Monstrum Tactical seems to be a company that produces a wide variety of products; most of them are on the cheap side. Over time, they seemed to go from small attachments into the world of optics. They’ve thrown out a lot of unique-looking optics in traditional formats. The B.O.P., which stands for Bird of Prey, is a compact shotgun red dot.
Looking at this thing makes it clear that the B.O.P. is inspired by the Viper SG Micro Red Dot Sight. The two optics use a remarkably similar design. The Viper SG and the B.O.P. are both enclosed emitter dots, and both use an identical universal shotgun mounting system.
It’s made up of a small rear slot that serves as your base attachment. In front of that micro single slot, there is a slightly longer slot that allows you to position the second screw at several points. In front of the optic is a long slot that makes it easy to position a second and third screw just about anywhere on the receiver. The slots are counterbored to help ensure good contact with the receiver.
The B.O.P. – How Universal?
This allows the optic to work with shotguns from Mossberg, Benelli, Remington, Winchester, Stoeger, and more. Just for fun, I tested it on a Rossi Brawler and Henry Homesteader, and it fit perfectly. The B.O.P. comes with a wide variety of screws to make mounting easy. I currently have it mounted on a Winchester 1300.
There are differences between the Viper SG and the B.O.P. The Viper SG sits about 0.10 inches lower at 1.15 inches. The B.O.P. is 1.25 inches. Is that a big difference? Not really. The slight lower Viper SG allows us to cowitness with the rifle sights on the Winchester 1300, whereas the B.O.P. sits just a hair too high. It cowitnesses fine with Benelli ghost rings.
Breaking Down the B.O.P.
The buttons on the B.O.P. are on the side rather than the top and are much larger overall. The B.O.P. only comes in one configuration at the moment, and that’s the simple 3 MOA reticle. The Viper SG has a multi-reticle option. Monstrum lists a multi-reticle, but you cannot select it, so I imagine it’s coming soon.
The price is also a lot different. The B.O.P. retails for 99.99, whereas the Viper SG can be had for around 249.99.
The B.O.P. uses a side-mounted CR2032 battery and promises 50,000 hours of battery life. I’m not sure which setting is used for that measurement. I’ve had it for a month, and some change at this point, and the reticle remains bright.
Although a month is nowhere close to 50,000 hours, to help with battery life, it includes a shake-to-wake feature that turns the optic off after 1 hour of no movement and turns it back on when it detects movement.
The view through the lens reveals a slight blue tint from the notch filter. The B.O.P. gets quite bright and can handle the brightest of days. The dot has a good refresh rate and shows no lag when you move it from target to target or when the gun recoils. The dot isn’t a perfect dot; it has some starburst to it, specifically to the left side of the dot.
The lens is 23.88mm wide and 15.88mm tall. Fairly large, and you can snap right behind it.
At the Range
The purpose of this dot is to get low and on the stock as much as possible. Red dots on shotguns with traditional stocks benefit from a low-mounted design. You get a good cheek weld on the gun, and the dot appears naturally. Red dots on shotguns mix the benefits of beads and ghost rings to create a rapid aiming solution that’s also incredibly precise.
No POA/POI issues, no slow-to-align sights; just put the zeroed dot on the target and go. I zeroed this dot to hit about the center of my buckshot’s spread. It creates a great all-around aiming point and lets you go fast.
I started with some basic Fiocchi reduced-recoil buckshot loads to zero the gun. It chewed through the 25 rounds without an issue. The dot made it easy to land two rounds of buckshot in about .80 of a second at ten yards into an IPSC-sized A-zone. That’s certainly fast enough for two and four-legged threats.
I switched to some number 4 birdshot and did most of my shooting with that ammo. I fired a case worth of No. 4 birdshot through the B.O.P. Sadly, my Winchester has some weird issues where the shell would get caught on the barrel extension when I cycled the action. (Any Winchester experts to help me diagnose this?)
I swapped the B.O.P. to a Mossberg to finish my shooting. Regardless, it chewed through the ammo case without a glitch, stutter, or loss of zero. The B.O.P. held up just fine, and color me impressed for a 100-dollar optic.
Specifications
- Height – 1.25 inches
- Length – 5 inches
- Battery Life – 50,000 Hours
- Reticle – 3 MOA Red Dot
- MSRP – 99.99
Clarity – ***(And a half)
The lenses are clear and the dot is fine, but has a little starburst to it. The large lens is quite nice.
Ergonomics – ****
The optic sits nice and low and you can keep that great cheek weld you want with a shotgun. The buttons are big and easy to manipulate and have good feedback, as do the turrets.
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