Fieldtester looks deeper, so you choose smarter
Looking for sub £1,000 binos? The choice is between secondhand good-quality brands such as Zeiss, Swarovski and Leica, and some of the new glass coming out of China. Charlie Jacoby talks through what to look for and tests some of the available binoculars. Find secondhand binos on eBay.com – for
youtu.be/FEjB2PT3Htg The Bushnell Nitro 3-18×56 is a dedicated hunting scope that offers tremendous low light performance thanks to its specification, superior optics and illuminated reticle. The Nitro’s G4i reticle combines a familiar duplex style reticle with an illuminated centre dot, which Edgar Brothers’ Ben Mcilwain reckons gives you the best
youtu.be/pkpbnUcBdJk If you need a good solid pair of binoculars but don’t want to spend a fortune on one of the top brands, Bushnell is definitely worth a look. Take their Engage binoculars for instance. Most popular is the 10×42 X model, which delivers quality glass in a lightweight package,
youtu.be/DNxsYMa7U60 When you’re shooting in competition, whether rimfire or centrefire, accurate communication between spotter and shooter is crucial. That’s where a purpose designed spotting scope like this Bushnell Legend Tactical 15-45×60 can be invaluable. Ben Mcilwain from distributors Edgar Brothers explains “This scope is first focal plane and has a
youtu.be/xJZUidRR0PI If you’re looking for a riflescope for match shooting, hunting, or maybe a bit of both, then the Bushnell Match Pro 6-24×50 is definitely worth a look. Ben Mcilwain from distributors Edgar Brothers fitted one to his rimfire rifle, and reckons it’s hard to beat for versatility and value
youtu.be/IaOcEC9e4o4 Now here’s something unusual – an ‘expensive’ pair of ‘cheap’ Chinese binoculars. The Hyperion EDs are at the top end of the range from Chinese brand Eyeskey, selling for around £250 here in the UK. Charlie Jacoby is impressed from the moment he opens the box. “These are the
youtu.be/8ss1pqcv4Lg We’ve been impressed with the quality of inexpensive binoculars coming out of China these days – and these Eyeskey Captor ED 12x50s are no exception. “The build quality feels good, nice and strong. I think they’d take a bit of a beating in the field,” says James Marchington. He
youtu.be/xJM4SONfeUc The big thing about these binoculars is they’re Chinese – which means they’re very cheap, says Charlie Jacoby. These are the Eyeskey Sky Trek 12x50s, which sell for a remarkable £136.95. “That’s less than a quarter the price of a good quality pair of second-hand Zeiss binoculars for instance.”
youtu.be/iJqQAWsXHT4 What would you expect to pay for a decent pair of 10×42 binoculars? You could easily pay close to a grand for something from one of the big names in optics. But these Chinese-made binoculars from Eyeskey cost well under £100 – and their performance is nothing short of
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJcJXrGbkBs Swarovski binoculars are going visionary. The new Swaro EL binos with tracking Assistant allow you to ‘paint’ the deer you spot. The binos then shares its location with your phone. It helps you reach distant deer and get into position for a shot, and it allows you to mark
youtu.be/LfHUuOj9f1w The iRay Clip CH50 is a thermal device you can clip on the front of a regular daytime rifle scope to turn it into a thermal scope – ideal for switching from daytime hunting to night-time pest control, without the need to change scopes and re-zero. As well as
youtu.be/Bx8E3eUZCzg When you’re serious about pest control, only the best will do – and iRay’s flagship Rico RH50 riflescope offers outstanding quality. “I’ve used just about every unit that’s available, and this is the best image I’ve seen on a thermal riflescope so far,” says Ryan Charlton from distributors Highland
youtu.be/x0EJjq02hOU iRay UK offer a range of thermal spotters and scopes – their E3n featured here is an entry level spotter, priced at £1,169.95. It’s pocket sized with a compact and handy design, and offers serious performance with a typical battery life of around seven hours. “This model has a
youtu.be/YE7ZtKUx3Dk The iRay TL35 might look and handle like a regular daylight rifle scope – but inside is cutting edge thermal technology, allowing you to shoot day or night even in bad weather conditions such as heavy fog and rain. “It’s super simple, lightweight and easy handling,” says Ryan Charlton
www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3doV6bq3fw The Leupold VX5 HD 2-10×42 would make a great rifle scope on a centrefire for stalking – but deer manager and restauranteur Mike Robinson has fitted it to his .17HMR. “This is a cracking scope which I’d happily use on my main deer rifle. It goes up to 10x
Scope caps are a small thing, but they can make all the difference to a day’s deer stalking, as professional deer manager Mike Robinson explains. “I spent ten hours on the hill in Scotland, in driving rain all day long. At the end of the day, when I finally came
www.youtube.com/watch?v=itN2Tftq2SE If you had to pick one rifle scope for every type of hunting, from driven boar to alpine chamois and everything in-between, what would you choose? For Fieldtester’s Tim Pilbeam, it would have to be the Swarovski 3.5-28×50 P. Why? “This scope does the lot,” he says. He’s been
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrp9gwp5sSk A good quality rifle scope is important to Mike Robinson in his role as a professional deer manager – and he’s more than happy with his Leupold VX6 HD 4-24×52. In fact he has two, one on each of his 6.5mm Creedmoor chambered rifles. “Particularly when deer are under
