July 12, 2012
By Tracy Breen
In the waning hours of a long day of hunting, a good riflescope can often times be the difference between going home empty handed or filling a tag. Here's a look at some new riflescopes hitting the marketplace this year.
Aimpoint H34L The simplicity of a red dot scope is gaining in popularity.
Aimpoint has a great new red dot scope called the H34L that is built with big game hunters in mind. It is sleek and compact, has a 2 MOA dot and is fully waterproof. It comes with a 12-position digital push-button display so the sight can be extra bright, barely bright or anywhere in between. One of the most incredible features is it can operate 50,000 hours on a single battery so it can be left on for years and it will still be bright in the woods.
Burris MTAC AR guns are gaining in popularity and many hunters now use them while deer hunting.
Burris has designed a new AR riflescope called the MTAC 1-4x-24 which is built for up close and personal shooting. It is also accurate out to 600 yards. It has a wide field of view, thanks to the Burris Ballistic CQ 5.56/7.62 reticle. The scope can be purchased with the FastFire red dot reflex sight.
Eotech XPS 3 Some hunters prefer a holographic sight on their AR. For those hunters,
Eotech has created the XPS 3 sight. This super-compact sight is the shortest Eotech sight, leaving plenty of room for other add-ons including rear iron sights. This sight will operate up to 600 hours on one 123 battery and offers 1x magnification.
Nightforce NXS Night Force Optics makes a variety of scopes designed specifically for low-light shooting conditions. One example is the NXS 2.5-10x32. This scope has a 24mm objective lens, making it a great light-gathering scope. The scope is lightweight and compact and it can be purchased with glass etching that makes for an extremely accurate scope with an illuminated reticle that uses an internal lighting source that is fully adjustable in intensity and applicable to any lighting condition. With the NXS scope, accurate shots out to 1,000 yards are possible.
Nikon M-308 Nikon has a new scope designed for large caliber AR rifles like the .308. The Nikon M-308 is designed for extreme sighting speed and long-range accuracy. The scope is available with the BDC 800 reticle or Nikoplex reticle with Rapid Action Turrets. The new BDC 800 reticle is the perfect scope for someone who wants to reach out and touch a whitetail or target at a great distance.
Schmidt & Bender Zenith Schmidt & Bender has a new scope called the Zenith 1.1-4x24. This versatile riflescope is ready for almost any style of big game hunting. At lower magnifications, this scope is designed for use with both eyes open and features FlashDot technology featuring 11 different illuminated dot settings. Steps one through six are for low-light conditions; steps seven through 11 provide full illumination to the red dot at the center of the reticle for use in bright sunlight or snow. Regardless of whether a big game animal is standing still a few yards away in low-light conditions or a couple hundred yards away in broad daylight, this scope will get the job done.
Swarovski Z6I Swarovski makes a sweet riflescope designed for close-up and long-range shots. It is designed to be shot with both eyes open. It's called the Z6i 1-6x24 with BRT reticle. The 1X magnification is perfect for close shots on the edges of food plots, while the 6X magnification works well for longer shots. This scope is perfect for hunters who use tactical rifles such as ARs.
Trijicon Accupoint Trijicon makes a variety of scopes for every possible hunting and shooting situation. One of their more popular scopes is the Accupoint. The 3-9x40 Accupoint can be purchased with many aiming options including a triangle post reticle, standard cross-hair with dot, or mil-dot cross-hair with dot. The Accupoint comes with Trijicon's extra bright fiber optics, tritium phosphorus lamp, long eye relief, easy focus eyepiece and a multi-layered coated lens.
Truglo Muzzle Brite Xtreme Muzzleloader hunters like to keep things simple, which is why
Truglo created the Muzzle Brite Xtreme universal sight for muzzleloaders. This simple yet effective fiber optic sight goes on the front of the barrel and comes with windage and elevation adjustments, fits almost any inline muzzleloader and is CNC machined.
Zeiss Conquest Duralyt Zeiss has a sleek scope called the Conquest Duralyt that isn't big and bulky like other scopes but is super bright and compact. The Duralyt 2-8x42 is accurate even at ranges exceeding 200 meters. This scope is waterproof and nitrogen-filled and is rugged and built to last.
