If you don’t have a good spot on opening weekend, your chances of success exponentially decrease with each day that passes. Doves respond to hunting pressure and because opening weekend is crowded and the bag limit is high comparingly to other wing hunting, it is inevitable that dove hunting becomes increasingly challenging.

That is why it is so important to scan your spots a week or two before September 1.

There is no guarantee that last year’s honey hole, especially if it isn’t yours, will still be the sweet spot. Watering holes dry up, farmers switch or don’t plant crops—they may not have cut their field yet, land development and plenty of other factors affect doves’ feeding, watering and roosting grounds.

Typically, dove hunting doesn’t require as much preparation as deer hunting does. Most dove hunters wear drab colors, pack up a chair, ammo and a shotgun and post up in the nearest open field. Even though doves are the most bountiful bird in North America, you still run the risk of not hitting your limit that first day—especially if you haven’t done your homework.

You’re more likely to be successful if you approach your dove hunt like you do deer. An essential step is scouting.

All you need to scout and scan for this year’s dove field is a car, time and some good binoculars.

Finding the Best Dove Field

Doves eat anywhere from 14 to 20 percent of their weight a day. Seeds are their primary diet. They prefer open grain fields, freshly harvested—wheat, barley, corn and sunflower fields are prime feeding grounds. These grain fields edged with tall, sparse dead trees or power lines are where you will find the perch sights doves like. Scan for these entry and exit points because doves use these outlying trees to watch the fields for predators before flying in to feed.

Watering Holes

Doves typically fly into a water source at least once a day, usually in the evening right before roosting. Like their feeding ground, doves prefer a flat area with a place nearby to perch and watch before committing to flying in to drink.

Cattle ponds should be easy to find, and the vegetation will already be stomped down. Look for ponds with low banks and sandy areas where it is easy for doves to land and keep watch.

Timing

The best time to hunt doves is early morning and right before dusk. However, since this is known to seasoned dove hunters, the fields will empty out from late morning/lunch to mid-afternoon. During this time, you probably won’t have flocks flying in, you’ll spot singles and pairs without the competition of other hunters. If the doves are flying slow, don’t be discouraged. Wait it out. They’ll come back—especially if you’ve already scouted the location.

When scouting, go at the same time you plan to hunt. This will ensure you have an adequate understanding of when and where the doves are flying and their different flight patterns.

What Not to Do

Avoid public, popular fields and sneak off to lesser-known, out-of-the-way places. When doves feel pressure from one field, they will push out to other fields. Public hunting land will fill up fast opening weekend. Don’t be afraid to knock on doors, become friendly with farmers and ask for permission to hunt on private land.

There is still plenty of time left to scout out the perfect spots. Don’t forget to clean your shotgun and check to make sure your license is current.

Tell us your dove hunting stories in the comment section.

Looking for a pair of great binoculars? Click here!

How Do Boresights Help?

The verdict on laser boresights has been in for quite awhile. They are powerful red laser devices that enable firearm users to quickly sight-in their gun without expending unnecessary time and ammunition.

It’s important for customers to understand that laser boresights will not ‘zero’ your firearm. Instead, they will ‘boresight’ your firearm. Boresights are excellent for long-range riflescopes and shorter-range red dot optics.

After chambering a laser boresight, look through your rifle scope (or other optic) and settle the reticle on your target. Then, adjust your windage and elevation turrets until the center of the reticle is aligned with the boresight’s laser. Now your firearm is ‘boresighted’.

After this process, the firearm needs to be taken to a range. After removing the boresight, you will fire live rounds, making small adjustments until the center of the reticle is perfectly aligned with where the bullets are actually impacting the target. Once this process in complete, the firearm is ‘zeroed’.

Again, laser sights will get your accuracy ‘on paper’ and save you tons of money on time and ammunition, but they will not ‘zero’ your firearm alone.

How Are Accudot Boresights Different?

