Designed for long range accuracy, the new Nikon P-223 is a new rifle scope that claims to be at the top of the list of quality glass for the AR-type rifles.

The P-223 is a 4-12×40 variable scope.  It uses the Nikon BDC 600 reticle, has a 3.7″ eye relief and uses the company’s Rapid Action Turrets.  The scope weighs in at 17.5 ounces.

The Nikon P-223 is both waterproof and fogproof.  It is available in a matte black finish at this time.  Camo patterns may be available later, but that will likely be based on sales and demand.

MSRP is $249.95.  The scope is backed by Nikon’s lifetime warranty.

Traditional scope flip covers require clearance for the cover to flip up (or to the side). This is problem if you have two optics, such as a red dot and a magnifier, mounted closely together. Butler Creek have solved this problem with the Sidewinder cover that rotates to the side and then flips to the side. You can see it demonstrated in the video below.

The Sidewinder Flip Cover will be available to fit 30mm eyepiece lenses and 38mm objective lenses. It will work on scopes such as the Aimpoint CompM2, Bushnell TRS-32, Burris 332 EP and Sightmark Tactical Red Dot. The MSRP will be $21.95 later this month.

Spuhr AB is a Scandinavian company that specializes in high-end scope rings and scope mounts. Their rings and mounts feature the SPUHR Interface, a mounting interface that allows accessories to be easily bolted on (you can see the interface on the photos below).

At IWA ’13 they had a very nifty prototype  accessory that allows an image intensifier to be mounted on a rifle without a full length rail. The extended cantilever mount bolts onto the Spuhr scope mount. This setup allows law enforcement and hunters to use image intensifiers on lower cost rifles like a standard Remington 700 without having to pay for a very expensive (and heavy) stock/rail system.

I wish I had thought of this idea!

Many thanks to Dom for the photos and information.

Strike Industries (who never tire of launching new products) have designed a Trijicon RMR red dot sight cover with a transparent window that allows the sight to be used without the cover being removed. It can be seen demonstrated in the video below.

Other features include a finger grip to allow it to be easily flipped off and a lanyard hole (so it can be attached to a holster and be automatically pulled off when the weapon is drawn).

The MSRP is $12.95.

Shield is a European manufacturer of red dot sight and optic mounts. They are the OEM manufacturer of the JPoint Reflex Sight, Trijicon RedDot and Tasco Optima sights. The company has developed a mount for their red dot sights which allow them to be mounted on digital cameras. The mount attaches to cameras via the Hot Shoe mount point that is normally used to attach flash units. It does not obscure the camera’s optical viewfinder.

I am not a photographer but I assume this would be useful for sports photography or other situations where speed is required.

Many thanks to Dom for the photo.

Trijicon introduced a new series of night sights that are specifically designed to be used with sound suppressors.  The new sights are taller, allowing their use on a handgun over the top of an attached silencer.

The sights can also be used to co-witness through the company’s RMR sight, which has become popular on handguns.  Currently, the sights are only available for Glock pistols.  Depending on consumer demand, Trijicon could introduce sights for other firearms in the future.

MSRP is $145.  The shipping date is currently listed as eight weeks.

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.

When hordes of undead are swarming your position, you need rapid, accurate fire to put them down.  For close in work, a quality optic can be a real life saver.  Fortunately, Bushnell is stepping up to the plate with the new 1X MP Zombie Assault sight.

The illuminated reticle is a “T-Dot” style preferred by elite undead eradication operators, and it can be displayed in green or red.  The optic is waterproof, fogproof and shockproof.  So, feel free to use it as an improvised impact weapon on squishy zombie heads when ammo is running low.

MSRP is $199.99.  Sure, you can wait until the apocalypse and just grab an inferior anti-zombie optic off the rifle of some poor, gnawed to the bone traveler you find in a ditch.  But clearly that optic wasn’t ready for combat with hell spawn.  It might be better to grab one of these sights before the sickness hits.

Gemini Defense makes a handgun sighting system that is supposed to allow the shooter to focus on the threat, not the sights, in a high-stress self-defense situation.  The sights are called Zone Reflex, or Z-Flex, combat sights.

The rear sights offer either a large, oblong, enclosed circle or a very wide, tall notch depending on the model purchased.  All of the sights use parenthesis-like outlines to bracket the target.  The purpose is for the shooter to concentrate on the threat while obtaining a non-precise, but fast visual reference that the gun is on target.

The two enclosed rear sights also have a standard notch at the base to allow for more precise shooting at targets farther away.

The sights use a photo-luminescent paint that glows after being exposed to light.  Roughly one minute of “charging” from a high intensity flashlight should provide up to six hours of useful glowing.

Pricing runs from $89.95 to $119.95.

The Trijicon RMR is being found on more and more handguns due to the optic’s small size and rugged durability.  However, those going on safari might just see more of them as well.

Trijicon is now offering adaptors to mount the RMR sights on double rifles.  The rifles for which the mounts are available include models from Sako and Blaser.  Additionally, Trijicon is offering generic mounts for custom rifles with various sized ribs, plus a steel block mount for custom shaping by a gunsmith.