You can spend a large sum of money on a high end scope, but will it actually put more meat in the freezer? Of course a top end scope may give you a few more minutes’ shooting at dawn and dusk, but Dan Pool of Braces of Bristol thinks there’s
www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2iTcSYZTr4 Every deerstalker needs a good pair of binoculars, but until you’ve tried rangefinding binoculars you might not know just how useful they can be. It’s not just about measuring the range before taking a shot; rangefinders can help you plan your stalk, as Richard Ryan from GPO’s UK distributor
youtu.be/X3Bz3wsUMdg If you’re looking for a top quality scope without paying for all the bells and whistles, Fieldtester’s Tim Pilbeam reckons you should look at the Kahles Helia 3.5-18x50i. When it comes to optics, Kahles know their stuff. They’re one of the oldest manufacturers of scopes in the world, going
youtu.be/oMN9Zkgf_XYRyan Charlton of distributor Highland Outdoors has used the 4-16×44 scope he sells with half mil-dot reticle on his own rimfire. He says he has had hits out to 300 yards using a combination of dialling in holdover and using the reticle as his aim point. There are plenty of precision
youtu.be/R98moTyIQKU Leica has a new entry-level riflescope. Of course, entry level to a top-end name such as Leica does not mean it is under £1,000. However, Tim Pilbeam says that for the money – £1,400 – you get all the Leica quality most of us could want. Tim tried out
by Charlie Jacoby The Swarovski dS scope is growing up. The technical marvel that is the gen II dS has a slimmer look, though the same 40mm tube, a choice of six reticles, and more customisable features such as the ability to switch off the wind bars. It comes with an
by Charlie Jacoby All the expensive optics manufacturers have the same problem: should they launch cheaper models? If they do, it opens them to the charge of going downmarket. Also, they may have to cut costs in the manufacturing process, which could bring with it a quality issue. All of
Thermal imaging has become an essential tool for gamekeepers, pest controllers and deer managers. From almost none a couple of years ago, there are now a huge variety of products to choose from. The old man of traditional optics, Zeiss, planned a grand launch for its first entry into the
Out of 3,500 responses to our 2020 kit survey, 600 Fieldsports Channel viewers got back to us about binos. It is clear from the results that Leupold is a well-loved brand, if not widely purchased. Only 3% of viewers own Leupold binos. In Fieldsports Channel’s research, Leupold binos score
A good spotting scope is a vital tool of the trade for Mike Robinson, professional deer manager and game chef. “I’m selecting wild deer which I harvest and put through my Owl Barn larder, and which then goes to my award-winning restaurants” – (yes, he says “award-winning”) – “as
If you shoot driven boar or practical rifle competitions, you need the right scope for the job, something designed for fast, reflex shooting. James Fowler at distributors RUAG knows his stuff, so what does he recommend? “The Meopta Optika6 1-6×24 is ideal,” he says. “It’s a nice compact scope
If you want to know what scope a competitive shooter uses to hit targets accurately, ask Ben Mcilwaine. He’ll tell you it’s the Bushnell Elite Tactical XRS II. Bushnell says it’s the scope “that’s been to the podium at the King of 2 Miles” and countless precision rifle matches
Robbie Sheddon of Cluny Country Guns takes us through a selection of night vision and thermal scopes for less than a grand. They are: Yukon Photon RT, £599 Yukon Sightline N450, £759 Yukon Sightline N470, £819 Pulsar Axion Key XM22, £869 Starting off with the Yukon Photon RT: “This
Tim Pilbeam is deerstalking with a difference: he’s fieldtesting for us. What are the best binoculars for hunting? And what should you look for when buying binoculars for hunting? Are thermal binoculars any good? As well as the chance to shoot a doe, he wants to work out when
Bushnell’s Nitro Laser Range Finder works up to 2,000 yards (with all the upgrades) and is Bluetooth compatible, so you can link it to smartphone apps and ballistics calculators such as Kestrel. Even without upgrades it works to 800 yards. Accuracy is +/- 1 yard. It’s also got built-in
Swarovski’s new binoculars have an amazing field-of view, great quality glass at an eye-watering £2,370. Tim Pilbeam tries them out as he searches for this year’s best hunting (and fishing) binoculars. Forget light transmission, forget ease-of-use – they are last year’s optic USPs. Swarovski’s three new binocular launches
Back in March 2020, 3,500 of you filled out our survey on what kit you use. Nearly 300 of you told us about your airgun optics, and here are the results. There’s one brand that has half the market. In third place, it’s MTC, and the model you are
Nearly 700 viewers took part in out centrefire riflescopes survey, out of the massive 3,500 of you who responded to our lockdown surveys in March 2020 – and you reveal that almost all of the scopes you put on your centrefire rifles come from just 16 companies. The survey also
You have a buck in your scope at 200 yards, and you call it in to 50 metres. It’s time for the Aimpoint Acro to swing into action. The new sight from Aimpoint sits on the side of your scope, ready for you to take a snap, action shot.