Sightmark Accudot boresights are premium boresights made from machined brass. Unlike most boresights, Accudots are rechargeable, so there’s no need to stress about finding AG3 or LR754 batteries. Simply place the Accudot in the charger—then connect to a wall outlet via the provided USB cable—and a few hours later, it’s fully-powered.

Additionally, Accudots don’t actually ‘power-on’ and emit a red laser until they’re in the chamber and the firearm’s bolt closes. That means the vast majority of the time, when they’re not in use, they’re not using battery power.

Accudot bore sights are highly power-consumption efficient!

Which Calibers Are Offered?

Accudot boresights are offered in several popular calibers.

For those who love bird hunting and skeet shooting, Accudots are available for 12 gauge shotguns.

If your primary interest is hunting larger-game animals like deer, pig or varmint, there is a single Accudot available for .30-06, .270 and .25-06, which are some of the most popular hunting calibers in the world!

For self-defense, target-shooters or competitive shooters, Accudots are available in all the most popular rifle calibers. There is one boresight for .223 and 5.56×45.

There is another, separate Accudot for .243, .308 and 7.62×54.

And of course, the most popular pistol caliber in the world—9mm—there is an Accudot for that.

The Absolute Best Deal in the Industry

There is not any true competition for Sightmark Accudot Laser Boresights. They save users gobs of time and ammunition, leaving customers with more time at the range, in the bush or wherever their firearm activities take them!

Accudots are extremely power efficient and are offered in a variety of the most popular calibers in the world.

And if your Sightmark Accudot Boresight doesn’t perform as expected, it comes with a Lifetime Warranty! After purchasing your Accudot, simply ensure that you register your product and you can rest assured knowing you have the full confidence and backing of Sightmark’s commitment to quality!

Have you tried Sightmark Accudot Laser Boresights before? How did they perform? Let us know in the comments!

Deciding to buy your first riflescope is a good choice. Modern scopes make hunting, competition, target and long-range shooting easier and more accurate.

However, there is almost an endless amount of choice. How is one supposed to choose? This how-to guide to buying a riflescope will help you narrow your choices.

1. Magnification

   
   

Magnification is one of the most important aspects of a riflescope. Magnification is the range to which you can multiply the naked eye’s vision. In other words, a scope with 2x magnification power is twice the power of your unaided eye.

Magnification is referred to in power-level increments and is represented by the first numbers in a riflescope’s name. For example, on a variable zoom 1-4x32mm scope, the magnification would be 1-4x what the naked eye sees. On a fixed scope, like a 4x32mm scope, the magnification is fixed at 4x what the human eye can see.

Magnification is largely preferential. If you are a hunter who shoots moving targets under 100 yards, 3-9x would perform well. If you want to hit bullseyes from 750 yards, then a scope with a larger magnification range like 5-30x might suit your style.

Note: higher magnification settings mean the user will have a narrower ‘field of view’. For hunting scopes, this means when you’re magnified 2x, the field of view diametrically decreases by a factor of 2.

For fast-moving prey like hogs and varmint, you might want to consider a low-powered variable magnification rifle scope to more easily manage the effects of magnification and decreased field of view.

2. Objective Lens Size

The objective lens size is the diameter of the lens closest to the barrel of the rifle, and farthest away from the stock of the rifle. The objective lens diameter is the number after the x in the rifle scope’s title. For example, a 1-4x32mm scope has an objective lens with a diameter of 32mm.

The size of your objective lens affects how much light the scope will be able to transmit. A larger objective lens lets in more light, producing a brighter image, but at the expense of being heavier than a scope with a smaller objective lens.

3. Weight

The 1-6x magnification range makes the Citadel CR1 ideal for both CQB and mid-range.

Weight is a factor you want to consider before you make your purchase. Think about where you will be doing most of your shooting. If you are shooting long distances at the range where you’ll have a bipod or sandbags to fire your rifle from, then a heavier scope probably won’t affect you very much.

