There are many tactical-style video producers on YouTube. Many of these guys, to be honest, aren’t very knowledgeable about firearms, nor are they particularly good shooters. By contrast, videos hosted by Tactical Hyve regularly feature top Action Pistol, PRS and 3-gun competitors as well as military SPECOPS veterans. The vets include SEAL team members who really know their stuff. The Tactical Hyve YouTube channel currently hosts over 560 videos! Here are seven of our favorite Tactical Hyve videos featuring highly-skilled instructors.
1. How to Aim a Pistol with Iron Sights or Red Dot
We recommend this video for persons training for a CCW permit, or who are getting started in pistol shooting competition. The video shows proper technique for using iron sights. In addition, it offers some important advice for shooting with Red Dots. Shooting with Red Dot sights can be easier than with iron sights because you only have to put the dot on the target, rather than align front blade with rear notch. But it does take some familiarization to get things right. And persons with astigmatism can have challenges with Red Dot sights.
2. Five Most Common Pistol Shooting Mistakes
In this video, Myles, the founder of Tactical Hyve, talks about the five most common pistol shooting mistakes he sees in classes and how to correct them. Many folks begin pistol shooting without a qualified instructor. Or they try to imitate what they see on TV. This can lead to new pistol shooters forming bad habits. This video helps handgunners correct those bad habits. This popular video has 1.9 million views.
3. Dry-Fire Techniques with Pistol Master Champion J.J. Ricaza
Released on 8/4/22, this is the latest video from the Tactical Hyve YouTube channel. The featured shooter, J.J. Ricaza, a multi-time Steel Challenge champion, is one of the top 10 action pistol shooters in the country. Racaza show how to dry fire like a grandmaster in this video. Dry-firing lets you polish your technique at home, and improve your skills without the cost of live ammunition.
4. Reticle Types Reviewed — MOA and MilRAD
In this video, Billy Leahy, former USCG Precision Marksmanship Instructor, talks about the common optics reticles you’ll encounter. This is a good video to watch if you are shopping for a new scope and are considering a variety of reticle types, both MilRAD (Milliradian) and MOA, SFP and FFP. In this video, Leahy covers the following reticles:
Standard Mil Dot
Leupold TMR
Nightforce Mil-XT
Horus Tremor3
Vortex EBR-7C (MRAD)
Vortex EBR-2C (MRAD)
Vortex EBR-4 (MOA)
5. Use of Tripods for Precision Rifle Competitions
In this video, retired Green Beret and nationally-ranked precision rifle shooter, Scott Satterlee, shares precision rifle tripod shooting tips. This is a “must-watch” video for PRS/NRL shooters who may use tripods in competition. This video can also benefit hunters who might use a tripod in the field.
6. Pistol and Rifle Methods for CROSS-Dominant Shooters
What is “Cross Dominance” and how do you adjust for it? Those questions are answered in this video. If your dominant eye is opposite your dominant hand, then you are cross-dominant. For example, this Editor is right-handed but my LEFT eye is dominant. So I am cross-dominant. This video starts with a simple exercise to determine your dominant eye. Then the video shows how to hold a pistol correctly if you are cross-dominant. Finally, the video shows techniques that benefit cross-dominant rifle shooters.
7. Setting Up an AR-15 for Home Defense
In this video, retired Navy SEAL Mark “Coch” Cochiolo shares how his primary AR for home defense is set up. Coch reviews various optics choices and he also explains how to mount a lamp on your home defense rifle(s). The AR-15 set-ups of ten other tactical experts are revealed in a Tactical Hyve web article. See:
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If you are looking for a premium riflescope with 25-26X max magnification, there are two impressive new options, and both come from Europe. Swarovski just announced its new X5 5-25x56mm scope while Leica has unveiled the new ER 6.5-26x56mm LRS. Intended for long-range shooting, both these scopes offer razor-sharp glass and some advanced features. The Swaro offers 20 MOA per revolution, plus a unique “Sub-zero” capability. The Leica has some interesting reticles and an attractive price.
