Return of the Booth Babes: The 2007 SHOT Show
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You Bet Your Glass!
Since it's my self-appointed mission to make you feel envious, deprived, covetous, and underprivileged, I am pleased to inform you of the following new optical equipment, which you should go into debt for immediately.
The Zeiss Victory 8x45 and 10x45 RF binoculars. At 35 ounces, and about the same size as a conventional glass, these will not only show you what you want to shoot, but give you the range and the amount of holdover required.
The Minox HG binocular line. There are five of them, optically at the very top of the heap, yet considerably less expensive than L*****, Z*****, or S*****. Nice, plain hardware that actually works.
Schmidt & Bender 2.5X-10X-40. S&B scopes are made by a small family-owned company that does things its own way, and are arguably the best in the world. This is their first 1-inch-tube model, with the reticle in the second sighting plane so it doesn't change size as you adjust the power.
Trijicon Accupoint 3X-9X. Accupoint reticles (a pointed post with a choice of orange or red points) are illuminated, but require no batteries. Now you can get this one in a crosshair version with mil dots (the center dot being the one that glows). I have an Accupoint on my beanfield rifle, and it is terrific in all respects.
Go now and spend like there is no tomorrow. Because there may not be.
Gee Dave,
Did Bush already send you the tax rebate check to "stimulate" the economy?
While I could never hope to afford most of the optics you mentioned, I would rather have a cheap rifle with good glass and good binoculars that a high end rifle with walmart bino's and scope.
I will also say that optics in the $200-$500 range are very, very good and will surprise many people with their quality.
Jim
Posted by: jstreet | February 29, 2008 at 10:49 AM
Would love to get an Accupoint. I keep looking at them and just sighing.
Posted by: Dave in St Pete | February 29, 2008 at 10:59 AM
Dave,
Surprised you didn't mention the Kahles Helia KX. They are now 'Americanized'
Posted by: Jim in Mo. | February 29, 2008 at 11:14 AM
I have not looked at the Trijicons but do like their Novak type night sights on one of my 1911's. Did you guys notice the nice sporterized '03 Springfield actioned rifle that the guy in their TV commercial uses? Nice gun, too bad the commercial comes off so goofy as both men are obviously actors and not shooters...
Posted by: ishawooa | February 29, 2008 at 11:21 AM
Weighing priorities here...
Hmmm...gas money or glass money...
WWBHD
(What Would Bill Heavey Do?)
Posted by: jack | February 29, 2008 at 01:13 PM
So is the warranty on the zeiss 10x45rf any better then the warranty on the leica rf binocs?
Posted by: Dick Mcplenty | February 29, 2008 at 01:19 PM
The minox are a real sleeper,at one time they were a sister company to swaro.
The best bargain is meopta. They build optics,but they also supply glass to all the big three,plus lesser companies.
Posted by: Dick Mcplenty | February 29, 2008 at 01:28 PM
Tossing off all that hi-end zoot don't do nuthin' to make me envious, deprived, coveted or underprivileged, Mr. Petzal.
Just livin' in Waterbury does that fer me.
Posted by: Gman | February 29, 2008 at 06:53 PM
Tossing off all that hi-end zoot don't do nuthin' to make me envious, deprived, coveted or underprivileged, Mr. Petzal.
Just livin' in Waterbury does that fer me.
Posted by: Gman | February 29, 2008 at 06:55 PM
Actually Dick I think Minox was the red-headed stepchild of Leica. Kahles was Swaro's orphan.
I keep waiting patiently for a fixed 6x42 Zeiss Conquest to go along with the 4x32. I'm still waiting.
In the meantime if I want to observe the Crab Nebula as I wait for shooting light there are a whole host of deep-space capable variables out there.
Posted by: Chad Love | February 29, 2008 at 07:13 PM
Alright Mr McPlenty! It's time to come clean! I acknowledged my pen name of Richard Cephalus, you need to come clean as well! Dick McPlenty sounds like the results of taking Enzyte for a few weeks! If that's your real name I'm not going to apologize because that's funny!