If you are stalking deer in the mountains and have to do a lot of hiking in between shots, it could be beneficial for you to choose a lighter riflescope since constantly raising and holding a heavy rifle takes its toll after some time.

4. Elevation/Windage Adjustment

Windage and elevation adjustment turrets are used to adjust the position of the bullet’s impact. Windage adjustments have the ability to move the bullet’s point of impact to the left or right in relation to the reticle. Elevation adjustments are used to move the bullet’s point of impact up or down.

Scope adjustments are either made in minute of angle units or milliradians. For the beginner hunter, once you sight in your rifle, the windage and elevation turrets won’t need to be adjusted again. These adjustments are extremely helpful for tactical shooters making long-distance shots.

5. Lens Coating

Next, to the objective lens size, lens coatings are the most important aspect of light transmission. When looking through the scope, you want to see the brightest and clearest image possible. This is affected by the amount of reflected light coming through the lens and the amount of light transmitted through the lenses.

The goal of optical coatings is to reduce the glare and the loss of light caused by reflection. More coatings generally result in better light transmission. There are four main categories of optical lens coatings:

• Coated– at least one of the lenses has a single layer of anti-reflective coating
• Fully Coated– on every air to glass lens (the outer lenses) there is a single layer of anti-reflective coating
• Multicoated– at least one of the lenses has multiple layers of anti-reflective coating
• Fully Multicoated– multiple layers of coating have been put on all air to glass lenses

Keep in mind that with higher quality comes a higher price; however, spending the extra money to get quality coatings can greatly impact your shooting experience.

6. Reticle

Also known as the “crosshair,” the reticle is the part of the riflescope that predicts where the bullet will go. Looking at a reticle through the riflescope is similar to lining up your shot in iron sights. Reticles, like eye relief, are a matter of preference and a huge variety is available for shooters to choose from. On a very basic level, the crosshairs’ thickness is going to affect the precision of your shot.

Larger reticles are easier to see in low-light situations, but can sometimes dwarf or cover up the target if the target is far away. Thinner crosshairs allow the shooter to be more precise but are more difficult to see in low-light.

Many reticles come with posts or scales on their crosshairs. These small ticks are minute of angle or milliradian measurements used to compensate for the bullet’s drop at greater distances. However, not every tick mark is always accurate at any range, because the reticle can be affected by what focal plane it is set in.

7. Focal Plane

Focal plane can be found in two forms—first or second. In a second focal plane riflescope, the reticle is at the end of the erector tube near the end closest to the butt of the rifle. This means that the magnification is changing behind the reticle in relation to the shooter, so the reticle image maintains its original size.

The reticle is not always proportional to the target, only at a certain magnification (often the greatest magnification possible). As you zoom in, the reticle takes up more and more of your vision, appearing larger though it is actually staying the same size it always was.

In a first focal plane riflescope, the reticle is located in the front of the erector tube—meaning when you zoom in with the scope, it also zooms in on the reticle as well. This creates a proportionate changing of size between the target and your reticle.

Since everything is proportional, the reticle’s tick marks are accurate at all ranges, not just the most zoomed-in range. First focal plane riflescopes are more expensive in general, but allow the shooter to make adjustments much faster than changing the windage or elevation adjustments.

8. Tube Size

Tube size is important to know for a beginner because you want to be able to use your scope after you buy it, meaning you need the right size mounting rings for your scope. Tubes can be found generally in two sizes: 30mm and 1 inch. Other than increasing the adjustment range internally, neither offers greater benefits than the other, a larger tube doesn’t mean it lets more light in.

However, you will need to know what size tube you have so when you go to use your scope you aren’t stuck trying to put 1-inch mounting rings on a 30mm tube. If you live in the United States, you might want to remember that more riflescopes are built with one-inch tubes than are not. However, once again, tube size is entirely preferential.

Do you have further questions about riflescopes? Leave them in the comment section and we will do our best to answer them.

Big Thanks to John Shellenberger for contributing to this blog!

