Rifle Scopes SHOT 2020

[koshkin]

For those of you on social media, I will be posting Instagram updates from the show floor as I go along. I will also try to do a Facebook live session with my impressions at the end of each day (if I am sober enough for it) and the video will then go up on Youtube.

That worked reasonably well last year, so I will try to do more or less the same thing this year.

ILya

 

[phlegethon]

I am sorta spoiled by spotters with reticles, so any new spotter I buy will have that.

I wish Kowa would consider adding a reticle to the 55mm spotter, but I am afraid chances are slim.

ILya

What do you think the best spotter on the market in the $2k range is right now?

 

[Wink's]

I will be at SHOT. Looking forward to it. I actually got an invite to industry day at the range ‘this year. That should be pretty cool.

 

[Glassaholic]

For those of you on social media, I will be posting Instagram updates from the show floor as I go along. I will also try to do a Facebook live session with my impressions at the end of each day (if I am sober enough for it) and the video will then go up on Youtube.

That worked reasonably well last year, so I will try to do more or less the same thing this year.

ILya

Might be worth getting an instagram account just for this ?

 

[koshkin]

What do you think the best spotter on the market in the $2k range is right now?

What size?

 

[phlegethon]

What size?

80-85mm

 

[koshkin]

80-85mm

If you can find Meopta S2 under $2k that is probably your best bet.

If you are looking to have an available reticle eyepiece, Vortex Razor is worth a look. They have a fixed power eyepiece with a reticle available for it.

ILya

 

[Sub-MOA]

Added Meopta on Thursday morning to the list.

ILya

Can you ask them when they plan to release sunshades for their new Optika6 scopes?

 

[koshkin]

Can you ask them when they plan to release sunshades for their new Optika6 scopes?

I'll do my best to remember.

ILya

 

[Wink's]

I have a meeting with Meopta 9:30 Wednesday. I’ll try to ask as well.

 

[phlegethon]

If you can find Meopta S2 under $2k that is probably your best bet.

If you are looking to have an available reticle eyepiece, Vortex Razor is worth a look. They have a fixed power eyepiece with a reticle available for it.

ILya

Yeah, I’ve heard good things about that one. I’m trying to decide how much I want a reticle, probably not really necessary at this point.

 

[Glassaholic]

Hoping to hear more about:

• Leica PRS 5-30x56
• Leica 3200.com binos
• March 4.5-28x52

 

[LibertyOptics]

Enjoy, Ilya. Fond memories of the days when "I" used to go to SHOT....hanging out with you and dissecting optics was always worth my time.

 

[Wink's]

Just talked to the product engineer at Meopta. They will have sunshades for the Optikas this year

 

[skeet16]

@koshkin
Nothing new in the Vortex gen 3 line other than the 1x10? I kind of figured the rest of the lineup would release at shot. Also anythig new on the Leupold lineup?

 

[Dthomas3523]

@koshkin
Nothing new in the Vortex gen 3 line other than the 1x10? I kind of figured the rest of the lineup would release at shot. Also anythig new on the Leupold lineup?

Vortex typically doesn’t wait for shot to release anything. If it’s ready, the release it.

Also, the gen 3 1-10 is pretty awesome.

 

[Glassaholic]

Tract has a new Toric, a 4.5-30x56 with 34mm tube. I was very impressed with the 4-20 for the price, it did have a lot of CA but resolution was very impressive, FOV was a bit narrow though. If this new 4.5-30x56 has resolved some (or all) of these issues, this could be one to watch.

 

[newguy2k3v2]

@koshkin
Nothing new in the Vortex gen 3 line other than the 1x10? I kind of figured the rest of the lineup would release at shot. Also anythig new on the Leupold lineup?

If I remember right the g2 1-6 was out for a good while before they announced the 3-18 and 4.5-27 so the 1-10 first is par for the course.

 

[koshkin]

@koshkin
Nothing new in the Vortex gen 3 line other than the 1x10? I kind of figured the rest of the lineup would release at shot. Also anythig new on the Leupold lineup?

Not yet.

 

[Glassaholic]

Not yet.

Was hoping 2020 would be the year Leupold finally understood the demographic for their Mark 5 scopes and came out with a reticle to compete with others in this space... apparently not. Oh well, plenty of other options and I'd likely want illumination anyway which puts the Mark 5 way over the competition in regard to price.

 

[erwos]

I agree that the Leupold line-up was very underwhelming. Ditto for Bushnell, who seems to be floundering in terms of what to do in their tactical LPVO and reflex sight line-up. Sig didn't have much, either, but IMHO, they're starting in a way better position. Haven't been to Vortex or Burris yet.

 

[SD Carpenter]

In one of Leupold's interviews yesterday they hinted at a New reticle coming out for the mark5

 

[erwos]

Swung by Burris on my way to the press room (forgot they were co-located with Steiner).

Bad news: the RT-8 scopes are not coming out any time soon. Marketing confusion was cited as the reason. I asked how they thought they could fail to market a $800 DFP 1-8x scope successfully, and didn't really get a good answer. I am extremely disappointed.

Good news: the Fastfire 4 was on display, and it looks REALLY solid. Bigger window, and it has a reticle that will let you switch between 3 MOA, 11 MOA (!), and some sort of circle dot. It's due Q2. As someone who's used an 8 MOA FF3 quite successfully, I am looking forward to seeing it.

