empty space and reduce the overall length from 11.7 inches to just under 10 inches. Which would make it a nice compact 1-6x tactical optic. The tube reduction should also take out an ounce or more off the current 17.4 oz weight.

Meopta is one of the first company to introduced daylight visible reticle illumination. However, the older illumination system uses the less common CR2050 lithium battery and the battery life is rather short at only 50-80 hours. The new Meopta R2 1-6×24 is now comes with an advanced illumination system that offers hundreds of hours of reticle illumination from a standard size CR2032 lithium battery. It’s good to see that Meopta has finally caught up with S&B, Zeiss and Swarovski in illumination technology.

The low profile capped turrets require no tool to change the adjustments. The illumination dial houses the CR2032 lithium battery and it features 8-level of brightness settings with off position between each level. The lens are treated with two new proprietary lens coatings: the MeoLux coating that delivers a class-leading 99.8% light transmission and the non-stick MeoDrop hydrophobic coating that repels water, dirt, grease and oil.

Meopta MeoStar R2 1-6×24 RD Specification

It have been two years since the prototype of the Mepro M5 was appeared at the previous SHOT Show. During SHOT Show 2014, The Mako Group have shown me the production model of the Mepro M5 reflex sight. It has a number of design changes and the final design was certified by the Israeli Defense Forces with extensive field trails.

The Mepro M5 feature a EOTech-esque large viewing window for achieving the biggest possible field of view. The Mepro M5 is powered by a single AA size battery for 5,000 hour of illumination. The power system has an auto-shutoff mode to conserve battery but it also has an auto resume feature to turn the sight back on. I am assuming that’s with a help of build-in motion sensor.

The main change is that the sight is now all metal construction instead of having a polymer hood on the prototype. However, I am not so sure about the new wheel shaped switch is an improvement over the flip-lever switch found on the prototype. Mako told me that’s an IDF required design change. The Mepro M5 now comes with a set of low profile QD levers instead of prototype’s simple dual-screw mount.

The Mepro M5 features a 2 MOA red dot reticle with four levels of brightness control. A unique feature of the Mepro M5 is its ocular window which consist of a single glass prism. This is very different from the typical multiple lens optical design found in majority of the red-dot sights. The optical window on the Mepro M5 seems to be almost clear with just barely noticeable bit of blue color tint.

The Mako Group is the only authorized distributor of the Meprolight optic in the North American market. Beware of buying any Meprolight sight directly from Israel, which shipping it to the US or Canada can be a violation of the ITAR and other arms importation laws.

The Sudanese military have selected the Chinese QBZ-97 bullpup for their Future Soldier System. The Sudanese military have been using Chinese weapon for a while now and those including: Type 96 main battle tank, HJ-8 anti-tank missile, Type 56 and Type 81 rifles, CQ rifle (copy of the M16A1), QJZ-89 50-cal heavy machine gun, M99 50-cal sniper rifle and the QLZ-87 automatic grenade launcher. Sudan is also the main middle-man in trafficking Chinese arms into the Syrian Civil War.

Last Fall, I was invited by Trijicon to their writer event at their training facility just south of the Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. The morning session was mostly product presentation with a focus on the Trijicon ACOG family, the new battery powered reflex sights such as the RMR mini red-dot and the full size Trijicon SRS. We headed toward the range after a quick lunch.

The first thing we did at the range was taping up all the ACOG rifle optics. The setup was for doing drills using the Bindon Aiming Concept. Which is a technique that use both eyes for aiming magnified optic at close range.

Daniel Defense AR-15s with 16-inch M4 profile barrel. Besides the Magpul CTR lightweight collapsible stock and the Daniel Defense quad-rail free-float handguard, those are basically stock.

I took the opportunity to try out the new battery powered TA02 ACOG 4×32 LED model. This LED illuminated model is noticeably lacks the fiber optic run along the top like the rest of the ACOG models. The sealed battery compartment added a bit of weight and together with the illumination control dial on the other side, the LED model is quit bit wider than the dual-illuminated 4×32 ACOG models.

My first try at 20 yards from using the Bindon Aiming Concept with both my eyes open. It works but not as fast as using a simple red-dot sight.

Next, we switched to pistols with mounted Trijicon RMR mini reflex sight.

Once pass 25 yards, the pistol mount RMR mini reflex sight start to make targeting faster.

At 50 yards, the pistol iron sights block much of the target.

The small dot from the RMR mini reflex sight was clearly an advantage comparing to the iron sight at 50 yards.

At 75 yards, the iron sights completely covered the target and it was difficult to score a hit.

The mini reflex sight make it easier to scoring hit at 75 yards, as long as the shooter’s skill is up to the task.

Switched back to the rifle and moved to the 400 yard line. A number of targets were setup along the range starting at 5 yards and the farthest at 400 yards. The two smallest targets are about the size of a bowling ball and setup at 150 yards and 330 yards

One of the main drawback of fiber optic is that sometime it collects too much light.  When I tried to use the ACOG with small horseshoe reticle, there was so much light bleed through that the horseshoe appeared as a big green dot.

On command, the shooter would double tap the two closest paper targets by using the Bindon Aiming Concept.

Next, the shooter would try to hit as many of the steel targets in standing.

The shooter is allow to go to kneeing or prone to finish the rest of the targets. My best score was achieved by using the red chevron reticle on the USMC TA31 ACOG RCO model.

After the range event, the day was concluded at the private Irish pub on the training facility with a corned beef and cabbage dinner, and an open bar. The next morning, I stopped by The National Museum of the Marine Corps just few freeway exits away on my way back to the DC Airport.