Eye Protection « Daily Bulletin

teslong borescope digital camera barrel monitor

As an Amazon Associate, this site earns a commission from Amazon sales.

December 14th, 2015

Bargain Finder 13: AccurateShooter’s Deals of The Week

Accurateshooter Bargain Finder Deals of Week

At the request of our readers, we have launched a “Deals of the Week” feature. Every Monday morning we offer our Bargain Selections. Here are some of the best deals on hardware, reloading components, and shooting accessories. Be aware that sale prices are subject to change, and once clearance inventory is sold, it’s gone for good. You snooze you lose.

1. Amazon — Sightron 10-50x60mm SIII Scope $779.00

Quite simply, this is a steal. This Sightron 10-50x60mm SIII scope originally retailed for around $1250.00. You can grab it now for well under $800.00. If you want a high-magnification scope for Long Range Competition, this is a good choice. It has been used successfully by many top competitors. There is also a Fine Cross-Hair (FCH) model ($1039.00) and a Mil-Dot model ($960.00).

2. CDNN Sports — Baikal MP161K Rimfire .22 LR Rifle

Here’s a very cool semi-auto rimfire rifle from Russia. The modern design of the Baikal MP161K is very ergonomic, making it useful for off-hand shooting. It has an adjustable comb and adjustable LOP. We tried it for some informal silhouette shooting and the testers like it. On the bench the flat “toe” in the rear of the stock works well in the bags. At $229.99, this rifle costs less than a Ruger 10/22. Out of the box we think it’s a better rifle — with a better stock and better trigger. It also comes with a scope rail AND iron sights. A 10-round magazine is included.

3. Cabela’s — Herter’s Range Bag $9.99

Range bag for under ten bucks — this $9.99 Herters Range Bag measures 15″ long x 9″ wide. Along with the main compartment, there are four additional zippered pockets suitable for muffs, ammo, safety glasses, and more. There is a removable shoulder strap. If you order other items from Cabelas.com, you can even get free shipping. Use Coupon “5JOLLY” for Free Shipping with orders over $49.00.

4. Midsouth — $100.00 Off All Leupold VX-3 Scopes with Rebate

Click Image to Zoom for details

No doubt about it — this is one of the best deals going. This $100.00 rebate offer applies to Leupold’s entire line of VX-3 Optics. And Midsouth has sweetened the deal by offering FREE shipping on VX-3s purchased this month. The Leupold $100 cash-back program is good through December 31, 2015. CLICK Here for VX-3 scopes with $100 Rebate and Free Shipping.

5. Grafs.com — Federal .22 LR Ammo $48.99 for 500 Rounds

You can’t have too much rimfire ammo… particularly when you can get quality, American-made .22 LR ammunition for under $50.00 a brick. This Federal HV Match ammo is good for varminting, cross-training, and general plinking. Graf’s price includes shipping after a single $7.95 handling charge. Buy while you can — this will sell out fast.

6. Amazon — Kowa 60mm TSN-601 Spotting Scope Body

If you are looking for a rugged, reliable, and affordable spotting scope to watch flags, mirage, and shot spotting discs, this angled-body Kowa TSN-61 will do the job. These Kowa spotters have been used successfully for years by prone and High Power competitors. Sure the glass is not as sharp as the latest top-of-the-line HD spotting scopes, but the TSN-61 is a small fraction of the price of high-end models which can run $2000 or more. The money you save can buy four premium hand-lapped barrels. NOTE: This item is the scope body only. Eyepieces are sold separately — expect to pay about $250.00 for a Kowa 20-60X Zoom eyepiece.

7. CDNN Sports — Insanely Cheap ANSI-rated Eye Protection

Safety eyewear for two bucks. That’s right, you can get ANSI Z87.1-rated safety glasses (clear or amber lenses) for just $1.99. At that price you should pick up a half-dozen sets, just so you have extras for friends and family. We strongly recommend that shooters wear eye protection at all times when handling firearms. You only have one set of eyes folks — take care of them. This eyewear special is offered by CDNN Sports in the latest catalog (pp. 101-102). Call 800-588-9500 to order.