 

[Schaaf]

Not much new for hunting scopes?

 

[UPSTATERAM]

I haven’t seen much released. Just a lot of hype for the razor iii

 

[Dthomas3523]

Not much new for hunting scopes?

What price point?

The Tangent Theta hunter is pretty damn nice.

 

[Wink's]

Meopta did come out with an Optika 5 scope that has a 1” tube. Not really a special scope but it is exciting for me as a retail shop. 3-15x44 selling for $399 and a 4-20x50 selling for $499 and $549 for the lighted reticle. Gets a guy into a really decent scope for a great price point.

 

[Schaaf]

Meopta did come out with an Optika 5 scope that has a 1” tube. Not really a special scope but it is exciting for me as a retail shop. 3-15x44 selling for $399 and a 4-20x50 selling for $499 and $549 for the lighted reticle. Gets a guy into a really decent scope for a great price point.

What were the weights like?

 

[Wink's]

What were the weights like?

I don’t know exactly what they weigh but they were lighter than the Optika6

 

[UPSTATERAM]

Meopta did come out with an Optika 5 scope that has a 1” tube. Not really a special scope but it is exciting for me as a retail shop. 3-15x44 selling for $399 and a 4-20x50 selling for $499 and $549 for the lighted reticle. Gets a guy into a really decent scope for a great price point.

The 4-20x50 was a 1” tube too?

 

[XTREM HTR16]

What price point?

The Tangent Theta hunter is pretty damn nice.

would love to see/hear/read reviews. Did they actually have one at SHOT?

 

[Dthomas3523]

would love to see/hear/read reviews. Did they actually have one at SHOT?

Yep. It’s basically the 3-15m with a thicker mil dot reticle and the new locking turrets.

 

[Pointman308]

Are you going to make it by Trijicon to check out their new offerings?

 

[Dthomas3523]

Are you going to make it by Trijicon to check out their new offerings?

Just swung by for a second. Nothing major except ventus.

 

[_Windrider_]

Just swung by for a second. Nothing major except ventus.

You still in Vegas?

 

[Dthomas3523]

You still in Vegas?

About to be at the airport unfortunately.

 

[THEIS]

About to be at the airport unfortunately.

Hi,

You might be the only person in history of Shot Show to stop by every booth there, lolol...

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[_Windrider_]

About to be at the airport unfortunately.

I’ll be there in an hour.

 

[Dthomas3523]

Hi,

You might be the only person in history of Shot Show to stop by every booth there, lolol...

Sincerely,
Theis

I think I got to all of the booths that pertained to PRS. I’m not a people person. So I’m happy to be leaving.

 

[Dthomas3523]

Also, holy shit on the AMP Arbor press. I was very impressed with it considering the projected price point only being a little higher than a hydro press.

 

[blackblue]

Hi,

You might be the only person in history of Shot Show to stop by every booth there, lolol...

Sincerely,
Theis

I walked the entire show a couple years ago, first time going and tried to take everything in, I'll never do that again.

 

[THEIS]

I walked the entire show a couple years ago, first time going and tried to take everything in, I'll never do that again.

Hi,

There were 2 additional floors/ballrooms this year, lol...
Next year will be even larger; since they are expanding to the under construction Caesar Forums which will be connected via a pedestrian sky-bridge from the Sands exhibition center.

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[koshkin]

Hi,

There were 2 additional floors/ballrooms this year, lol...
Next year will be even larger; since they are expanding to the under construction Caesar Forums which will be connected via a pedestrian sky-bridge from the Sands exhibition center.

Sincerely,
Theis

My feet are beginning to hurt pre-emptively.

ILya

 

[Snipe260]

My feet are beginning to hurt pre-emptively.

ILya

Can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the products at shot! Get a golfball and roll gently under your feet when you get settled. Hope this helps.

 

[Glassaholic]

I'm guessing not but figure it can't hurt to ask, was Steiner showing off their new M7Xi 2.9-20x50 scope?

 

[koshkin]

I'm guessing not but figure it can't hurt to ask, was Steiner showing off their new M7Xi 2.9-20x50 scope?

No. It is almost ready.

Steiner had some crazy cool stuff that they showed us, but it is not for consumer use at this stage. Their CQT is really something though.

ILya

 

[Glassaholic]

No. It is almost ready.

Steiner had some crazy cool stuff that they showed us, but it is not for consumer use at this stage. Their CQT is really something though.

ILya

I saw your Instagram post on the Steiner CQT and it looked sweet! But $9k puts it out of reach for most. They also listed DBAL-LRF, how do the two differ?

 

[koshkin]

I saw you're Instagram post on the Steiner CQT and it looked sweet! But $9k puts it out of reach for most. They also listed DBAL-LRF, how do the two differ?

CQT is a fusion of thermal and reflex sight. It is not an LRF.

It is very expensive, but it is the first truly viable design of this type in existence.

ILya

 

[Glassaholic]

CQT is a fusion of thermal and reflex sight. It is not an LRF.

It is very expensive, but it is the first truly viable design of this type in existence.

ILya

So is the DBAL-LRF both a visible laser and a rangefinder in one?

 

[beetroot]

Am I right in thinking there was little of anything interesting to the PRS stype scene this year?
Seem's like other than the Leica and the Kahles LVPO, there was nothing ground breaking announced and a lot of "it'll be ready soon" on cool stuff folk were hoping for.