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You are here: Home / Archives for scopes

First and Second Focal Plane in Rifle Scopes for Dummies

October 16, 2018 By Tom McHale Leave a Comment

When you hear terminology like “focal plane” it sounds like serious physics is about come at you like an amped up spider monkey, but it’s actually a pretty simple concept. Here’s why. The reticle that you see through a scope is a physical thing. Back in the day, reticles were made from actual Wooly Mammoth […]

Filed Under: Long Range Shooting, Optics, Sights and Lasers, Shooting Gear, Shooting Tips, Uncategorized Tagged With: ammoland, First Focal Plane, scopes, Second Focal Plane

Vortex Strike Eagle 4-24×50 Rifle Scope – Win this Scope & a Rifle

October 2, 2018 By Tom McHale Leave a Comment

You might already know that Ammoland is giving away a sweet 6.5mm Creedmoor AR-10 rifle – the Palmetto State Armory PA 65. You can read more about that here. To add some icing to the cake, the winner will also receive this Vortex Strike Eagle 4-24×50 Scope already mounted with a Burris P.E.P.R. Quick-detach scope […]

Filed Under: Optics and Sights Reviews, Optics, Sights and Lasers Tagged With: ammoland, contests, optics, Scope reviews, scopes, vortex

Quick Turrets & Reticle How To Primer for Long-Range Shooters

September 16, 2018 By Tom McHale Leave a Comment

Turrets and reticles generally compliment each other, although sometimes they can perform the same function. On old-school rifles, one commonly used the turrets for initial zeroing and the reticle for shooting. As the “turrets” were capped and required a screwdriver or coin to make adjustments, they weren’t conducive to on the fly adjustments in the […]

Filed Under: Long Range Shooting, Shooting Tips Tagged With: ammoland, long range shooting, reticles, scopes

How to Zero a Scope and Rifle for Long Range Shooting

August 16, 2018 By Tom McHale Leave a Comment

If you’re going to shoot long range, you need to make sure your zero is perfect. Small errors at 100 yards become big ones at 1,000 yards, so if your zero is off by just ½-inch at the 100-yard mark, you’re talking five full inches down range. We’re going to take a close look at […]

Filed Under: Long Range Shooting Tagged With: ammoland, long range shooting, Ruger, scopes, zero a scope

Steiner P4Xi Named 2018 Shooting Illustrated Optic of the Year

April 16, 2018 By Tom McHale Leave a Comment

Steiner P4Xi Scope

GREELEY, Colo. (April 16, 2018) — Continuing a legacy of precision made tactical riflescopes, Steiner’s P4Xi has been selected as the 2018 National Rifle Association’s Shooting IllustratedOptic of the Year. The P4Xi will receive a 2018 NRA Golden Bullseye Award at the upcoming NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits in Dallas, Texas. Designed for patrol and tactical operations, the P4Xi […]

Filed Under: Optics, Sights and Lasers, Shooting Gear Tagged With: optics, scopes, steiner

New Competition and Tactical Scopes From Bushnell

January 14, 2017 By Tom McHale Leave a Comment

Bushnell's new SMRS scope for tactical and competition use.

One of the hidden gems on the scope and optics world is Bushnell’s Elite Tactical lineup. Offering big time clarity and features at a rational price point, these are excellent values. I’ve been using an SMRS for a couple of years on a Smith & Wesson M&P 15 VTAC AR-15 and won’t give it up. […]

Filed Under: Optics, Sights and Lasers, Shooting Gear Tagged With: ar-15, Bushnell, new products, optics, scopes, SHOT Show

Optics Buying Guide: Do You Get What You Pay For With Scopes?

October 19, 2016 By Tom McHale Leave a Comment

There are a plethora of scopes on the market. How do you find the right balance of quality, features, and price?

There are few products where the adage “you get what you pay for” applies more than with optics. With many products, like cars, it’s pretty easy to see and feel exactly what you’re paying for. The cornering performance and zero to sixty specs for a 1970 AMC Gremlin are pretty easy to distinguish when you […]

Filed Under: General Tips, Optics, Sights and Lasers, Shooting Gear, Shooting Tips Tagged With: burris, gunsamerica, optics, rifle scopes, scopes

Optics Buying Guide: AR-15 Optics and Scopes

September 21, 2016 By Tom McHale Leave a Comment

There are at least three main categories of AR optics, red dot, fixed power scopes, and high-magnification scopes. Which do you choose?

There are plenty of reasons that the AR-15 has become so popular. It’s handy, easy to shoot, configurable, multi-caliber, and has low recoil. Oh, and it’s just plain fun. Matching the seemingly infinite number of AR rifles on the market is a multitude of suitable optics. Red dots, holographic sights, fixed-power scopes, and variable-power scopes […]

Filed Under: Optics, Sights and Lasers, Shooting Gear Tagged With: ar-15, AR-15 optics, burris, gunsamerica, optics, scopes

Optics Buying Guide: Using A Laser Rangefinding Scope

September 9, 2016 By Tom McHale Leave a Comment

A laser-enabled scope like this Burris Eliminator allows you to place a perfect long-range shot without taking your eye off target.

If you intend to reliably hit a target at long range, you have to process a number of steps in short order: You need to determine the exact range to the target. You need to figure out whether you are shooting at an uphill or downhill angle relative to the target. You need to calculate […]

Filed Under: Long Range Shooting, Optics, Sights and Lasers, Shooting Gear, Shooting Tips Tagged With: burris, gunsamerica, laser rangefinder, laser scopes, long range shooting, optics, scopes

Optics Buying Guide: Scope Reticles

September 7, 2016 By Tom McHale Leave a Comment

The pattern inside is a lot more important than one might assume. How do you decide which one is right for you?

What’s the last thing you see before you pull the trigger? The reticle! I’ll bet most of us tend to give only passing thought to reticle selection, but there’s a reason that there are somewhere over 96.2 billion reticle designs floating around out there. They’re designed for specific purposes. For example, a thick, course, reticle […]

Filed Under: General Tips, Optics, Sights and Lasers, Shooting Gear, Shooting Tips Tagged With: ar-15, burris, gunsamerica, long range shooting, mil-dot, moa, red dot sights, reticles, scopes

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About My Gun Culture

Hello, my name is Tom McHale. I'm the creator and primary author of the Practical Guides series of how-to books.

I also write lots of articles for various shooting related magazines and websites. You'll find my work at Shooting Illustrated, Concealed Carry Magazine, Tactical Retailer Magazine, Beretta USA, Guns Magazine, OutdoorHub, GunsAmerica, American Handgunner Magazine, Bearing Arms, AmmoLand, The National Shooting Sports Foundation, Grand View Outdoors, and Shooting Sports Retailer Magazine.

I help explain complicated things in a fun and easy-to-understand way. I believe that things don't have to be so complicated, although I suppose excessive techno-jargon keeps lots of well-intentioned lawyers in business.

If you want to learn about the world of guns, shooting and the American way, check out some of my books. Have a laugh or two.

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