been a pest controller for over 20 years and like most shooters
I have pieces of kit that are old favourites, having stood me in good
stead on many outings and lots of new toys. Some bits of new kit that
I often bought on the spur of the moment turned out to be rubbish,
and some I would not be parted from.

Now when it comes to optics I always believed in the old adage that
says that if you buy a half decent rifle and put a damned good piece
of glass on top then you wont go far wrong. Now good optics cost
good money and scopes can be a cheap as 50 quid and top out well
over a grand

Now as got older and had a bit more dosh to spend upgraded
the scopes on many of my rifles, on the bigger calibres I have Schmidt
and benders and on the rimfires I had mainly Meopta artemis and
various Nikko,s, all very functional and very well made at sensible
prices.

About 4 years ago I started using the new .17 HMR round and well its
performance and accuracy is just outstanding. Several of my team use
the ,17s both in 17 and 20 grainers, and we go through hundreds of
rounds a week.

Today a lot of our work involves rabbit clearance over open grasslands
on playing fields, golf courses and country houses, where we can take
shots at rabbits out in the open up to 200 yards away in still weather.
For this sort of shooting I wanted a scope with very precise optics
and a fine reticule with mil dot etching and good light transmission.

While reading What Gun 2007/2008 I saw a review by Bruce Potts of
three different fox/varmint scopes and at the upper price end was the
Lightstream 4.5-14x44 one of two offerings from this manufacturer.
It seemed to meet my requirements and Bruce Potts was very
impressed, and a bloke who knows his onions, so I ordered one.

The scope turned up the following morning, nicely boxed with a lens
cloth, a free alloy sunshade and a instruction leaflet which was very
clear and precise, so we went out to play. Four hours later we was
gobsmacked! This is a lovely bit of kick for the money.

The scope is supplied by A K sports Optics and was designed by the
late Alan Konyn. He wanted a scope made to his own specification
to give him improvements over the current of the shelf
offerings. Alan went to several makers, the Chinese were too naff,
the Europeans too costly so he went to Japan and the people who
make the Nightforce scopes.

So what do you get? The scope is 15 inches long and has a very
high spec black anodised body on a 1 inch tube. 2 turrets with
increments clearly marked from 15 to 300 yards. Objective mounted
parallax which worked effortlessly. The turrets are target style, very
precise and can be reset to zero with the allen key supplied in the
box.

Inside the lens are multi-coated very best quality japanese glass giving
wonderful clarity. The reticule is finely etched in the first focal plane
so the crosshairs image increases as you wind up the magnification,
a big plus as the point of impact shift as the magnification
changes. The reticule is four outer thick stadia with fine crosshairs
with mildots and stadia, simple to use and very clear. The leaflet makes
this very easy to understand for the newbie.

In the box was a precision screw on sunshade and screw on alloy lens
caps which was a nice touch. All this cost £390 which is about the
same as the rifle cost me.

In summary the Lightstream is a lot of scope for the money and gives
the levels of quality and functionality that you normally pay twice that
for. Next purchase will be the 14x55 illuminated reticule version, cant
wait

Available from A.K.Sports optics. Tel 01922 893001
Email: enquiries@light-stream.co.uk
info and reviews; www.light-stream.co.uk

Also C.H.Westons of Brighton Tel 01273 326338

Good Hunting FIREFLY