Extreme Tolerance

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Archive for the ‘Shooting/Hunting’ category

Nikon Prostaff 550 Rangefinder

July 8th, 2010

A rangefinder, like night vision goggles is one of those things that I have always wanted. Now, having put together a rifle that actually shoots far enough for bullet drop to be a factor (I don’t count .22s), I had the perfect excuse.

Compared to some of my other recent purchases, I have not researched this as much. I started casually looking around and then played with a bunch at Cabelas. Then when I found something I liked, my wife informed me that she would let me buy it, “for my birthday”. awwww…

At first I really liked the Redfield range finder. It is about half the length. Granted it more roundy, but it feels like holding a ball in your hand. However, the guy working behind the counter said that the Redfield does not work near as well as the Nikon. On paper they have the same range and the Redfield is cheaper. Not to diminish Redfield, which is owned and operated by Leupold, but the little reading I had done seemed to agree with the counter guy that the Nikon was better.

Cabelas says that the Redfield will work on reflective targets out to 550 and non-reflective targets out to around 300 yards. I have tested the Nikon. I can shoot trees out past 400 yards, I don’t think it gets much more non-reflective than an evergreen tree. Also I have done most of my testing in bright daylight, which the Nikon owners manual said was not optimal. I was able to take a the Nikon out to 646 yards on a reflective target. Take a look at the youtube, I recorded it.

In the youtube you will notice the cross hairs and then an X over those cross hairs. This is the continuous scan feature. This might be handy if you target was moving or in my case, if you are looking for something that will reflect the laser.

And Yes, it is a laser. I thought that was cool. Guess because its a laser you can’t point it an planes.

No if I were to do it again, I might take a longer look at the Redfield rangefinder. But I am very pleased with my Nikon Prostaff 550 Rangefinder. If you are feeling like spending more money they do make rangefinders that take angle into consideration, that way you calculate bullet drop as if you were shooting level.

Maybe someone at Redfield/Leupold can hook me up with a demo unit so I can actually compare them head to head. Come on guys I know you are just down the road.

Shot and edited on my iPhone 4.

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Posted in Gear, Gear Review, Shooting/Hunting

Leupold VX-3 Unboxing and Mounting

June 16th, 2010

The Leupold VX-3 came very well protected from MidwayUSA

Shiny box. In my Opinion Leupold did a good job with the packaging.

Leupold VX-3 Box. Simple but you know you have got something good.

Now there is something I was not expecting. The Leupold VX-3 comes in some sort of sock.

With the sock removed, we can see the Leupold VX-3 and its 50mm lens in all its glory.
Leupold VX-3 50mm

Sexy.

The Leupold VX-3 is so easy to look though I can point my iPhone camera at it and get a decent shot.
I opted for Leupold's quick release mounts. They are not your standard weaver style quick releases.

I opted for Leupold’s quick release mounts. They are not your standard weaver style quick releases.

And there you have it. My Leupold VS-3 mounted on a Remington 700 in 30-06. The bi-pod is not final, it just makes the Remington 700 easier to work on and take pictures of.

Kinda blurry but a picture of the Leupold Scope, Mounts and Remington 700 all assembled and ready for zeroing

Looks like I have some leveling to do. Or it could just be the rushed picture.

How can you not love this? OK maybe if you are an elk…

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Posted in Shooting/Hunting

Tags: 3.5-10 50mm Leupold Remington 700 VX-3

Notes on Riflescopes

June 9th, 2010

I have been looking for the right scope to put on my newly acquired Remington 700. Over the course of much internet searching, talking to long time hunters and playing with countless scopes in the stores, I learned a few things. Because I am a sharing person here is some of my notes.

Its all about light:
Every hunter I talk to says its all about the light the scope lets in. The more light the better. The main variable here is the objective lens diameter. Followed by whatever coatings have been applied to the glass. When I make my initial list of possible scopes, most were 40mm lenses. After going and playing with many a scope is because abundantly clear that if I was going to invest in a nice scope the objective lens diameter should be the first features that I pay extra for. The 50mm lenses let in sooo much more light. The picture was sharper and it was just that much nicer to look through.

