Help Picking a Scope/Sight

I get asked what sight should a person buy for their particular gun.  Specter Arms sells a lot of optics and it can be daunting trying to pick the perfect item.

When I get asked this question, I think how this topic is so fantastically complex requiring a plethora of details to answer well. So I have set about imprinting my wisdom onto a webpage.

Now this does not cover pistols; only shoulder fired guns such as shotguns, carbines, rifles etc.

It will ask you questions and you just need to click on the answers until the web page can make a suggestion.

Here is the link you can copy into your browser.

www.specterarms.ca/scopehelp.htm

SHTF Battery Powered Do-Dads.

I like to find opinions that are contrary to my own.  In doing so, I can critically look at the premises and biases that influence my views.  So today, I find myself abandoning an idea I used to hold.

I have always been under the opinion that battery powered force multipliers like lasers and lights on a firearm are of limited use in a SHTF situation because eventually the batteries will die.

But then it occurred to me:  while the batteries ARE still good, everyone will have these force multipliers… except for me.

Why am I handicapping myself in the present?  Yes, my battery powered do-dad may be nothing more than a paperweight a year down the road, but in the short term, it gives me a hell of an advantage.  My night vision paired with my IR laser lets me operate in secrecy.  My red flashlight lets me search places and read documents without giving myself away at distance.  My visible laser intimidates and has the potential to make confrontations less violent.  My radios let me talk to teammates and co-ordinate our actions when out of line of sight, get news and be situationally aware.

Those who have not given those things up will have an advantage over me; perhaps a lethal one.  Imagine where all my other preps like food and shelter fall to someone who had better weapon systems and could take from me by force.

Lights, lasers, radios, GPS, night vision are all force multipliers. Having thought about it, I would rather have them for a little while at the start of SHTF, then not at all.

SHTF Reflex Sights

Some concerned survivalists have asked me about how viable a red dot or reflex sight is during SHTF knowing my advocacy for these types of sights.  

My argument for these types of sights are their speed for engaging targets.   They are accurate enough for small targets out to 100 meters.  They have a wider margin of error for alignment over iron sights and they have no set eye relief meaning anyone can pick up a gun with a reflex sight and use it.

Before I go on, I would like to talk about the magic 100 meter mark.  I use it as a benchmark for maximum effective range for a Pistol Caliber Carbine, a reflex sight and a practical fighting distance.  The average battle in WW2 was fought at 73 meters and according to the NTOA, the average police “Sniper” engages at 76m.  If you plan to survive in an urban or forested area, consider how far you will be shooting.  That is why I am an advocate of the reflex sight.  But there are alternatives and that's why I am going to keep this article focused on things capable of close quarters shooting because that is ultimately what reflex sights are for.  

Firstly, there is no perfect optic, you must give something up to gain something else.  For survivalists, my two biggest complaints are battery reliance or resistance to EMP.  I have several solutions a person can consider but it involves surrendering one benefit for another.  

Lets start by talking about the benefits to a reflex sight:

1) 33% faster target acquisition time

2) Forgiving margin of error for alignment over scopes and iron sights

3) No set eye relief

4) Effortlessly keeping both eyes open to maintain situational awareness

5) Light and short profile

Here are the 3 disadvantages

1) Battery use

2) Not practical for shooting past 100 meters

3) Vulnerability to EMP

(Note: Vulnerability to water is not listed as a disadvantage.  When you buy reflex sights from Specter Arms, they are all at least IPX6 water resistant)

With some reflex sights such as the Vector Optics Maverick, the battery lasts for such a long time that battery use ceases to be a real concern.

Battery use and vulnerability to EMP are essentially the same problems; they are electronic  If you are looking for 2 eye open, close quarter shooting, consider a one power scope.  As odd as it sounds, such a thing exists and was pioneered by the Soviet PK-AS and Rakurs.  The Specter Arms Ascension sight is actually a one power prism scope  As a one power scope it allows you to effortlessly keep both eyes open when shooting.  But you give up the forgiving margin of error.  A reflex sight can be brought up and sighted in off axis by as much as 30 degrees with the Viper Reflex sight but the Ascension requires you to be on axis; much like a regular scope, looking through it off-angle creates a black opaque ring.  The Ascension has very forgiving eye relief of about 1.5” to about 12” but it is not the unlimited viewing area that a reflex gives you.  It remains small and light and is often mistaken as a tube style red dot.