Posted by: SD Bob | February 29, 2008 at 10:26 PM
That is right,minox was a sister company to leica.
Posted by: Dick Mcplenty | February 29, 2008 at 11:14 PM
What about richard cranium
Posted by: Dick Mcplenty | February 29, 2008 at 11:16 PM
That's the name of a bar in ND. It's registered with the Secretary of State as "Richard Craniums"
Posted by: Ed J | March 01, 2008 at 12:38 AM
My friend Richard has a bumper sticker which says" SO MANY DICKS BUT SO FEW RICHARDS". I have a few native America friends such as Billy Bear-Comes-Out, Sidney Night-Horse-Capture, Rupert Pretty-On-Top, and my favorite Johnny Knows-His-Gun. I know these sound humorous to us pale faces but they are real names, maybe McPlenty's is real also.
I guess he lucked out not being born into the Little family as in Little, Dick.
Sorry off topic but of limited to no interest to anyone:
I recently spoke with a local friend who has shot 17 Cape Buffalos plus varied other African bait animals (all those plains game that once were used to bait leopards before they figured out that Americans would pay good money to shoot and mount the baits even if they couldn't remember which is which and don't know a trophy from a raghorn) and he definately does not recommend the "Texas heart shot" on a croc. His .338 did perform splendidly with a well placed Partition on what appears to be a big crocodile. Sam also just traded his .416 Weatherby for one of Frank Pachmyer's personal custom Model 70s in .416 Rem. Man what a showpiece and it is headed back to Zambia or somewhere near there soon for another Cape and maybe a lion. He finally gave in to the controlled feed versus push feed system after years of sucessfully shooting Weatherbys without a single failure (you might remember that I am not a Weatherby rifle fan so this was hard to write). Some PH told him that he was going to get eaten one day unless he had a Winchester or a Mauser. Anyone have anything to add to that old beat up topic? What about the newer controlled feed mechanisms that you can drop a round in the chamber (Sako 85, etc) sort of a combination of the two, any opinions?
Posted by: ishawooa | March 01, 2008 at 02:03 AM
I will stick with my humble Leupold VX I.
Posted by: Jason | March 01, 2008 at 06:25 AM
ish,
Oh, to be associated with folks who can assimilate such wanderings!
I had the opportunity once to acquire a Zeiss once upon a time. It was in an archery shop and he was dropping his gun "stuff" to go strictly archery. They were "clearance" items and were 10% off! Needless to say, when my house sold we had to move out of state and I never did get back to buy my scope!
Dag-nab-it!!!
Bubba
Posted by: Bubba | March 01, 2008 at 08:18 AM
'Texas heart shot on a crocodile'?
That does not compute.
Please explain.
Posted by: Blue Ox | March 01, 2008 at 08:25 AM
David Petzal, you say, you should go into debt for immediately? Ya’SURE, I’ll just jump out and buy all this crap, then set it all up, the tent and all that stuff unable to go because I’m in debt! It’s like buying a Hummer and not being able to take it off the road! My ¾ ton Silverado, I call it my Hummer Retriever! Don’t need a winch, just a 10 gallon gas can!
Zeiss Victory 8x45 and 10x45 RF binoculars? I’ll stick with my Redhead binoculars, THANK YOU!
It’s sad to know that people go all out for all this fancy smancy stuff and go hunting. Funny thing I have noticed, this class of hunters do not enjoy their hunt because they must cut their hunt short leaving them with a small trophy or none at all!
As far as scopes, Leopold and Sightron is now my #1 choice!!!
Posted by: Clay Cooper | March 01, 2008 at 08:40 AM
Coop,
You seem to be in the know on different calibers.
Now, if you've read many of my blogs, you should already be aware that I'm no fan of "magnum" calibers. BUT, (there's that but [butt?] again!) I do like the "older" calibers.
Where this is all leading to is, the .300 H&H Mag. From the research I've done, the H&H can, and will do, the same any other "Mag" .30 cal will do with "less" powder. Now this is from a reloading standpoint. Other than the H&H probably not being able to achieve the top end of the other "Mag's", even with maximum loadings, where is the big "gain" with the Win/Wby in .300!?