Magnification, not what I was expecting:
I generally expected, having poor eyesight, that the greater the magnification the more I would like the scope. But greater magnification has a side effect. The sight picture takes longer to acquire. With the 3-9ish scopes, when I held them up to my eye, I was instantly able to acquire the picture. The higher magnification scopes tool longer to and more fidgeting to work. I have to say, in this area the Redfield really shined. I was able to get a great sight picture very quickly.

Windage and Elevation:
I at first I wanted windage and elevation adjustments that did not require the removal of a cap. The ideal system, in my mind is Leupold’s CDS or Custom Dial System. Basically, you send them your ballistic data and they make you a dial with range marks. This works better than having finger adjustable knobs as you don’t have to do any calculations. Here is the thing. You can add CDS to any Leupold scope. So why not put your money into getting some really great optics and add the fancy stuff later?

My general requirements:
So after looking around a doing my research this is my list of requirements:

3-9ish power
50mm (although I could settle for 40mm)
Highly fogproof
Finger adjustable windage and elevation
Great warranty
Preferably make in the USA

The List:

Leupold VX-3 3.5-10x50mm, Duplex: By far the best scope I looked though, CDS can be added. Around $549
Redfield: Did not note the details, but thing thing felt good and it was the value deal. Looking at this scope in 50mm its hard to say exactly why I would spend the extra $300 to get a Leupold. Around $200.
Leupold VX-3 3.5-10x40mm, Duplex, CDS: Has the CDS but also the smaller lense. Around $499

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Posted in Shooting/Hunting

Tags: Leupold Optics Redfield Riflescope Scope VX-3

Remington 700

June 1st, 2010

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

I certainly did I spent the weekend with friends and family. It was also double XP weekend so I did a fair bit of terrorist killing in Modern Warfare 2.

Anyway, this weekend was also a success for my personal arsenal. I acquired a stainless steel Remington 700 in 30-06. This acquisition was prompted by an invitation to go elk hunting but it also expands my collection to include a real precision weapon (my 10/22 is great but its a .22).

Now I just need to find a scope. The current front runner is the Leupold VX-3 with custom dial system. But its still early. I have yet to really explore the other options (notably Nikon).

My wife snapped this photo last night.

This photo reinforces the need to upgrade the lighting in that room. So many projects so little time…

After the scope I will have to start figuring out how to adapt my hiking/backpacking/camping gear into hunting gear.

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Posted in Shooting/Hunting

Since I am in the market…

May 27th, 2010

I was reading Cheaper Than Dirt’s post on entry level bolt guns. I will probably end up buying a Remington 700 in stainless. However I did look at the 770. And what a piece of crap. I felt like I had to jiggle the bolt to get it to return. Not smooth like the ss 700. Here is SW Washington/Portland OR, the 770 is going for around $450-$500, the ss 700 is around $630. From what I have observed in extra $1xx is totally worth it.

Its actually kinda comical, all the local gun shops and sporting good stores either don’t carry the 770 or openly talk about its turd-like qualities.

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Posted in Shooting/Hunting

Magpul Dynamics The Art of the Dynamic Handgun

May 6th, 2010

Need a good resource for gear selection, handgun basics and CCW tips? Magpul Dynamics The Art of the Dynamic Handgun, may be for you. Obviously its no substitute for live training but it provides some great food for thought.

A friend of mine lent me his copy of Magpul Dynamics The Art of the Dynamic Handgun. It took me a while but I finally watched most of it. The Art of the Dynamic Handgun is four disks. Disks one and two are essentially the Dynamic Handgun course. Disk one focuses on the basics while disk two introduces scenarios. Disk 3 is conceal carry. Disk 4 is extras including an in depth discussion of gear that the Magpul Dynamics guys like. Like I said, it took me a while to get though and that was with a fair bit of fast forwarding.