Another consideration is a 1-6 power variable scope.  This optic attempts to correct all 3 of the disadvantages of a reflex sight.  The variable allows you to shoot both eyes open when the sight is set to 1 power but the eye relief is typical of a regular scope with a narrow operating range.  It needs to be on-axis to use.  The reticles may illuminate but they are glass etched meaning that a power loss would only stop the illumination of the reticle not using the scope itself.  Finally turning the magnification up allows for longer shots to be taken.  But it is a scope.  People looking at reflex sights are usually interested in something small and light and once you enter the realm of the LPVO, it stops being that.    These scopes can be found at all price points but for the best ratio between cost and quality, the Victoptics S6 is the way to go.  It can compete (and match) in terms of features and optical quality with scopes that are twice its price.

So there is no perfect sight.  Everything that exists has trade offs for various features.  Size, weight, battery, viewing angle, eye relief.

Depending on your philosophy of use you need to pick what works best for you.

Post Election Comments

Justin won this election because of gun control.  I know it and he knows it.  As despair rises there will be an uptake in crime.  Instead of putting the blame where it belongs – failed economic policy leading to dire inflation… he will blame guns like he always does.  He will want to use his winning tactic to try for that elusive majority.

For those who are biting their nails about the guns, Trudeau's immediate goal will not be guns.  Trudeau will try with another censorship bill.  With Covid lockdowns and meetings in person banned, he needs to control the internet to close the last avenue for getting non-government sanctioned propaganda.  He needs to do this to hide news about the collapsing economy and run-away inflation.

In 12-14 months time, expect more OICs and gun laws with an election being called in 18 months as he seeks to try again in gaining absolute, despotic power.  The 14 month timing will be just right to keep this in the news cycle and re-use this non-issue again.

Most people are stupid.  All the Canadians that voted for Trudeau and his corruption proved that.  They don’t care to investigate or think critically so if the state controlled media is telling them to think a certain way, they absolutely will.

I maintain that the secret documents that lead to the 2020 OIC (the ones that the liberals classified as secret under the Canada Evidence Act) contain planned enforcement actions post April 2022.  Paranoid?  Consider this.  In the late 90s a gunsmith named Bruce Montague decided to rebel against the firearms act that criminalized possession of all firearms (you read that right) and set up a confiscation registry.  Lots of people did not comply, but Montague was selected as the example as they publicly destroyed his life and jailed him for his “crimes” with no victims.  If Montague had decided to be a child molester rather than opposing the state, he would of got a far more lenient punishment.

I think that old liberal trick is going to be used again.  To those with AR-15s my advice is to comply.  Get rid of them before the April date.  They are going to pick someone interesting that will get the CBC a lot of views, to crack down on.  Don’t let it be you.  Don’t let there be a registration trail that will convince a judge to let the ERT team toss in flashbangs in the middle of the night.  

My advice is to get rid of your registered AR-15s.  Read what I am NOT writing; read it carefully.

To lose a war, you allow the enemy to pick the time and place to fight.  By being on the defensive for so many years, it is not a surprise to see us losing.  Modern military doctrine holds that the defense is a temporary state to allow the transition back into offensive operations.  As a community we have lost sight of that.  I am fond of the CCFR for not being on the defensive and having information campaigns to counter CBC hysteria, lies and black propaganda.

What should you do now?

-Support the CCFR.  They are our only outlet to counter biased, black propaganda.

-Support small, in person gun businesses.  The internet is easy but your biggest asset in the days to come is networking with like minded people.  As the owner of Specter Arms, I have and will actually write back to answer questions, provide unconventional help, meet you face to face for sales, provide advice and a sympathetic ear.  My connections and industry knowledge allow me to link you up with the right people when I can’t help directly.

-C-71 is not in force… if there is a gun you want, buy it now while there is no shadow registry.  Stay non-restricted.  You will not regret having a gun, when you need it.

Liberals Say FU to Court Regarding OICs

You have probably heard that in the Order In Council case, where the government banned thousands of firearms, the government has refused to hand over documents related to their discussions leading up to the ban.  They have classified them as Secret and thus denied the judicial order to produce them.  

Buy why?  Is it a game?  The commonly held theory is that the delays and denials are designed to run out the clock and reach the end of the amnesty before the court can reach a resolution.  In running out of time, with no injunction, everyone loses the banned guns.