Click here to find your new riflescope!

It’s important for all shooters to learn that boresighting and zeroing are not the same thing. Some shooters learn the hard way and end up wasting time, money and ammo before they figure it out. But once you understand a little bit about external ballistics, not only will the difference become simple, but in the meantime, you can also become a better shooter.

What is boresighting?

Boresighting is a method of adjustment to a firearm sight to align the firearm barrel and sights (rifle scopes or iron sights). Although you can manually sight the bore yourself in an arduous process that involves removing the bolt (for bolt action rifles), the more modern sighting process is with a laser dot that either attaches to the muzzle or is inserted into the chamber.

The laser will emit a strong enough beam through the gun barrel to see up to 100 yards away so you can easily align the bore. The details and step-by-step instructions concerning laser boresights are also available here.

While laser bore sighting will get the scope aligned with the bore, it is not 100% aligned with the point of impact from a bullet, as outside factors such as movement in the gun, wind and gravity will affect the trajectory of a flying object.

What is zeroing?

Zeroing is a method of adjustment to the sights so that the point of aim is the point of impact.

The goal of zeroing is to make the correct adjustments to guarantee the bullet hits where you’re looking. You should have a spotter with a powerful spotting scope to help you in this process.

After boresighting, settle your reticle on the target and take a shot. Your spotter will tell you to adjust your windage and elevation turrets appropriately. You may be shooting low, high, too far left, too far right or…no call.

You should listen to your spotter and continue adjusting until you’re hitting bullseye.

External Ballistics

Boresighting and zeroing are both essential steps before you start shooting seriously. Those who don’t boresight their weapon will go out to the field and waste round after round just trying to get on paper because their sights aren’t aligned.

Others believe the misconception that boresighting will automatically zero their gun, so they hit a bullseye at 25 yards but are then frustrated that they’re multiple inches off at 100 yards. This happens because they don’t take external ballistics into account.

External ballistics deals with factors affecting the behavior of a projectile in flight.

Once the bullet leaves the barrel, gravity will start to affect its vertical movement, and wind will affect the horizontal movement. The farther your bullet goes, the more it will drop.

This is why zeroing your weapon at 100 yards won’t zero it for 200 yards as well. Most firearm optics and sights come with adjustable knobs for elevation and windage for this very reason, and the MOA (Minute of Angle) measurement will tell you how much you need to adjust the scope at a certain yardage.

When you have both laser bore sighted and properly zeroed your weapon, you’ll be prepared to shoot any target or game that comes your way.

Click here to buy a Sightmark Boresight.

Red dot sights on pistols are becoming increasingly prevalent. They are not a new concept, however. Shooters like Jerry Barnhart started entering IPSC competitions with red dots mounted to pistols in the early 1990s. These early optics were actually rifle red dots retrofitted to pistols and were sometimes over a pound in weight, far greater than the different red dot optics we’re seeing on pistols today.

In the early days, gunsmiths had to experiment with different ways to mount optics to pistols. There are still different ways to do it today, but the process is generally limited to a few different options. Some handguns come from the factory ready to accept an optic through various plate systems such as the Glock Modular Optic System. If your pistol isn’t, you can have your slide modified for one; optic-ready aftermarket slides are also becoming more common.

Some shooters still utilize iron sight dovetail mounts or other brackets, but these are now considered outdated by many because of their weight and awkwardness.

Mounting a Red Dot Sight

The most common way to mount a red dot on a pistol is to have the slide machined for a specific optic. This is the method recommended by most gunsmiths for several reasons, the biggest being a precise fit. Optics will vary in dimensions, even when comparing two examples of the exact same model. Differences as little as 1/1000 of an inch can influence how the optic fits to the slide.

A good gunsmith will measure and cut a slide to exactly match a provided optic, removing any chance of play between the optic and slide due to manufacturing tolerances. Having an existing slide cut for a red dot is also usually the most affordable option as well. Machine shops generally charge between $100 and $400 to perform an optics cut, depending on the different options and services available.