Scope Brand/Model
Max Power
Elevation
Clicks
Tube
Lume
Est. Price
Swaro X5 5-25x56mm
25X
82 MOA
1/4 or 1/8 MOA
30mm
Optional
$3300/$3500(i)
Leica ER 6.5-26×56 LRS
26X
120 cm*
1/6 MOA*
30mm
No
$2089**
* This is at 100m for the Euro version with 0.5cm click values (1/6 MOA). Leica has not published MOA elevation. 120 cm at 100m works out to about 41 MOA at 100 yards.
** Based on €1990.00 (Euros) stated price. The actual price, as sold in the USA, could be higher.
Swarovski X5 5-25x56mm
Swarovski recently unveiled its new X5 series of second focal plane scopes for long-range shooting. There will be two models, a 3-18x50mm and a 5-25x56mm. Both are available in standard and illuminated versions, the latter designated as X5(i). Long-range reticles with be available with either 1 MOA or 2 MOA stadia hash-marks. The 5-25X model offers either 1/4-MOA or 1/8-MOA clicks.
Swaroski says: “The X5 series has been developed specifically with the long range shooter/hunter in mind. The newly-designed turrets allow for 20 MOA per revolution, have a viewing window to show the user what revolution he or she is on. At the heart of the X5(i) is a Spring Retention and Lever System that exerts the same pressure on both turrets from the inversion system regardless of positioning. This assures maximum accuracy and repeatability.”
Check Out Features of Swarovski X5 Riflescopes
The 5-25x56mm X5 has a lot of elevation travel — 82 MOA. And this is a rugged scope — the elevation, windage, and parallax turrets, as well as the inversion system are built with stainless steel components. This enhances component longevity and durability.
X5 Offers Dual Zeros (for Long Range and Short Range
The Swarovski X5 scopes boast a new “Subzero” Function. This innovative feature allows the shooter to instantly come down 10 MOA (40 clicks) from a pre-set zero. That’s a nice option for training, letting you quickly switch from near to far. The new X5(i) Rifle Scope will be available in two different models, X5(i) 3.5-18×50 and X5(i) 5-25×56, in Fall 2015. For more information, visit Swarovskioptik.com.
Leica ER 6.5-25x56mm LRS
With 26X magnification on tap, the ER 6.5-26x56mm LRS riflescope is suitable for long-range hunting as well as many target disciplines. The new Leica ER 6.5-26×56 LRS offers ultra-sharp glass with low color fringe (chromatic aberration). This is a big advantage when viewing high-contrast subjects such as black-on-white targets. Eye relief is ample, and the scope offers a -4 to +3 Diopter compensation. Three reticle options are offered including two Ballistic reticles with elevation lines and horizontal (windage) hash marks.
With a rugged, aluminum “mono-body” main tube, the Leica is waterproof and fog-proof. Like all of Leica’s ER riflescopes, the ER 6.5-26x50mm LRS features a high-tech glass coating process technology. The scope is bright, with 91% light transmission. The HD glass elements are precision-ground with a state-of-the-art laser-guided production process.
Leica Pricing is Attractive
The new Leica ER 6.5-25x56mm is priced competitively. At the IWA show in Germany this month, Leica said the scope should retail for about 1990.00 Euros, which works out to $2089.00 U.S. Dollars at current exchange rates. Even if the “as imported” price goes up for the U.S. Market, that makes the scope much less expensive than Swarovski’s X5 5-25x56mm scope, and less than some comparable US-made optics.
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March scopes (built by Japan’s Deon Optical) have become extremely popular with short-range benchrest competitors, and we are seeing an increasing number of 600-yard and 1000-yard shooters upgrade to March scopes. The March product line offers high magnification (up to 60X power), a wide choice of reticles, and extremely bright, sharp lenses.
March has also quickly acquired a reputation for reliable tracking and shot-to-shot consistency. In the unforgiving short-range benchrest game, if your reticle shifts just a tiny amount from shot to shot, that can open up your group and drop you from a top place to “also-ran” status. Top short-range shooters have praised the March for its ability to “stay put” with no reticle movement, shot after shot.
