Tacticool Girlfriend

Or fall in love with it and never sell it like I did. 😄

Also want to add, this replaced an LPVO on the same rifle. I absolutely relied far too much on zooming in and was intimidated by the idea of a fixed magnification prism taking that away. All those fears have been put aside looking back.

I was nailing targets out to 500 yards on first shot on the clock, it's surprisingly easy in my experience. I didn't quite appreciate it until then, but the glass quality and reticle absolutely matters a lot here at such extended ranges. If you can, I'd recommend giving one a try at least.

Some might scoff at the Trijicon tax, and I held off on one for years due to this - I get it. The used market hardly diminishes that price tag, so I just went with a brand new one to ensure the tritium was still fresh, and I’m so glad.
It’s by far my favorite optic now, and well worth it.

My performance with my ACOG at High Desert Brutality 2025 could be chalked up to experience, but I do need to lend some credit to this optic - it objectively made some of those shots and target transitions a breeze when I would have struggled more with other setups.

I also added a Trijicon anti-reflective device and run this alongside an offset Holosun EPS for 1x and quick passive night vision shooting.

The crosshair reticle I chose offers a fine point of aim, and covering up sections of the fiber optic like I did with velcro helps reduce any unnecessary bloom from illumination.

Lastly, the optic has a heavily proven track record as one of the most rugged ones ever made.

Some love to complain about the eye relief, but that’s a training issue more than anything, and moving to a far superior cantilever mount like mine largely eliminates those gripes.

The fiber optic offers absurdly bright illumination in most daytime settings, all without the need for any electronics. The weight is hard to beat at 9.9 ounces of the optic alone, especially when combined with lighter mounts like my Scalarworks.

On an AR-15 with its effective ranges, it’s incredibly easy to quickly acquire targets and land precise shots at most aside from the bleeding edge of sneezing distance to the furthest terminal reaches of 5.56. The glass quality is immaculate with powerful light transmission.

The field of view is unmatched at four times magnification, it punches far beyond its weight for a fixed prism.

The TA01 was released in 1987 with an etched reticle and tritium illumination for low light. With the addition of fiber optic illumination, the TA31 was released in 2004. This is a very old design by today’s standards. Yet, I can’t even imagine a competitor for what it delivers.

Tacticool Girlfriend's Trijicon TA31 ACOG

A view through the ACOG and its reticle

The more I use this optic, the more it feels at home on the AR-15, and the more it feels like the AR-15 - despite numerous attempts to replace it since, it still persists largely unchallenged in its class in any meaningful way.

Oh absolutely, but that won't stop them from trying. They've just been resting on their laurels for a while now.

Exhibit A.pdfile

It feels like there are no political or military objectives at this point because the facade has fallen on every front. The logical end game of the military industrial complex is not to win anything at this scale of empire. It is to expend munitions and restock them until climate collapse takes us all. It is to secure contracts - yes, even the ones sold as “humanitarian”. It is an economic feedback loop of an industry fueled by blood and wreckage. It has proliferated every segment of our society, and we are collectively footing the bill in more ways than one.

If it feels like we've been here before, it's because we've been here for quite a while now.

Tacticool girlfriend with her AR

I have no idea what you're talking about.

They're all just popular guns that came to mind. Purely vibes based post.

Femme AF!

Sounds fishy.

I made this years ago and it's still making the rounds. 😂

I made this years ago and it's still going around. 😂

I just wanted a panopticon for dogs, by dogs, backed by a system of corporate lobbyists to fund representatives in a oligarchical, feudalistic, carceral dual economy and military-pedophile industrial complex. Thanks for nothing Ring.

Lastly, batteries. Get lots of batteries. If you can find ones with USB-C charging ports, all the better for ease of charging.

As a result, you may want to swap them often. I’ve prolapsed the SMA connector on my oldest radio, so getting adapters for better connectors like BNC coupled with BNC-terminated antennas is an often overlooked but huge upgrade to extend the life of your radio.

There’s also directional antennas that may work best in certain circumstances.

It’s important to understand that every antenna resonates best at certain frequencies - there is no “do everything and do it best” antenna. Single-band antennas will always be more efficient than multi-band antennas.

from Smiley Antenna Co. For improved performance and flexibility, I also have some longer Super Elastic Signal Sticks from Signal Stuff. Lastly, I have an N9TAX Slim Jim roll-up antenna that can easily be hung up high, such as from a tree branch, to increase my reach even further if I’m stationary.

Photo of various radios and antennas

Don’t neglect your comms! Even with cheap radios, investing in a few simple accessories goes a long way (literally). Lose the shoddy stock rubber duck antennas and get some that are best-suited for your purposes. I like to have some stubby antennas for ease of wearing the radio, such as the minis

It beautifully draws together stories of everyday Afghans, even animals and objects, during a tumultuous time in our history, painting a picture that is refreshingly humanizing. I cried many kinds of tears throughout this book. Tashakur Mina jaan, for this gift to us all.

Cover of the book Your War Our Lives by Mina Sharif

Living through decades of media saturation with stories from foreign media outlets and occupying soldiers with little more than atrocities and strife to share, this book is truly like an oasis in the desert.