8. Amazon — ShotShell Thermo Bottle

Looking for a perfect, last-minute holiday gift for a shooter in your family? This is a great gift item that is as useful as it is clever. Verified purchasers of this 25 oz. Shotshell Thermo bottle give it high marks, saying it is a great gift for a hunter or sportsman.

9. Amazon — 8x30mm Military Marine Binoculars

Your Editor uses these Steiner 8×30 binoculars. For most duties, they work great. They are compact, light-weight (18 oz.) and easy to hold. The best feature is the focusing system. Once you adjust each eyepiece for your eyes, everything from about 25 yards to infinity is in focus — honest. The $202.49 price at Amazon.com is $30-$50 less than you’ll pay at other vendors. NOTE: If you want better dawn/dusk low-light performance, spend more money on premium binoculars. But for basic daylight duties, these will do the job. NOTE: Steiner offers a 10x50mm version, but the 8x30mm is HALF the weight. Verfified Purchaser Review: “I bought these binoculars for a recent hunting trip. They are…very clear at any range. I have very different eyes, one is 20/200, the other is nearly perfect, 20/30. The sports auto-focus on this is GREAT. Once I set them for my eyes, they were perfect.”

Steiner 8x30mm Military Marine

Permalink Hot Deals, News 3 Comments »

September 24th, 2014

Eye Protection — LuckyGunner Labs Field Tests

If you’re one of those folks who doesn’t wear eye protection, you need to check out the LuckyGunner Labs Eye Protection Test. For those who DO wear safety glasses — don’t assume that everything is OK. Just because you purchased name-brand “safety glasses” doesn’t mean that you are getting truly effective protection. In fact, many forms of protective eyewear sold today are flimsy, or poorly made. Consequently, they won’t stop even low-energy, slow-velocity fragments.

CLICK HERE to Read Complete Eyewear Test Report by LuckyGunner Labs.

Two years ago, LuckyGunner Labs conducted very extensive field tests of 28 types of eyewear, ranging in price from $7 to $220. Remarkably, some of the most expensive safety eyewear performed no better than $10 items. Many of the products failed shockingly — with the lenses coming right out of the frames when hit with pellets. LuckyGunner recorded these kind of failures even with ANSI Z87-“approved” eyewear. The reason is that the Z87 test is not tough enough: “The basic ANSI standard is referred to as Z87, and you’ll see this marked in a number of locations on most eye protection marketed to shooters. However, the Z87 impact standard involves a .25″ steel ball traveling at 150 fps — this is fine for protecting eyes from debris that might fall or be thrown, but is not extremely relevant to shooters, who are dealing with objects traveling at much higher velocities.”

Standard	Impact speed	Caliber/Size
ANSI Z87.1-2003 High Velocity	150 feet/second 45 meters/second	0.25″ diameter steel ball (25 caliber)
Mil-PRF-31013 Vo ballistic test	640-660 feet/second 195 meters/second	0.15 inch diameter steel projectile (15 caliber)

The testers recommend you select eyewear that meets military specification (above and beyond ANSI Z87). The MIL-PRF-31013 Standard covers projectiles up to 650 feet per second. This is much more stringent. Additionally, you want to replace often-used protective eyewear every year or so. Long-term exposure to UV radiation can weaken polycarbonate and lessen its ability to withstand impacts.

SUMMARY — What to Look for in Protective Eyewear

THE GOOD — Eyewear Protects Against Direct Hit with .22 Short Bullet
APEL Revision Sawfly eyewear was shot with a .22 Short, pushing a 29 grain bullet at 710 fps. That’s not powerful by modern firearm standards, but this might be fairly representative of a ricochet bullet fragment. The Sawfly lens stopped this 29gr bullet with minimal damage to the cheek area.

Lucky gunner eyewear test
THE BAD — Remington Eyewear Lenses Separate. Right Lens Enters Eye Socket
The most gruesome example was the cheap Remington eyewear which shed both lenses back towards the eyes, one of which embedded itself into the eye socket. The real-world implications of this action are disturbing to say the least.