It’s our Fieldtester binoculars survey. We sent out the survey during coronavirus lockdown and got more than 3,500 responses. Of these, we had over 600 responses to our binoculars survey. And the results? You certainly spend money on optics. Around half of you own one of the three most
Sometimes you shoot an animal at a good range and you are pleased with the result. Sometimes, the animal emerges from the bushes just in front of you. And occasionally, both can happen at the same time. Swedish gunsight manufacturer’s her Aimpoint reckons it has found the solution. We
by Charlie Jacoby This is the scope offer from one of the big three optics companies. The Z8i is the scope to have if you don’t want the Zeiss V8 or the Leica Magnus. With an 8x magnification, this scope takes your target from 1.7x to 13.3x. It is aimed
by Charlie Jacoby For the big game hunter who likes to see their distant game up close, this is the Swarovski spotting scope to choose. Zoom is from 30x to 70x. This one has the 95mm objective lens. Modular means you can take the headpiece off and replace it. As
Over the £2,000 mark, it gets tribal. Are you red (Leica), green (Swarovski), blue (Zeiss) or brown (Blaser)? All of these are great scopes. If you miss, it’s not their fault. So let’s have a look at that other great divider: price. Best of all scopes with their prices
We go simulated stalking and long-distance rifle shooting out to 500 metres with Paul Childerley. It’s all so Zeiss can set out its stall to UK gunshops. We are on hand to see what they think of the product line-up. ▶ Click here for more about Zeiss sports optics ▶
Roy Lupton has his hands on the new Leica Fortis riflescope, which launched at IWA 2019. He takes it out after muntjac deer. ▶ This film is supported by Leica. Find your local Leica dealer here ▶ Click here for all of Roy’s films on Fieldsports Channel ▶ Join the
by Charlie Jacoby You see your animal through your binos, you shoot, it drops out of sight. Now Swarovski has come up with binos that help you find the carcase. The new EL range, launched in 2021, has a ‘tracking assistant’ that not only rangefinds your animal but places it
This film was first shown in Fieldsports Britain episode 414 The revolutionary new riflescope the V6, shoots long ranges, says Zeiss. We take it to West Wales to try it out with members of the British gun trade, plus Paul Childerley and Andrew Venables. For more from Zeiss, visit Zeiss.co.uk/hunting
Just how much abuse can a pair of Zeiss binoculars take? In this film we drop them, drag them, crush them, drown and finally we shoot them. They are (they were) a mint pair of Victory HT binoculars. The guys at German optics company Zeiss wanted to replicate what a
The people who make the famous red dot sight for wild boar have a new product comnig out. Aimpoint is developing a new sight for shotguns. We go to Mamima Jakt in Sweden to test it out. This film was first shown in Fieldsports Britain episode 385. To watch the
Airgun World and Airgunner technical editor Phill Price tests the Hawke Airmax 30 SF scope, the flagship Hawke scope. To buy one, have a look at www.deben.com/hawke-airmax-30-side-focus-riflescopes/hawke-airmax-30-sf-4-16×50.html This item appears in AirHeads, episode 22. To watch the whole show go to Fcha.nl/airheads22
Airgunner and Airgun World technical editor Phill Price needed a new scope for his new Daystate Regal. He explains why he opts for the Hawke Airmax EV 4-12×50 AO. Phill talks through the reasons why he feels it’s a wise buy for someone looking for some decent glass that’s under
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