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

Riflescopeblog is written by Steven K. Ledin, OpticsPlanet’s Director of Product Intelligence. Follow Steve’s daring exploits as he shoots, travels, hunts, tests, teaches, modifies, and breaks the latest rifle scopes, red dots, lights, lasers and more. Get an insight into the corporate world of a professional gunbitch with a dose of his philosophical insight.

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08 Jun

>Leupold Dual Dovetail Base Installation on Chuck’s 700

Steven K. Ledin,

The Leupold Dual Dovetail Base installation went as normal as can be on Chuck the Veterinarian’s gun. The only problem was that a filler screw had a badly buggered head and I couldn’t cuss it out. So I heated it. I pounded it. I prodded it. I oiled it. I drilled it. I cussed at it some more. Finally got it out. Must’ve been the choice grammar. I lapped the bore about 500 times and polished the crown. Trigger is good. New front and rear sight filler screws Loctited in with all the slots facing forward. I’m really anal. Lightly …

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06 Jun

>Leupold Custom Shop Scopes for Father’s Day

Steven K. Ledin,

Must be that time. Lots of people are buying Leupold Custom Shop Scopes for Father’s day these last couple weeks. The Leupold Custom Shop has been busy building made-to-order scopes for dads around the country. Many orders came across my desk today. Some with simple initials on caps, some with custom reticles and bullet drop compensators for favorite guns and loads. It’s pretty obvious that dad was involved in many of them. It’s doubtful that Squeaky voiced mom or sister would know the trajectory of a 7STW at 10,000 feet elevation or a parallax correction on a competition scope. Some …

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30 May

>Burris XTS-135 and 235 Xtreme Tactical Speeddot and M4s

Steven K. Ledin,

We’ve been getting lots of traffic lately regarding Burris’ new XTS-135 and 235 Xtreme Tactical Speeddots. The Speeddots seem to be well built, and although they’re pretty new offerings, the initial responses by users are positive. The most common question about the new red dots is the mounting height of the scope on flattop rifles. Lower rings are preferred for most bolt action rifles, but the black guns have to have sights from an inch to an inch and a half high so your eye is comfortably positioned above the stock. Too low and you can’t get your …

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28 May

>AR-15 Front Sight Post In My Way…Troy Industries Available

Steven K. Ledin,

The front sight post on an AR-15 type flattop is invisible for all practical purposes when looking through a scope. No need to have a flip-up or removable front to use magnification. With lower powered scopes you may see a shadow, and with higher powered scopes your clarity and resolution is a bit degraded, but for scope testing or informal plinking you don’t need to be overly concerned. If you want to swap for a flip-up, consider the Troy Industries sights. Rears are available also.…

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24 May

>Chuck’s Remington and New VX-III and Stuff

Steven K. Ledin,

My friend and veterinarian Chuck told me he’s going on a pronghorn hunt this fall and asked me for advice. Chuck hunts lots of waterfowl and doesn’t have any experience with rifles or big game hunting to speak of. His dad’s hand-me-down Remington 700 is decades old and probably has under a box of 30-06 cartridges through it. The gun is in great condition and is ready to go as-is, but me being me needed to modify it a bit. It’s in a bunch of pieces in my gun room at the moment. Iron sights are not needed. Lose ’em. …

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