I patiently await your knowledgable reply!!!!
Bubba
Posted by: Bubba | March 01, 2008 at 09:41 AM
Dave,
Swarovski deleted their porro prism line of binos a few years ago. Some dealers were offering salesmen's demos that were refurbished at the factory to new with a lifetime warranty. I bought a 10x40 & a 7x42 for a little less than the cost of 1 pair of roof prisms from Z, S, or L. If these porros were any brighter, I would have to wear sunglasses to look through them. They are a little bulkier than roof prisms, but the view through them is magnificent. My only regret is that I did not get a pair of 8x30s also.
Posted by: Michael | March 01, 2008 at 11:17 AM
Who really makes the glass is what I want to know... I have heard Swarovski makes all its own glass and all of the glass for Kahles also. My Kahles says made in Austria all over the box, literature and scope but does that mean 51% or some such crap like the cars these days? Supposedly Zeiss glass is made by Shott Glasswerks in Germany and I know for a fact a guy named Otto Shott was one of Carl Zeiss' partners when he started out... For some reason this information is very hard to find but I don't believe Meopta which is in Czechoslovakia makes the glass for Zeiss or Swaro, maybe they make it for Leupold as they manufacture no glass. I like the Zeiss Conquest better than scopes costing twice as much. My hunting buddy has a Leupold VX III he paid over $600 for and we both think the Conquest is clearer and brighter. Well, we know it is because we compare them in the woods at dawn and dusk often.
Posted by: Dr. Ralph | March 01, 2008 at 12:07 PM
Blue Ox:
Just a poor attempt at humor given that shooting a large croc in the butt would be difficult let alone expecting full penetration...I suppose since they are rare in Wyoming and I have absolutely no experience at shooting at crocs I should just drop it.
Bubba:
The little town I live in has everything from paupers to billionaires. Consequently we all rub shoulders at the range, ride horses togather, drink coffee and hunt togather. Lots of them hunt worldwide, some of us only locally. By the way the guy I mentioned some time ago who has about every animal mounted in North America in his trophy room is going back to get his third Kodiak in May. Yep he is taking the only rifle he owns which is an old S & W marketed Howa with a Redfield that has been bent and straightened. Oh and its a .30-'06 and he will bring back a big bear. There you go '06 lovers and man with only one gun theory believers...at least in Bill's instance it certainly is true.
Posted by: ishawooa | March 01, 2008 at 12:31 PM
I really do appreciate good optics, because I've had lesser optics fail. As age dims my eyes, I also need whatever edge I can get. Also, I'd rather pay $1,000 for a scope that was made by a country friendly to us than to pay for a cheap scope that would simply help strengthen the Chinese military. I hope that companies who are having things made in China get the message. Each one of those bozo CEOs is thinking, "It's OK if I outsource to China, just as long as everyone else doesn't do it!" Well, we have gotten to the point where just about everyone IS doing it--and soon we're going to be without jobs, and without homes, and without the wealth to support our own needs. By the way, you scope companies out there, don't you know that a version of your hunting scope is going to end up on Chinese sniper rifles that may one day be used against us. Steyr has already sold 800 sniper rifles to the Iranian government, and it will be simply a matter of time they are used to kill our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Posted by: Chev Jim | March 01, 2008 at 12:55 PM
Bubba
I’m not a big magnum fan either with the exception of when you get into game the size of Elk in badland country and Alaska! Speaking of magnums, my neighbor had a 30-06 03-A3 that he never shot so we went on the back side of the Base (Eielson AFB) and shoot a few rounds out of it on a ATV trip. For the first shot, I held the rifle high over my head and looked down at the ground to have the bill my cap to provide protection just in case and guess what! The round blew off the right windage cap and blew the magazine plate almost off. Come to find out that someone rechambered it in 300 Norma Mag!! So buyer beware! 30-06 doesn't fireform well in 300 Norma Mag! LOL!!
Posted by: Clay Cooper | March 01, 2008 at 02:28 PM