MINOX will be shipping the new ZE 5i scopes in 2013 according to a company press release.  The scopes use Z-Rail mounting and will come in four basic models:  1-5x 24, 2-10x 50, 3-15x 56, and 5-25x 56.

There will be three illuminated reticles available:  German 4, BDC and Center Dot.  All three have a red center dot.  The center red dot has 11 brightness settings to allow the shooter to dial in what works best for him and her in their specific lighting conditions.  The dot has an auto-power off so your batteries will not run down if stored with the reticle illuminated.  A spare battery is stored in the adjustment drum.

The scopes are waterproof.  The objective lens components are multi-coated.

The scopes are made in Germany and should start shipping in August 2013.  They come with a 30 year warranty.  MSRP is expected to be less than $2,000.

Trijicon is now making the ACOG 3×30 with a special 300 Blackout reticle.  The new reticle is designed to be sighted in with supersonic ammo, with lines in the reticle representing various hold over points for known distances.  Two small triangles are the aiming points for subsonic ammo at 50 and 100 meters.  Sighting in the optic and using the marked hold over points on the reticle is obviously dependent on ammo selection and barrel length.

The reticle is illuminated via fiber optics and tritium like other ACOG sights.  MSRP is $1,257 and the company’s website estimates a 12 week wait.

If you need an inexpensive red dot for your hunting gun, Bushnell is making a line of optics called the Trophy Red Dot.  There are five different Trophy Red Dot optics in the line that Bushnell says are compatible with shotgun, rifle and handgun hunting.

All of the sights are non-magnified (1x) optics with a variety of reticle and brightness options.  MSRPs run from $99.99 to $149.99.

This post was written by Dr. Jim & Mary Clary.

At the 2013 SHOT Show in Las Vegas, we met Mr. Lou Riley, CEO of Gamo and had the opportunity to talk about the BSA’s line of scopes.   I told Lou that over the past years, the BSA scope had not enjoyed the most positive reputation.  He told us that he was aware of that when he took over as CEO and decided to change things.

He went to the factory personally, and studied the specifications of the BSA scopes and learned how to assemble and disassemble them himself.  He then instructed the engineers of the changes that needed to be made in order to bring the scopes up to a higher standard.  Lou Riley was determined to raise the quality of the BSA line of scopes to be comparable to Burris, Sightron and Leopold, as well as other competitors on the market.

During our conversation, we told Lou that we had been looking for a pistol scope to use on our CVA Optima pistol.  He suggested the BSA Edge and told us that if it did not hold up to the Optima’s recoil, he wanted us to contact him personally with the results.  That was an offer that we could not refuse.

The Edge arrived in early February, it was obviously (from the outside) not the “typical BSA” scope that we had seen in the past.  It had a solid one-piece aluminum tube, multi-coated optics and a very nice adjustable eyepiece for changing the magnification.  Looking through the scope in our back yard, it was clear with absolutely no distortion under varying light and weather conditions.  We were anxious to get to the range.

We used Weaver Quad Lock rings to mount the scope, torqued down with the Wheeler Engineering F.A.T. wrench to insure that they would not come loose from the recoil.  In early March, the weather warmed up and Jim was off to the Zia Rifle and Pistol Club range outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

I loaded up tubes of Alliant Black MZ for the range.  Five tubes of 90 grains by volume, five tubes with 95 grains and ten tubes with 100 grains.  The latter, I had only fired a couple of times as the recoil was awful and bruised my hand.  In fact, in our article on the CVA pistol, we recommended using only 80-90 grains for hunting.  Other writers have been more conservative, recommending just 70-80 grains.  As such, my 95 and 100 grain loads would be a brutal test for the scope and its internal components.

A laser bore sighter was used to zero the scope in for 25 yards.  I used the Caldwell Tack Driver bag as a front rest and an Edgewood rear bag to stabilize the pistol grip.

I fired the 90 grain loads first, making no adjustments for windage or elevation. We wanted to see if the initial adjustments held, which they did.  I then fired the 95 grain loads using the same procedure, still the windage and elevation adjustments held.

As I cleaned the pistol for the final round of shooting, providing a much needed rest for my wrist and hand, I wondered if any modestly priced scope could stand up to the recoil of a four pound muzzle loading pistol at “max load”.  I have seen scopes whose internal mechanisms were damaged by recoil  and they generally become trash.  I did not want that to happen with this scope; but, we had to find out if the Edge could handle the recoil under maximum loads.

The following procedure was used in testing the 100 grain loads.  After firing the first rounds (Trial #1) with the windage and elevations zeroed for 25 yards, the adjustments were changed for each of the following trials, as illustrated in the table below:

The elevation/windage adjustment knobs worked flawlessly and their settings held with each successive trial.   For good measure,  we varied the magnification between 2x and 7x during the tests with no problem.  After twenty rounds (5@90 gn, 5@95gn & 10@100gn), the duplex reticle was still centered in the tube and all optics were clear.

