Riflescope Blog: Expert's reviews, news, notes on rifle scopes, hunting optics, shooting, binoculars, night vision sights, gun accessories, and more

I hear a buzz about my favorite rangefinder. The Nikon 440 is to be discontinued. It's a great buy at 200 bucks, and the size and maximum readable distance is perfect for me. I don't know what they will have in it's place yet. It has 8x magnification and weighs only seven ounces. It fits easily into a pocket, and you won't know you have it until you need it. The glass is typically clear multicoated Nikon quality, and the unit uses a single CR2 battery. It is water resistant and durable. Mine has withstood quite a few drops and is none worse for the wear. If you want one, it sounds like you better act soon.

A customer asked the other day if the B-Square saddle mounts for Remington shotguns were any good. My answer was a resounding YES! They slip over the receiver of 1100s, 11-87s, and 870s and are secured by the removal and replacement of the easily removed trigger pins. If you have one of these scatterguns and properly clean it including removing the trigger assembly, you can install one of these mounts. To avoid any scratching of the receiver you can put a bit of oil or a piece of tape between the metal parts where they would touch, and you're ready to go. I get sub three inch groups when scoped with these mounts. Not just when I first install them, but after I've been hunting hard with them for a few days. They are very secure and do not move. These are very good and reliable products. B-Square mounts are known for this, and are reasonably priced.

A customer wanted to know if he would need extension rings to mount the Alpen Kokiak rifle scope on his gun. He had a Marlin 336 and was concerned about the ring spacing. The 30-30 is a short action cartridge and doesn't need a lot of space between the rings. With Weaver style bases you need even less. If ring spacing is ever a concern, just go ahead and use extension rings as sold by just about every manufacturer. The Alpen Kodiak is an entry level scope, and the customer didn't have a lot of money to spend. It should work fine for him in this application as long as he knows he gets what he pays for. The magnification level is fine for a short range brush gun, and I would rather have just about any kind of cheap scope that I could see through that iron sights that I can't even see. I would certainly bring appropriate tools to remove any cheap scope that failed me so at least I have back up irons, though.

The Leupold LX mount system is a high end quick detachable unit designed for just a handful of guns, mainly those that may be used for dangerous game. Of course they fit Remingtons and Winchesters, but also Mausers, Kimbers, and Dakotas, all in long action. They are the quickest to remove I have ever seen. The price tag will also make you gasp. These are not for the faint of heart. You need to buy the LX system with your choice of ring diameters, as well as a base for your gun. So you may have a rifle scope mounted on one gun and swap it between others with the push of a lever. It is a secure mount and is sleek and sexy. Switching the scope from one gun to another takes only a couple seconds. It's a classy Leupold mount for classy guns and shooters.

The Browning Zero Gravity flashlight has been voted by Outdoor Life magazine as a best buy. There are Zero Gravity headlamps, and AAA, and AA battery handheld models to choose from. Battery life is up to two hours with one white luxeon bulb with a life of 100,000 hours. The light is under four inches long, is made of aluminum with a rugged black ceramic coating and has o-ring seals and a pocket clip. These lights are perfect for getting to your treestand or keeping in a pocket or glovebox. For just under $40.00 you get a reliable, conveniently sized light that will last a lifetime and uses readily available alkaline batteries. Outdoor Life's best buy!

U.S. Night Vision has developed a night vision scope with a 3/8" base that is rugged enough for adult spring piston airguns. It will certainly also work on paintball guns and softair guns. Spring piston airguns destroy most non-airgun rated scopes in short order, mainly due to internal components not being sealed for the vicious two-way recoil these guns generate. The U.S. Night Vision D 143 is made to hold up under these demanding conditions. It was designed with external windage and elevation adjustments to minimize internal moving parts. The mount holds secure under all normal conditions, and is perfect for any .22 rimfire used for night time pest control. The scope is inexpensive, but could pay for itself in fun in short order, besides being a useful tool to help cull the marauding rodent herds.

People are starting to feel the first tinges of hunting season about now. Not because of the weather, but because we haven't had a hunting season around for a while. Hopefully we've been at the local range a time or two or at least put a fresh coat of goop on our shootin' irons. Deer hunting kind of started a month or two ago when we put in for our permits. Here in Illinois we are confined to our slug guns. Too populous for rifles, say the ignorant rule makers. But slug guns are fine and shoot better all the time. A sight that I regularly recommend is the Bushnell HOLOsight XLP. The original HOLOsight #510021 is made and assembled by EOTech for Bushnell. The XLP models still include electronics and glass from EOTech, but they are assembled in Japan. All three are extremely good products and tough as nails. They are holographic sights with up to 100 hours of battery life and 15 or 20 reticle brightness levels depending on the unit. The 530027 has an integral base to fit over the receiver of a Remington 1100/11-87/870, and the one minute dot gives you the opportunity to take advantage of a particularly good gun and ammo combination for longer distance shots. These are dependable products that serve the slug hunter well.

A customer asked if it would be okay to put a red dot sight on a rifle. He asked because they were usually advertised for use on shotguns and handguns. This is true, but there is no reason you can't use them on a rifle. Most rifles are capable of shooting into a couple inch group at a hundred yards. The dot on most red dot sights will cover three or four inches, thereby making your rifle much less accurate. If you're only shooting at a hundred yards or closer at vital areas the size of a pie plate, that's not a problem. Good choice, because an extra inch or two in group size will still get the job done. Having these large dots on rifles that are used to shoot much farther than that is simply not a good idea. A magnified scope is a much better choice, not only because it makes your target appears larger, but because your crosshair covers up a very small amount of your target, and allows you to have more precise shot placement.

The latest offering from the Swedish company Aimpoint is the Micro red dot. This tiny unit is built to the same stringent quality control standards as all the Aimpoint products, but is in a minuscule package mountable on almost any firearm with Weaver style or Picatinny rails. The Weaver base is integral with the unit, and being one power, has no particular eye relief requirements. You may install it on a shotgun, rifle, or handgun, and it is parallax free. It uses a single CR2032 battery and will last in the on position for five years continuously on setting eight out of the 12 brightness levels. It is submersible to fifteen feet, and will withstand the recoil of anything you can mount it on. This is the cream of the crop of red dot sights.