Black Hills Ammunition released an improved version of their famous 77 grain long range precision 5.56mm round. The new version features a green color polymer ballistic tip Sierra boat-tail projectile calls the Tipped MatchKing (TMK). It’s the first ballistic tip [Read More…]
Recently, I was interviewed by my friend and gun author Robert Kay for his book on how to buy an AK. Bob asked me for a recommendation on an AK optic mount for one of his books chapters. Without hesitation, I said any of the RS Regulate’s AK-300 series of receiver [Read More…]
Rob Kay interviewed Timothy Yan about buying optics and mounts for an AK. Here is the original article. Q: You did a major piece on AK mounts for Guns & Ammo. What did you discover about AK scope mounts in doing the research for that piece? A: There are really only [Read More…]
2015 marks the 20th year of service for the QBZ-95 family of bullpup rifles. The original production model is now superseded by the current QBZ 95-1 model in early 2011. Together, an estimated 1.65 million total units were produced under both models. The latest QBZ [Read More…]
The Taiwan Strait, an 180km-wide body of water that separates two sides that both claim to be the legitimate government of China. Mainland’s PRC government labels Taiwan as the renegade island province. While the ROC government in Taiwan often calls the mainland [Read More…]
Burris is keying into the tactical market with an interesting combination offer: Three packages, including a prism sight as well as either a top mounted red dot or a 3x magnifier. The packages even come in their own carry cases. From the press release: GREELEY, CO [Read More…]
Leupold release the LCO and D-EVO just before SHOT. The combination is very different than anything else on the market as the two optics are setup in a side-by-side configuration with one off-set to the right side. I call that in the Gangsta-style layout. In [Read More…]
The Terra series of binoculars and rifle scopes is Zeiss’ recent entry into the mid-range optic market segment. Traditionally, Zeiss produces mostly high-end optics. The Terra line was created to expand Zeiss’ market share by offering affordable Zeiss [Read More…]
Browe Optics has introduced their Browe Tactical Optic which incorporates the same glass, electronics, and internals as the Browe Combat Optic (originally titanium) into a 7075-T6 aluminum housing. The Browe Tactical optic maintains Browe’s signature SIC (single [Read More…]
The Firearm Blog, as its name suggests, primarily focuses on firearms related topics. Though we occasionally cover knives and industry news, “TFB” writers rarely get the chance to test the latest offerings of the archery industry. Recently Mission Archery, a [Read More…]
Continuing with the TFB coverage of Meopta products. In my opinion, Meopta produces some of the finest spotting scopes on the market with a great price-to-performance ratio. The Meopta products are premium Euro optics without the usual German-Austrian sticker shock. [Read More…]
I am often asked by others what’s the best 1-4x tactical scope on the market. For me, one of the very under-rated 1-4x optics is the Meopta MeoTac ZD 1-4x22mm RD. On the high-end of their product lines, Meopta offers the optical performance that matches many [Read More…]
Just about everyone knows the Oakley sunglasses brand, but when I think of Oakley my first thought would be their line of ballistic glasses. I have worn Oakley’s for years and when Steve asked me to review the new Oakley Radar Prizm and the Aviator SI ballistic [Read More…]
During the 2014 SHOT Show, WOLF Performance Optics introduced their new PSU 1x/4x Variable Zoom Optical Gunsight. If everything goes as planned this new sight will be available in the later part of 2014. WOLF Performance Optics is the sister company of WPA (WOLF [Read More…]
This new Chinese sight, made for the QBZ95-1 Bullpup, recently appeared on various Chinese internet forums.The sight is developed by Zhongshan SheJian Police Equipment Technology, a private company. This all-in-one sight consist of a fixed 4x prism with fiber-optic [Read More…]
Since its introduction in 2007, Sightmark has been aggressively expanding its product lines. Originally oriented as a value-focused brand, recently they have been making moves up-market with their new Ezekial line (which we also have for testing). Now, Sightmark is a [Read More…]
Hynek Vykoukal and Surujh Roopnarine took me on a tour of Meopta’s optics department. Unfortunately the first 7 mins of footage is corrupt so here are some pictures I took. Here the worker is applying natural waxes as a bonding agent to hold the raw glass down [Read More…]
This is a TFB exclusive preview of the upcoming Meprolight (Mepro) TRU-DOT RDS battery powered reflex sight. The Mepro TRU-DOT RDS is a lower cost commercial version of the Mepro M5 reflex sight (TFB preview), which it was developed as the successor to the Mepro M21 [Read More…]
Many TFB readers already know that I love to talk about good optics. However, one type of optic that is often neglected is the eyewear. It doesn’t matter how good the scope is on your rifle, if your eyes are bad, then you won’t be using the mounted [Read More…]
It have been two years since the prototype of the Mepro M5 was appeared at the previous SHOT Show. During SHOT Show 2014, The Mako Group have shown me the production model of the Mepro M5 reflex sight. It has a number of design changes and the final design was [Read More…]
Armament Technology Inc., the distributor of the ELCAN optics, unveiled the switchable ELCAN SpecterTR 1-3-9x gunsight at SHOT Show 2014. With a MSRP of $3100, the new ELCAN SpecterTR competes against the new high-end 1-8x scopes with the traditional scope [Read More…]
The Colt SWORD (Sniper Weapon & Observer Reconnaissance Devices) Technology Demonstrator connects a variety of COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf) and MOTS (Military Off-The-Shelf) components together into a deployable package. The system is hard to describe in a single [Read More…]
The Big 3 East in Florida is an expansion of the original Big 3 event held at Kansas every Fall. Both events were started by writers for writers. The Big 3 stands for Tactical gun, Tactical gear and Tactical training. All the companies and writers were handpicked and [Read More…]
Outside of the U.S. military, the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) is probably the biggest users of the Trijicon ACOG combat gunsight. Almost two years ago and to my surprise, which I found out an Israeli optic company was working on a four-power fixed magnification prism [Read More…]
An amusing article on the US Army adoption of sniper scopes was published in September 1915 of Modern Mechanix (1 year after the outbreak of WWI but 18 months before America’s entry into the war. I must admit I love the archaic language used in this old magazine [Read More…]
[ Written by gun optics guru Timothy Yan ] Laser range finder came a long way since the last time I used one in the military. In those days, laser range finders were so big and heavy that it requires a tripod for support. Nowadays, the previously military only laser [Read More…]
[ Written by gun optics guru Timothy Yan ] At SHOT Show 2012, the Hensoldt division of Zeiss released the Zeiss ZO 4x30i combat gunsight. The new sight, specifically designed as a combat optic for small arms, has a fixed 4x magnification, is robustly built and offers a [Read More…]
[ This guest post was written by Timothy Yan ] Ernst Leitz Canada or ELCAN has its origin in a German premium optic manufacturer. Back in 1869, a 26-years old Ernst Leitz founded his company in Wetzlar, Germany. The company growth rapidly in the industrial revolution [Read More…]
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