There is something in here for everyone. The discussions on handgun types and selection as well as gear would be great for someone new to shooting. I would recommend the basics of guns section before they even purchase a handgun. The gear guides I found fascinating (maybe because I choose to spend my time writing about that stuff anyway). It was good to hear the Magpul guys back up a lot of the opinions that I have come to (such as Raven Concealments being really good and the Comp-Tac M-Tac being a great holster because if its leather backing and kydex body to hold shape.).

At one point in the gear discussion, Travis says that his wife carries a Surefire. Vindication for my wife’s last anniversary present (a Surefire 6P LED)!

My friend who lent me the disks warned that it might mess up my grip. Sure enough 5 min into the first disk Travis is talking about grip and I start to question mine. I had to rewind, go and get my XD and compare. Turns out I already was doing what Magpul Dynamics preaches. None the less that segment was a great reinforcement, as well as talking about the reasons why you would use that grip.

Even though my wife claimed that these DVDs were very boring, I found her watching more than I would have expected. Her attention was held though a lot of the basics as well as the scenarios with the red headed chick, who was wearing a really short skirt in one of the scenarios, for reasons unstated.

My wife did wonder out loud if it would kill Travis and Chris to do some situps. Guess the few occasions where their shirts came up, their abs left something to be desired. I laughed, I might be a lot more toned and have better abs but I bet Travis or Chris could out run me any day.

Overall I highly recommend Magpul Dynamics The Art of the Dynamic Handgun. One final note, anyone else think that Travis and Chris have the same on screen dynamic as Billy Mays and Anthony Sullivan (from Pitchmen)?

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Posted in Required Reading, Shooting/Hunting

Why? Because Why Not! (Shotgun Reddot)

April 9th, 2010

Ever wondered about putting a reddot on a shotgun? Me Too! Thats why I did it. Stand back, I am going to try science.

The general idea of a reddot is A) faster target acquisition and B) less dependence on proper sight alignment. Both of these would be really handy trap shooting.

Of course installing a reddot introduces all sorts of new problems. You should already be patterning you gun to understand your barrel, ammo, choke combination but now you have to add a sight zero. This means you will have to zero for a certain range. In thinking about this, I would start by patterning the gun, this will help you understand you maximum range. Then I would think about the situations in which you would be shooting this will help you pick a range for the zero (it would be odd to pick your maximum effective range).

I drew this chart in paint to illustrate the issue. Normally looking down the barrel of a scattergun (the blue line) combined with the pattern is enough, but when you elevate the sight, you may have to make adjustments (the green line).

As I mentioned before sight elevation is a problem. This is made worse by my setup. If I was using the Burris Speed Bead, maybe it would not be that big of a deal. But the saddle mount I bought sits above the normal sight plain and the reddot I own is also very tall.

Another question I have been pondering is what reticle to use? I will let you know when I figure that one out.

So why would I do this? Well, obviously the answer is because I can. But I get crap from “traditional” guys when I talk about this. These are also the same guys that like their guns but are not fans of the “black guns”. I do this because I am curious and because I like layering technology to see if the performance improves or is hindered.

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Posted in Shooting/Hunting

Must Have: Snap Caps

April 1st, 2010

In the past I have suffered from really bad trigger pull problems. When I first purchased my XD, I was constantly shooting low and to the left. What helped fix that problem was a laser sight combined with LOTS of dry fire drills. Where do snap caps come in?

Well technically you do not have to use them, most modern guns you can dry fire indefinitely and you will not harm a thing but if you are worried, snap caps gives the striker something to hit. I like using them to mix up my dry fire drills (adding tap-rack-bang, ect.). Another advantage to using snap caps in you dry fire drills is not having to mess with the slide release.

Still not convinced? OK, take a few snap caps and intersperse them in a mag if live rounds at the range. This is even better if you can pull it off on a friend without them noticing. This will tell you if you (or your friend) is anticipating the recoil.