Jim was the only casualty from the tests.  His wrist is still sore; however, the swelling in his left hand is gradually going down.  His old bones are not nearly as tough as the Edge pistol scope.

SPECIFICATIONS
Magnification: 2 – 7x
Fast Focus Eyepiece
Fully Multi-coated Optics
Duplex Reticle
Haze Filters Included
Objective Lens diameter: 32 mm
Field of View @ 100 yards: 60 – 16 feet
Optimum Eye Relief: 12 – 20 inches
Parallax Setting: Fixed 50 yards
Click Adjustment Elevation/Windage: 1/4 MOA
Adjustment Range: 45 – 45
Weight: 7.5 ounces
Waterproof, Fogproof and Shockproof
Tube: 1 inch diameter one piece aluminum
Black Matte Finish
MSRP: $139.95

This BSA Edge scope is Not the BSA scope you thought it was.  It is a solid, well built piece of equipment, that should stand up to the toughest hunting and/or shooting conditions.  We recommend it without hesitation or reservation.

Trijicon is now making a number of ACOG and RMR optics with a nickel boron plating for durability and a unique look.  The nickel boron finish is available on the following optics:

• 4×32 ACOG Nickel Boron Dual-Illuminated .223 Ballistic Chevron Reticle
• 4×32 ACOG Nickel Boron Dual-Illuminated .223 Ballistic Horseshoe Reticle
• 4×32 ACOG Nickel Boron Dual-Illuminated .223 Ballistic Crosshair Reticle
• 3.5×35 ACOG Nickel Boron Dual-Illuminated .223 Ballistic Chevron Reticle
• 3.5×35 ACOG Nickel Boron Dual-Illuminated .223 Ballistic Horseshoe Reticle
• 3.5×35 ACOG Nickel Boron Dual-Illuminated .223 Ballistic Crosshair Reticle
• 3.25 MOA LED Red Dot
• 7.0 MOA Dual-Illuminated Amber Dot
• 9.0 MOA Dual-Illuminated Green Dot
• 12.9 MOA Dual-Illuminated Green Triangle

Trijicon has announced thier first VCOG riflescope. The VCOG (Variable Combat Optical Gunsight) is a zoom scope, in contrast to their famous  ACOG line of combat scopes which have a fixed magnification. The first VCOG will be a 1-6x power with a 24mm objective lens. A range of reticles will be available with bullet drop compensation for the 5.56mm, .300 BLK and 7.62x51mm cartridges. The reticle is situated on the first frontal plane (meaning the reticle zooms in proportion to the target as you increase magnification).

The scope is illuminated and runs for 700 hours off a single lithium AA battery. It starts shipping in August.

Thanks To Jakob for the tip.

Hat Tip: Solider Systems

The Inteliscope is a picatinny mount for the iPhone which unlike, other phone picatinny mounts which we have blogged about before that mount a smartphone for use as a ballistic heads up display, allows the phone to be used as a digital scope.

An app for the phone overlays a reticle on iPhone camera’s video feed, as well as other useful ballistic and weather information. The app also allows the user to digitally zoom in up to 5x and can act as a shot timer.

Instagram-like video filter effects can be used to simulate shooting using a thermal scope (see the photo above). This may be gimmicky, but I can see people writing clever apps that can highlight movement on the screen, maybe drawing a box around moving objects (like a digital camera’s auto-focus) or highlighting a moving object in a bright color.

The Inteliscope (iPhone Touch, iPhone 5 and iPhone 4/4S) goes on sale next month and will cost $69.99.

LaserMax is now making a special red laser aiming unit for the Ruger 10/22.  The unit mounts onto a 10/22 rifle by removing the stock barrel band and then sliding the laser unit down the barrel and into the barrel band’s old place.

According to Ruger, the laser is pre-aligned at 25 yards and is visible to 100 yards in good lighting conditions.  The laser aiming point is completely adjustable for windage and elevation.

The unit has two short Picatinny rails on either side of the laser.  Feel free to kit up.  The 1/3N battery is supposed to be good for two hours of continuous run time.

The new unit is sold only through Ruger, but carries a full five-year LaserMax warranty.  MSRP is $129.95.

New from Aimpoint is the 9000SC-NV, a night vision compatible version of the non-magnifying (1x) optic developed for the sport shooting and hunting markets.  This is the first night vision compatible 9000SC brought to market by Aimpoint.

The 9000SC-NV has a 2 MOA red dot and is parallax-free.  It operates on a single 2L76 or DL1/3N battery which offer five years of continuous use before replacement.

MSRP was not announced.  In a press release, Aimpoint stated the 9000SC-NV will have a “user friendly price.”

Night Optics USA, a Bushnell company, is now selling night vision adaptor kits for the iPhone 4/4s/5.  The new kits allow a user to use the video recording capabilities of the iPhone through a variety of night vision weapon sights and vision systems.

MSRP on the kits range from $184.99 to $189.99, not including the actual night vision optics.

Adapting the iPhone to gun optics is not unique to Night Optics USA.  Steve has previously reported on similar devices here and here.