Not everybody has the funds to go out and buy a new handgun or slide in order to run a red dot. It should be noted these optics cuts are permanent modifications to the handgun and will likely void any warranties provided by the manufacturer.

It’s also important to choose a competent gunsmith, as some of these cuts can interfere with the function of internal parts, such as safeties or extractor plungers, if machined too deep. If done incorrectly, milling out a slide can severely weaken the metal in a slide which can lead to catastrophic failure of the firearm – It cannot be stressed enough to choose a reputable machine shop to do this work.

When having your slide milled, it’s possible to have additional machine work done such as front or top serrations and windows. Another thing to consider when having a slide milled is you’re pretty much stuck with whatever optics footprint you chose for your gun. Many optics share the same footprint, but there are a few major footprint designs out there that aren’t compatible with each other.

Factory-Mounted Options

When handgun manufacturers realized mounting red dots on handguns is the way of the future, they started offering factory optics-ready options. Glock, for instance, came out with the Modular Optic System, or MOS. This system comes pre-machined from the factory and includes a series of different mounting plates so users can switch between different optics.

The ability to switch between different optic footprints is huge but does not come without drawbacks. When using these plate systems, the optic generally sits much higher than with custom options due to the thickness of the plates, so it might be more difficult to co-witness iron sights to your red dot.

Factory options like the MOS system generally aren’t as sturdy as custom options either, as the optic is contacting the plate instead of the actual slide, making it a potential failure point. Competition shooters have complained of optics and plates working themselves loose after a days’ worth of shooting. Going with an OEM option, however, carries the benefit of a manufacturer’s warranty and you won’t need to worry about the possibility of your slide cracking due to poor workmanship.

Since factory optics-ready pistols don’t require any permanent modifications, they will usually hold their resale value better than custom guns, depending on who did the machine work. This route, of course, requires you to purchase a separate firearm in order to use a red dot optic, but this could be seen as either an advantage or disadvantage since two guns are always better than one.

After-Market Slides

If you’re not comfortable with making permanent modifications to your slide and don’t want to spend the money on a whole new firearm, aftermarket slides might be an option to consider. Many companies now offer aftermarket slides, especially for the Glock platform.

You can keep your factory slide original and still have the ability to run a red dot. The quality of aftermarket slides can vary as much as the different levels of workmanship found in custom machined slides, though. Some aftermarket slides might be cheap and unbranded, while others can be made of rare and exotic metals, like Lone Wolf’s Damascus steel slide which retails for $1,499.99.

As we’re in the age of the “Gucci Glock,” how your gun appears can be perceived as just as important as how it shoots. In addition to adding optics capability to your gun, aftermarket slides can come in many different designs and colors that go further than your basic slide serrations, windows and lightening cuts typically found on customized factory slides. Again, like having your slide cut, you must do research on who manufactures your slide in order to choose a reputable brand.

Companies like Brownells make affordable slide options but are often only cut for one style of red dot footprint. The more affordable aftermarket options also might not be as flashy or cool looking as custom slides. For people that want an OEM look without modifying their factory slide, a few companies now offer aftermarket slides with a profile identical to factory slides.

It’s Your Choice

While having a slide custom cut for your red dot is probably the most popular and recommended option, everybody has different requirements for their gun. Regardless of the route you take, it’s important you go out and train with your gun and optic.

Even professional shooters might have trouble shooting with a pistol red dot, or a laser sight, after years of shooting iron sights only, as there is definitely a learning curve for some people. New or inexperienced shooters tend to “chase the dot” when it bounces around from recoil.

Furthermore, you’re going to want to put a decent number of rounds through your pistol to make sure your slide and optic are able to withstand the proper amount of abuse. Once proficient though, pistol mounted optics can boost a shooter’s skill in both speed and distance shooting.

What types of pistol mount / red dot combination do you use? Let us know in the comments below?