But I have a more sinister theory.  I think the documents were made secret under Section 39 CEA not for the purpose of maintaining the gun ban but because those documents hold plans that have not been executed yet.  

I am increasingly convinced these documents hold planned enforcement actions.  I think they have one of the following items in those documents (perhaps more):

-Arrest lists designed to shape the public’s view about “evil gun owners” and punish political rivals.  Can you imagine if those documents had planned raids against Sheldon Claire and Rod Giltaca?  What about gun owning Conservative MPs?  With free speech about to be silenced with bill C-10, many people would simply disappear into a hole and never be heard from again.

-The immediate seizure and auditing of gun businesses who have dealt in the now prohibited goods.  We all know from other government inquiries and fact finding missions, that this process takes years.  How many businesses can be shut down for a few years and survive?  I expect that real political agitators such as K&S Tactical Supplies will somehow… take longer.  And if they really wanted to smash the entire industry in one fell swoop, they could target importers like Korth, North Sylva, IRG and so on… choke everyone off from supply.

-Reconstruction of long gun registry records.  Arrests of last known owners unless they can produce records or names of where the guns went.  Police will level your home with bulldozers and sledgehammers to find what they are looking for.  Ask Bruce Montague. 

Any one of these, would cause an outcry that even CBC would be hard pressed to put a happy spin on.

First and Second Focal Planes, What does it mean for me?

A first focal plane scope (FFP) is an adjustable scope in which the reticle changes size as you adjust your magnification.  That means that no matter the magnification, drop compensators and holdover marks remain proportionally the same.  The downside of FFP scopes is at low magnifications, it is hard to read a lot of the graduations as the reticle has been “zoomed out” as well.

A second focal plane scope (SFP) is an adjustable scope in which the reticle always stays the same size.  They are designed to be easy to read.

A lot of SFP scopes with drop compensators are only accurate at one magnification.  For example the Specter Arms Echelon Combat optic has a 223 drop compensator that only works at x4 magnification.  Alternatively ones that are graded may require the user to multiply the data shown on the reticle with the magnification level to make any sense of holdovers.

FFP scopes are more expensive then SFP scopes of comparative optical quality and magnification.

So what does this all mean?  How does this apply to buying a scope?

My advice is simple, when buying a low power variable optic (LPVO), stick with SFP.  You are less likely to need to use holdover marks as low magnifications are usually paired with low ranges.  You want a reticle that is easier to see.  At the end of the day, the features of a FFP is not worth the additional cost.  

A second focal plane for larger magnification optics is also appropriate for rifles that are for use at shorter ranges where holdovers and bullet drops will not be a factor in shooting.  An example would be a hunting rifle.  They are typically used at ranges of 200m or less.

When looking for a long range or marksman optic, FFP is worth the added expense.  The fixed, proportional distances for holdovers saves you time and effort.  Because of the analog nature of magnification knobs, can you take the chance that your scope might be at x9.9 or x10.05 for calculating holdovers on a SFP when you actually tried to set it to exactly x10?

Check out Specterarms.ca for all your scope needs.  If you need advice we are always an Email away and happy to help.

The Carbon Tax In the Supreme Court: What it means.

The Alberta government, joined by Sask and Ontario recently launched a court challenge attacking the legality of Chairman Trudeau’s federal carbon tax.

You see, according to the Canadian Constitution, certain powers are delegated to the provinces.  Resources, their distribution and taxation are provincial matters while defense and criminal law are federal. (just to name a few)

The supreme court agreed that resources are the domain of the provinces but ruled in favor of the federal carbon tax agreeing that the government’s declaration of a “climate change emergency” gave them the right to override the legal jurisdictions laid out in the Constitution.

That should scare everyone.

Healthcare is also under the provincial jurisdiction.  Under the Covid lockdowns, some places got it really bad like Manitoba declaring what people can and can not buy.  Or even riot police enforcing curfews and home invasion-inspections in Quebec.  

Some places got it light like Alberta.  

There are differences in Covid measures because healthcare is a provincial matter.

No longer.

Despite my personal opinion, Covid is considered a major emergency.  The seemingly unrelated carbon tax challenge has paved the way for the federal government to take direct control of government quarantines including movement, private purchases and rationing.  They will determine what people live and die by choosing essential workers.  As a firearms professional, I know what list Trudeau is putting me in..