Revic Radikl RS25b Riflescope: Full Review

A riflescope’s purpose is classically defined as “magnifying the target and surrounding area while also providing a clearly defined aiming point.” Scopes have advanced from fixed-­power models to variable power, and from point-­of-­impact click adjustments required to zero, to fine and repeatable adjustments done with a quick turn of an exposed turret. The next leap forward for riflescopes in this century has been spearheaded by Gunwerks, a Cody, Wyoming-­based company that has been focused on long-­range marksmanship for almost two decades.

For a long time, rifleshooting required estimating range and figuring holds to strike targets at distances for which the shooter was not zeroed. This is why many hunters still zero at 200 yards and then don’t worry too much about target distance when the range is 300 yards or less. This method is simple and effective. It persists because it has been proven to work again and again. The difficulty arises when targets get small and when distances increase.

The first breakthrough came when laser rangefinders became affordable. Rangefinders allowed us to measure the distance to the target with the push of a button. This meant the only task the rifleman had to accomplish to hit the target was to know the elevation correction to account for that distance. It sounds simple, but it’s a complicated calculation. Gunwerks’ initial solution was to use ballistic drop compensating (BDC) turrets. BDC turrets accounted for all of the other variables so that the shooter only had to dial the target distance on the turret to achieve a hit. The problem was the shooter had to know the temperature, elevation, bullet velocity and ballistic coefficient (BC) to make an accurate BDC turret. Since Gunwerks sold the ammunition with its rifles, they just asked where the shooter intended to hunt and what time of year. This allowed for precise shooting solutions.

What Gunwerks learned in a decade of teaching people to shoot with the outlined system was that the fastest and simplest form of communication during a hunt was when speaking in terms of yards, not minutes of angle (MOA) or milliradians (mils) to correct elevation. This eliminates the requirement that whoever is ranging the target has to know the shooter’s ballistic solution in advance, a complicated task when trying to work quickly in the field. The shooter just has to know the range to the target, so a simple statement from a friend with a rangefinder, “472 yards” for example, provides the missing piece of information.

While a BDC turret is a good solution, it is far from exact. It doesn’t provide quick wind corrections at the target distance, account for angles, or allow the shooter to “true” the ranges to a particular rifle. These are the reasons Gunwerks started working on a scope that was capable of accounting for all of those variables. Gunwerks wanted to allow the shooter to get the range in yards, dial to that range, and hit. The concept started to form in 2011, but the effort didn’t get fully underway until 2013.

Aaron Davidson, owner of Gunwerks, told me, “We wanted the same exact workstream as a BDC turret. It’s all about dialing the range and shooting.” 

In order to make this happen, Gunwerks developed a scope that had all the necessary environmental sensors built-­in, along with an inclinometer, compass, ballistic solver, and a micro OLED display inside the scope to convey all the necessary information. The scope they created was the first product in the world to have a micro OLED display, that’s how cutting-­edge the PMR scope was at the time. What it allowed the shooter to do was load a rifle’s profile into the scope and dial the range on the elevation turret to get a hit. All calculations occurred in the scope with no smart-phone apps or supporting devices required.

The only issue with the first PMR scope was the weight, which tipped the scales at 48 ounces. No hunter is excited about carrying a 3-­pound scope in the field. The PMR came out at the NRA Annual Meetings in 2017. Once they saw the reception the PMR received, Gunwerks began working on the second generation immediately. The Radikl RS25b riflescope sent to Guns & Ammo for testing is the result of those efforts.

The new scope has a different magnification range, but it weighs 10 ounces less and significantly increases optical performance. There is an intuitive way to input wind values directly into the scope for refined and fast shooting solutions, all while staying on the rifle and looking through the scope. While some will be shy about putting it on a lightweight gun, it is at home on most hunting rifles due to its many capabilities.

I saw first-­hand just how effortless the Radikl RS25b makes shooting at long distance on a recent South Africa plains game hunt. While hunting with Davidson, we compared riflescope set-­ups and shared our thoughts on each other’s solutions. I used a system I’ve developed through years of long-­range shooting, and it worked well for me. Each morning, I created a range card that covered distances from 200 to 800 yards using Hornady’s 4DOF solver. I wrote the card out and carried it in an arm-­mounted sleeve or in my pocket. I created a second card at lunch to reflect the change in temperature.

“That’s dumb,” said Davidson. I chuckled and decided to watch how he solved his long-­range problems. The ease of his solution didn’t hit home until I borrowed his rifle and Radikl scope for my last animal. The rifle won’t be announced until 2025, so I can’t describe it here, but I was surprised how quickly I became comfortable behind the Radikl scope and how easy it was to use. It already had the rifle’s profile installed, and the OLED screen at the top of the field of view had all the information displayed in an easily understood format. What caught my attention the most — besides the image quality the scope provided — was the real-­time wind holds calculated as I adjusted for the target’s distance. I like to estimate wind speed and direction at my location, and then look through the scope to estimate what it’s doing downrange. A couple nudges and taps on the small joystick atop the ocular housing and the scope calculated holds based on my latest read. No system is faster while still accounting for all the variables that impact long-­range shooting.

The Revic Radikl RS25b is as high-­tech as scopes get. It proved to be a highly sophisticated riflescope that shoulders almost all of the difficult technical tasks in getting to a ballistic solution quickly. The only efforts left for the shooter are to determine the range, dial the turret, estimate wind, and pull the trigger. To date, no system is faster and more accurate. 

Revic Radikl RS25b

• Power: 4X to 25X
• Objective: 50mm
• Tube Diameter: 34mm
• Elevation adjustment: .1 mil or .25 MOA per click
• Windage: .1 mil or .25 MOA per click
• Reticle: RH-­2 MOA, RH-­2 Mil
• Length: 13.2 in.
• Weight: 2 lbs, 6 oz. (tested)
• Eye Relief: 3.35 in. to 3.62 in.
• MSRP: $3,995
• Manfacturer:  Gunwerks, 307-­296-­7300, gunwerks.com

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