Mike Fellon

The Marlin 336 doesn’t need help being accurate—it needs help staying fast. This lever-action was built for thick timber and quick shots at moving whitetail, not bench rest groups at 300 yards. But walk into any gun shop and they’ll try selling you the same 3-9x40mm scope they mount on bolt guns, completely missing what … Read more

The scout rifle concept lives or dies by its optic. Mount the wrong scope forward of the receiver and you’ll spend more time hunting for your sight picture than you will hunting game. I learned this the expensive way when I put together my first Ruger Gunsite Scout twelve years back, cycling through two scopes … Read more

The .22-250 creates a problem most cartridges don’t have. With velocities pushing 3,700 fps and a genuinely flat trajectory out past 500 yards, you need glass that can spot a prairie dog’s head at ranges where most hunters are still trying to find the animal. Mount a scope with 12x top-end magnification and you’re leaving … Read more

The AR-10 sits in an awkward middle ground that drives a lot of shooters crazy. It’s not a close-range tactical rifle like its little brother, but it’s also not a dedicated long-range precision rig. You’ve got a semi-auto that can reach 600 yards without breaking a sweat, sometimes push 800 if conditions are right, but … Read more

The Marlin 60 creates a scope selection problem most shooters don’t see coming until they’re fighting a nose-heavy rifle or watching their zero walk around the target. It’s not about finding a “good” scope—it’s about finding one that actually works with this rifle’s grooved receiver, light weight, and rimfire-specific needs. Put a centerfire scope with … Read more

gbThe SCAR 17 doesn’t behave like most .308 rifles. Its gas-piston system and reciprocating charging handle create a unique set of demands that eliminate half the scopes on the market before you even start looking. I found this out when I mounted a mid-range tactical scope I’d used successfully on AR-10s and watched it fail … Read more

The AK-47 presents a scope mounting challenge that trips up more shooters than it should. That side rail mount positions your optic forward and off-center from the bore, which means eye relief becomes critical in ways it isn’t on an AR platform. Mount a scope with 3 inches of eye relief, and you’ll spend your … Read more

I bought my first Marlin 336 in .30-30 fifteen years ago, and it’s taken more deer than any other rifle in my safe. Over those years, I’ve learned that finding the right scope can make or break your hunting season. The .30-30’s realistic 200-yard range demands an optic that balances magnification, durability, and light transmission … Read more

Most shooters are scoping their .17 HMR completely wrong. They’re either slapping on whatever 3-9x scope they had lying around, or they’re going full tactical with high-magnification optics designed for centerfire precision work. Both approaches miss what this cartridge actually needs. The .17 HMR occupies strange territory. With a 2,550 fps muzzle velocity and essentially … Read more

Muzzleloaders kick. Not the polite push of a .243 or even the honest thump of a .308. They deliver a rolling, forward-backward impulse that’ll punish cheap glass and remind you why eye relief matters when you wake up Sunday morning with a scope-shaped bruise. After testing dozens of muzzleloader scopes on my CVA Accura V2, … Read more