SIGHTS & OPTICS

Crimson Trace CTS-1000

I’ve been a fan of Crimson Trace LaserGrips since I first stuck a set on a Smith J-Frame snubbie more than 20 years ago so I was very keen on trying out...
Read Full Article
Pyser Optics’ Quick Zero...

There are a few good ways to zero a rifle, and some frustrating ones. Pyser Optics has come up with a device … call it a tool … that may shade them all.
Read Full Article
Plane Talk on Reticles

First focal-plane reticles have received lots of recent coverage, especially from longer-range shooters, even though most American shooters (in particular...
Read Full Article
Bringing Up the Rear

It’s a love/hate relationship. Bloodied by scopes on rifles as mild-mannered as the .223, I could, out of spite, dismiss scope eyepieces as simply...
Read Full Article
Leupold LTO-Tracker 2 HD

You might say I’ve got a pretty strong background in thermal imaging. Before ascending the GUNS throne (a tasteful beige leather recliner) to become the...
Read Full Article
Bed Bites

Amateur riflestock bedding turned into yet another American national pastime soon after World War II. The trend started because of two factors, one...
Read Full Article
Coyote Medicine

A very practical reason for hunting coyotes is for the pelts. Coyote fur is great for trim on winter clothing, or for complete items of cold weather...
Read Full Article
A Minimalist Varmint Rifle

The perfect minimalist varminting combination might not actually exist as a factory option but the CZ 527 Varmint Model in .17 Hornet comes very close....
Read Full Article
Behind the Scenes at...

Editors tend to spend a fair amount of time at a desk, hovering over a keyboard, wrangling text, photos, and videos. But every now and again we get out to...
Read Full Article
Illumination: Help or...

Sometimes it helps to have a scope reticle light up (or at least glow) in relatively dim light. Sometimes, even when shooting targets with very fine-lined...
Read Full Article
Built To High-Quality...

When it comes to hunting and precision long-range shooting the optics invariably make the difference, so when I had a chance to peruse the product line and...
Read Full Article
Optical Delusions

Somewhere between target and brain are your eyes and front sight. It’s pretty straightforward but sometimes along this line, things get misinterpreted...
Read Full Article
EOTech’s Compact &...

Until recently most rifle shooters rated scopes by optical quality, a prejudice originating in the 1950s, when scopes became standard instead of unusual....
Read Full Article
Go For The Glow: New DXT2...

I’m a big fan of tritium night sights because they work, as I’ve personally experienced on a few occasions over the year. I prefer them to a gun-mounted...
Read Full Article
The Magnification

The hole looked the same after the second shot as after the first. Identical after a third. How could this be? At 24X, the crosswire had gyrated like a fly...
Read Full Article
Sticker Shock!

Here’s a non-gun case in point: I wanted a reliable, durable chainsaw to clean up trees downed by the wind and turn them into firewood. Most of the trees...
Read Full Article
Minutes, Mils And...

As the trigger broke, the slope gave way. My bullet sailed a foot high as I wind-milled like Charlie Chaplin on ice to keep my feet. The elk, 40 steps off,...
Read Full Article
“Bore-Sighters”

Apparently, the mere idea of an optical bore-sighter angers some shooters because they feel they can do the job the old-fashioned way — without the help...
Read Full Article
Glass Plus Iron

While most bolt-action rifles don’t even come with iron sights anymore, some hunters still like to combine a quick-detachable scope with irons. Before...
Read Full Article
You Don’t Say? Crimson...

This shouldn’t have surprised me. Not one bit. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. But, you could have knocked me over with a feather when I...
Read Full Article
Performance-Plus

How hard do you really push a piece of gear to discover its capabilities? I don’t think most of us do, which is too bad because there are often...
Read Full Article
The Deal Ain't Sealed!

“Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it,” is a frequently quoted bit of wisdom from George Santayana’s Reason in Common Sense,...
Read Full Article
Coming To Terms

Since “affordable” laser rangefinders appeared in the 1990s, some riflescopes have evolved into contraptions very different than your grandfather’s...
Read Full Article
Bushnell Expands AR Optics...

Having used Bushnell optics since I was a teen — a very long time ago now — when this company announces new models, it’s worth taking notice.
Read Full Article
Zero Hour

I used to spend a lot of time trying to shoot little tiny groups with scoped, bolt-action deer rifles, generally at 100, but sometimes 200 yards. Often it...
Read Full Article
High-end Kahles Riflescope...

Every now and then, a guy likes to dream a little about owning a very high-end rifle, or some superb accessory that just might be the best he ever saw …...
Read Full Article
Heat Seeker

It’s the nature of technology for electronic devices to get faster, smaller, better and cheaper. I remember when laser sights for firearms first appeared...
Read Full Article
Keep It Simple

My attitude about fixed sight handguns being good choices came shortly after becoming a Montana resident. Often I drove my pickup or an old ’51 jeep off...
Read Full Article
Tried And True

On an inspection tour of the gun room recently, checking to see all was well and no rust gremlins had managed to sneak in, it suddenly struck me I’ve been...
Read Full Article
Oldies Aren’t Moldies

While new and more astonishing riflescopes appear every day, many shooters prefer much older ones. Sometimes they have an older rifle, maybe an all-original...
Read Full Article