• Watch Out for Scammers!

    We've now added a color code for all accounts. Orange accounts are new members, Blue are full members, and Green are Supporters. If you get a message about a sale from an orange account, make sure you pay attention before sending any money!

Shot Show 2019 Observation Devices

Squibbler

Supporter
Supporter
Full Member
Minuteman
Apr 6, 2014
655
549
For y'all goin to shot, please post your findings. What's new. Attention grabbers. Hands on thoughts. Keep us updated!

I'm personally interested in range finding solutions--ELR options, rifle mounted options, affordable options, etc.

P.S. Bonus points for pics
 
  • Like
Reactions: BU37377
First thing i noticed .. the Badges now have a microchip to sense where attendees go
during Shot.. we are being watched! :)
 
Spotters with reticles. I see Athlon has a new one but I'm curious to see if anyone else realizes the market potential for this.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Squibbler
Spotters with reticles. I see Athlon has a new one but I'm curious to see if anyone else realizes the market potential for this.


Vortex too

Vortex2019.jpg
 
They have a short video on the FB page about the LMSS II. Looks like they didn't ignore the fact that Athlon was coming out with an almost identical product.
 
Sorry for the bad quality. ED Prime Glass, their new rainguard, Tremor 3 reticle and a throw lever on the mag ring. Nice upgrades. Like the form factor better than the Cronus, but the reticle better in the Cronus. Glass seems comparable, but hard to say under the crappy lights.

View attachment 7010912View attachment 7010913

It's a Tremor 4, not 3. The 4 is a new reticle designed for spotters.
 
Thanks Hollywood, fixed. Also, “Hypothetically” Bushnell has a forged-level glass bino/LRF coming to compete with the Sig BDX3000.
 
Last edited:
Thanks Hollywood, fixed. Also, “Hypothetically” Bushnell has a forged-level bino/LRF coming to compete with the Sig BDX3000.

First I am hearing of it, but I haven't been pinging the guys on the Forge line as much lately. We did talk about the need for a new LRF in the Bushnell lineup at the PR Expo last year, though, so hopefully some of the features we asked for as part of that discussion are going into it.
 
First I am hearing of it, but I haven't been pinging the guys on the Forge line as much lately. We did talk about the need for a new LRF in the Bushnell lineup at the PR Expo last year, though, so hopefully some of the features we asked for as part of that discussion are going into it.

I was told to wait about 6 months before making any purchases. I took it as just an announcement, so I’m speculating that it won’t be selling until the fall at the earliest.

They’ve needed to upgrade Fusions and 1 Mile ARC for awhile. It sounds like they will it will have connectivity to a kestrel like the CONX LRF. I hope their ranging capabilities and beam specs mirror the Sig and Fury 5000
 
  • Like
Reactions: Hollywood 6mm
I also looked at the following LRF/Binos and I had some initial thoughts that are limited to the poor lightening conditions at the show and the inability to compare side-by-side:
  1. Athlon Cronus: Made in China. Nice glass, looks like the same body as the Leupold. Most limited ranging capabilities of the newest offerings and no connectivity with Kestrel and AB. Athlon guy at the booth claimed that come with a life time warranty. Looks pricing will be similar to Vortex and Sig at around $1200, so I don't see these as a legitimate competitor at that price point. However, if they dropped the street price down to $750-$800, then they would sell a bunch of these to the hunting crowd.
  2. Leupold: Nice glass, comparable to the Cornus and Vortex. Lack of connectivity with with Kestrel/AB and true tier 1 glass at the price their asking is lame. Assuming these will be $2000+ street price, I'd pony up a few $$$ more and the Leicas every day and 2x on Sundays.
  3. Vortex Fury HD 5000: Nice glass, Vortex claims same level as their Viper HDs and it I don't recall seeing the bluish tint that gen 1 displayed but the lighting was bad. I suspect that is how they kept the price down closer to $1k versus $2k if they had gone with Razor HD level. They seemed better than the Athlon and hard to say if better/worse than the Leupold. Price is competitive, but they really needed to include connectivity with Kestrel/AB. Covered by Vortex's lifetime warranty, so that's a plus.
  4. Sig 3000BDX: Nice form factor, I can't fairly comment on the glass because they had the display units under the worst post-apocalyptic lighting conditions (spot lights from above angled into your face). Confirmed that only offering a 5 year warranty. So, I'm anxiously awaiting some field reports as these are the only ones in the group that have connectivity to a Kestrel.
  5. Bushnell ???? As mentioned above, if they release new ones with connectivity and ED Prime glass at the same price point as the Sig, I'd lean towards them over the Sigs only because of Sig's 5 year warranty and their history of having inconsistencies and spotty Q/C on their LRFs.
 