New Website with All the New Scopes (with Specs)
In the USA, March scopes are sold by Kelby’s Inc., which has a page dedicated to March products on the www.Kelbly.com website. If you need MORE Information about the March scopes, there is now a new March Website, with more models, more photos, more data, and more reticle diagrams. You’ll find the latest Benchrest models on the new March website, including the popular 36-55x52mm Benchrest EP Zoom Scope, the 10-60×52 Zoom, and the 40X, 50X, and 60X fixed-power BR scopes. In addition, the website features March’s new hunting and tactical series of optics, including the 1-10×24, 2.5-25×42 scopes which boast a revolutionary ten times Magnification Ratio.
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Premier Reticles has introduced a new 5-25x56mm “Premier Heritage” Tactical scope. This is a proper First Focal Plane (FFP) tactical scope, offering 1 cm/0.1 milrad turret click values matched with an illuminated reticle with cm/milrad hash marks. (27 milrad Double-Turn knobs are standard; 1/4-MOA clicks are optional.) Total elevation is a whopping 31 milrads (107 MOA). This is not a single-rev turret design, but one revolution covers 15 mils or about 51 MOA. For practical purposes, most shooters can get out to 1000 within one revolution if you have an angled scope base. The scope is 16.34″ overall with a beefy 34mm-diameter main tube. The 5-25x56mm Premier weighs 1.1 kg (39 ounces) and lists for $2899.00. Expect the “street price” to be about $2750.00.
The new scope has some nice features. First, the new 5-25x56mm Premier has tons of elevation. Total elevation is 31 milrads (equivalent to 107 MOA). As noted there are 15 mils (51 MOA) per revolution. Second, using a patent-pending Lever-Lock™ system, the scope can be zero-locked without tools. Third, the illumination control nests inside the left-hand parallax/focus turret, leaving the 34mm main tube unencumbered by a brightness knob. Finally the scope has a truly useful 5.5-range diopter. That’s enough diopter range to enable many eye-glass wearers to dispense with correction. A lot of smart thinking went into this scope.
Big brother to the Premier Heritage 3-15x50mm introduced last year, the 5-25×56 offers excellent brightness, resolution, sharpness and contrast, along with superior color fidelity and light transmission (93% average across all wavelengths). The tactical windage and elevation adjustments on both Heritage scopes feature the patent-pending Lever-Lock™ dial retention for re-zeroing without special tools. Standard turrets have 0.1 milrad (1cm) click values, while “user-swappable” dials are available to change click values to ¼ MOA.
FFP Reticle Features
Currently, all Heritage scopes come standard with First Focal Plane (FFP) reticle placement for consistent subtension regardless of magnification setting. The Heritage 5-25x56mm comes with Premier Reticles’ own patented illuminated Gen II Gen II XR (extended Range) reticle. The illumination control has 11 brightness settings, a locking illumination dial for “off” storage, and a 6-hour time-out function to preserve batteries.
Strong Demand for New Scope
The first run of the new 5-25x56mm Premier Tactical scope sold out, with high demand by both military and civilian customers. However, Chris Thomas, Premier’s President, tells us that “more 5-25s are on their way. Units should be available in about 6-7 weeks, if you order now”. The Premier Heritage scope comes with a lifetime warranty. Premier Reticles is a 63-year-old optics company with headquarters and manufacturing in Winchester, Virginia and an additional design branch in Germany.
*NOTE: On Premier’s spec sheet, elevation is listed as 30 milrad/103 MOA. That was for the prototype. Production models have more.
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The new scope has some nice features. First, the new 5-25x56mm Premier has tons of elevation. Total elevation is 31 milrads (equivalent to 107 MOA). As noted there are 15 mils (51 MOA) per revolution. Second, using a patent-pending 
Big brother to the Premier Heritage 3-15x50mm introduced last year, the 5-25×56 offers excellent brightness, resolution, sharpness and contrast, along with superior color fidelity and light transmission (93% average across all wavelengths). The tactical windage and elevation adjustments on both Heritage scopes feature the patent-pending 