Finally it will give you an excuse to take picture of your guns, like I did… not that you really need another excuse.

I picked mine up at Fishermans Warehouse, but most local sporting good shops should have them. Or you can or online at Amazon or Brownells.

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Posted in Quick Update, Shooting/Hunting

Red Dot vs Holographic in Real Life and Modern Warfare.

March 11th, 2010

Ever wonder why Modern Warefare 1 and 2 offer you both a red dot and holographic sights? I did and it turns out there may actually be some real life differences that the game applies.

Both a red dot and a holographic sights are reflex sights. Meaning they reflect a reticle. The advantage of these it you can have booth eyes open and the reticle retains its true point of aim. This is unlike iron sights where improper sight alignment screws your point of aim.

So back to Modern Warfare, in theory the red dot gives you a greater field of vision while the holographic it more restrictive. The holographic sight is more accurate due to parallax error. Essentially, what I stated before about retaining your true point of aim is not entirely accurate. When you get to the limits of the sights viewing angle, you will experience increasing deflection from your true point of aim. Holographic sights are better and retaining their true point of aim but the trade off is decreased viewing angle. Thus in Modern Warefare the holographic is more accurate than the red dot but dominating more of your field of view.

Most red dots like the Truglo that I recently bought use LEDs and the light source while EOTech uses a laser.

So there you go. Next time you are on the range or playing MW2 with your friends you can impress them with big words like, “refraction” and “parallax”, that is if you also read the Wikipedia articles I link to (which I found fascinating).

Later I will blog about my experiment with red dot sights and shotguns.

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Posted in Gear, Shooting/Hunting, Tech

Tags: holographic sight modern warefare red dot red dot sight sight

Building The Training Kit

January 26th, 2010

Among the things that I want to get done early this year is firearms training. So far my education has mostly been what I would classify as “informal”. I apply one of my golden principals, hang out with people who are better than you. Thus I have learned from ex-millitary, law enforcement officers and anyone else who will take the time to hand out jewels of wisdom. But to some degree what I have learned is sporadic. I can shoot left handed with one hand, but the basic ready aim fire type commands given during most instruction escape me. Thus the need to “formalize” my training, filling in all the gaps.

Training Classes Planned

I plan on taking the classes at the local shooting range. This is the same range and instructors used by the Portland (and Portland area) law enforcement agencies.
101A: The 101 class is, this is a gun, I tested out of that class. 101A is the “accelerated” course that preps you for the 102 class. In 101A you learn speed reloading, shooting faster and well as brush up on basics you may be missing or weak.
102: This is the class everyone talks about. Two 10 hours days. 1000 rounds. Essentially all the good stuff. This class has a reputation for kicking people ass.

Building the Training Kit:

Each class has a list of necessary equipment. Going through this list has been interesting. It has forced me to think about the gear I am currently using and how it applied to training.

101A:

Eyes: Check
Ears: My favorite ear protection
Gun: My trusty XD-9
Belt: I ordered a Wilderness Tactical Instructor Belt
Mag Pouches: Now here is a place to cut corners. I will never carry extra mags, this the pouches I use in training can be cheap. I had the extra crappy XD Gear double pouch but I went out and bought a slightly less crappy Uncle Mikes double.
At least 4 Mags: I had three, so I got an extra.

102:

All of the above plus.
2 to 4 more Mags: Need to hit the gun show.
Strong Side Holster: Ahh… So I love my IWB Comp-Tacs but, I was strongly advised to come to training with an OWB holster. Additionally, this could be something that I get continuing use out of. An OWB would work during the winter months when I am wearing layers anyway. OWB will also work while backpacking (where I can open carry). I could go buy a $27 blackhawk but I have decided instead to order a Raven Concealment Phantom. The Raven will give me a a few more options for carry plus meet the requirements of training.

Anyway, this is what I have been thinking about lately. If you have any thoughts or suggestions, drop me a comment.

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Posted in Gear, Shooting/Hunting