Last edited:
I also looked at the following LRF/Binos and I had some initial thoughts that are limited to the poor lightening conditions at the show and the inability to compare side-by-side:
  1. Athlon Cronus: Made in China. Nice glass, looks like the same body as the Leupold. Most limited range of the newest offerings and no connectivity with Kestrel and AB. Sounds like pricing is similar to Vortex and Sig. Guy at the booth claimed that come with a life-time warranty. If so, it won't compete. However, if the street price is around $750, then they sell a bunch of these.
  2. Leupold: Nice glass, comparable to the Cornus and Vortex. Lack of connectivity with with Kestrel/AB and true tier 1 glass at the price their asking is lame. Assuming these will be $2000+ street price, I'd pony up a few $$$ more and the Leicas every day and 2x on Sundays.
  3. Vortex Fury 5000: Nice glass, better than the Athlon and hard to say if better/worse than the Leupold. Price is competitive, but they really needed to include connectivity with Kestrel/AB. Assuming covered by Vortex's lifetime warranty.
  4. Sig 3000BDX: Nice form factor, I can't fairly comment on the glass because they had the display units under the worst post-apocalyptic lighting conditions (spot lights from above angled into your face). Confirmed that only offering a 5 year warranty. So, I'm anxiously awaiting some field reports as these are the only ones in the group that have connectivity to a Kestrel.
  5. Bushnell ???? As mentioned above, if they release new ones with connectivity and ED Prime glass at the same price point as the Sig, I'd lean towards them over the Sigs only because of Sig's 5 year warranty and their history of having inconsistencies and spotty Q/C on their LRFs.

Thanks for sharing that info. I know Bushnell has been really stepping up efforts with their higher end product lines (Forge and Elite Tactical), and they've been going out of their way to get their sponsored shooters involved in field testing products before finalizing and releasing the design.. It'll be interesting to see what (if anything) becomes of the info you got from them.
 
Thanks for sharing that info. I know Bushnell has been really stepping up efforts with their higher end product lines (Forge and Elite Tactical), and they've been going out of their way to get their sponsored shooters involved in field testing products before finalizing and releasing the design.. It'll be interesting to see what (if anything) becomes of the info you got from them.

NP. I think the know there are way behind their competitors, especially if they are talking to sponsored shooters. Fingers crossed that they'll bring something out before end of this year. I really need a set before hunting season.
 
NP. I think the know there are way behind their competitors, especially if they are talking to sponsored shooters. Fingers crossed that they'll bring something out before end of this year. I really need a set before hunting season.

I'd be surprised if you see it by the end of the year. I shot a match last March with one of the engineers working on the LMSS2, and he was giving me details on it back then - and it's just now being unveiled at SHOT. Lead time on a new development like you heard about is going to be pretty long - it's not as simple as slapping a new reticle in an optic, or making minor changes to an existing LRF.
 
I wish vortex put a horus reticle in theres

Reporting from SHOT show...

Vortex has finally added the Tremor3 and H59 to their riflescopes.

They are now offering reticle eyepieces for the Razor HD, it is available with a milling reticle but not the Tremor4.
 
One thing I've noticed this year, more and more of the gun manufacturers are launching some sort of off the shelf precision long range weapon system, many with some sort of chassis type stock. I'll see if I can get some photos before the show closes up here...
 
  • Like
Reactions: skierhs
One thing I've noticed this year, more and more of the gun manufacturers are launching some sort of off the shelf precision long range weapon system, many with some sort of chassis type stock. I'll see if I can get some photos before the show closes up here...
I believe its because the 3 gun market is declining and their trying to hop on the next thing which is prs
 
First thing i noticed .. the Badges now have a microchip to sense where attendees go
during Shot.. we are being watched! :)

This a joke? I'm an exhibitor and we just had the same paper badges same as every year. They do have the barcode to scan for the lead retrieval things.
 
Couple guys on youtube showed the chip. See If I can find one of the videos.
 
It's a Tremor 4, not 3. The 4 is a new reticle designed for spotters.

Is this different from what they offer on experticity for military/le? I just ordered one thinking it was the H322 since Horus doesn’t make the h32 anymore.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LawnMM
Is this different from what they offer on experticity for military/le? I just ordered one thinking it was the H322 since Horus doesn’t make the h32 anymore.

Yes, the LMSS2 isn't for sale yet. The one you ordered should be an original LMSS with an H32 reticle in it.
 
Thanks, at the same msrp I’ll holdout for the current iteration.

Bear in mind, I can't promise the LMSS2 will be the same price on ExpertVoice when it becomes available through there. I'm expecting it to be a good bit higher. The 2 isn't an improvement on glass, since it already uses Bushnell's top end ED Prime glass - it's minor feature changes (throw lever, newer reticle, hopefully 1 rail included).
 
  • Like
Reactions: Darkhorse1
Bear in mind, I can't promise the LMSS2 will be the same price on ExpertVoice when it becomes available through there. I'm expecting it to be a good bit higher. The 2 isn't an improvement on glass, since it already uses Bushnell's top end ED Prime glass - it's minor feature changes (throw lever, newer reticle, hopefully 1 rail included).

Any idea where the Athlon is made? Looks identical to the Bushy (thinking Bushy didn’t protect themselves well with patents). I can’t find if Athlon is made in Japan or not which would be a price factor I’d imagine looking deeper than outside cosmetics.
 
Any idea where the Athlon is made? Looks identical to the Bushy (thinking Bushy didn’t protect themselves well with patents). I can’t find if Athlon is made in Japan or not which would be a price factor I’d imagine looking deeper than outside cosmetics.

No idea where it's made.