Lucky gunner eyewear test

THE UGLY — Prescription Glasses Failed Miserably
Many ranges don’t see any need for protective eyewear beyond prescription glasses. However, most prescription lenses offer little if any protection. If the prescription lenses are glass, this can create more problems. As shown below, these prescription glasses offered no ballistic protection, and, in fact, proved more dangerous to the eyes due to the flying glass shards.

Lucky gunner eyewear test

_blank
Results Chart, Video Clips, and Photos copyright Luckygunner.com.

Summary and Conclusions:
For faster-moving projectiles such as ricochet fragments, you need high quality, tested eye protection. LuckyGunner recommends eyewear with a single (one-piece) lens for any activity where your face might be struck by small, fast-moving objects. Individual lenses detach from the frames once a certain level of force is reached, and they are driven back into the eye sockets, where considerable damage may be done. There are good examples of protective eyewear with two separate lenses, but a broad, one-piece lens distributes force much better.

A wide, comfortable, and preferably soft rubber nosepiece is critical. Along with good “arms”, this will serve to keep the eye protection in place and will also reduce the chances of the lens being driven down or back into the face with enough force to damage the orbital bones.

A frame that connects across the top of the lens, not individual arms which attach to the outside corners of the lens, is recommended. This will reduce the chances of the lens detaching from the frame under impact (it’s still possible, just less likely). Some types of eye protection actually use the frame to absorb impact and distribute force.

NOTE: Andrew, the author of the LuckyGunner Eyewear report, was a former Navy Corpsman. Accordingly, he is familiar with health and safety matters.

Permalink - Videos, Tech Tip 3 Comments »

December 16th, 2008

BARGAIN BIN — Great Deal on Shooting Glasses

We recently shopped the web to find a new pair of protective shooting glasses. Expecting to pay $20 or more per pair, we were surprised to find high-quality UVEX safety glasses for under $9.00! Available from CooperSafety.com, UVEX glasses feature wrap-around lenses and comfortable padded temples and nose bridges. The UVEX line of safety eyewear passes ANSI Z87+ and CSA Z94.3 standards and meets the MIL VO ballistic test for impact protection. UVEX offers a lifetime frame guarantee–something you won’t get with many $100.00 sunglasses. Among the UVEX product line, we liked the UVEX Skyper ($7.80) with its extended side-shields, the UVEX Genesis ($7.75 -$9.92), and the lightweight UVEX XC ($9.07-$10.55). All three come in a variety of lens shades, and replacement lenses are available for under $5.00 per set.

UVEX safety glasses

For more information on protective eyewear, read our comprehensive Guide to Shooting Glasses. It explains the various safety standards which apply and gives the pros and cons of the various preferred lens materials: Polycarbonate, Trivex, and SR-91.

CLICK HERE to learn more ….

EDITORIAL — Zero Tolerance Needed on Protective Eyewear
I’ve noticed a disturbing percentage of shooters, novice and expert alike, who fail to wear proper eye protection when shooting from the bench. You’ve probably seen this yourself — experienced shooters who’ll grudgingly wear protective glasses in a match (only because they are required), but who won’t wear glasses while practicing. Or, you may have noticed young shooters who shun protective eyewear because they think safety glasses “look dorky”.

shooting glasses

To be honest, guys, I think we need to exercise “ZERO Tolerance” when it comes to eye safety. “Mandatory eye protection” rules need to be enforced… no safety glasses = no shooting, period. Rangemasters must INSIST that ALL shooters on the line wear protective glasses. And when you’re out practicing on your own, wear your safety glasses… always… no matter whether you’re shooting centerfire, rimfire, or even air rifles. One little shard of brass or a popped primer and you could be blinded. Your eyesight is precious. Take care of it!

Permalink Optics 7 Comments »

Newer Entries »

Choose a Topic

Find Posts by Day

Older Posts by Month

Featured Advertisers