Tacticon Apex Falcon 1-6x LPVO — Budget LPVO Market Shake-Up

Tacticon has been good to me — they sent the Predator V3, the Predator V4, and now their LPVO, the Apex Falcon 1-6x24 first focal plane. And can we talk about the packaging for a second? These Tacticon boxes are absolutely beautiful — you get a little ASMR action just opening them. Inside: instruction manual, lens cloth, a leveling device, tools, two CR2032 batteries, and — thank you, Tacticon — an actual cantilever mount. I am so tired of buying scopes that come with nothing or some cheap O-ring rings. Budget-conscious shooters just want to pull the optic out and mount it, and this one lets you.

We mounted it on our Geissele Super Duty, a heavier-duty rifle that felt like the right home for a 1-6. Build-wise, the housing is 6063-T6 aircraft-grade aluminum — I don't think you're going to have problems with cracking or drops. The windage and elevation turrets are the standouts: pull out to adjust, push in to lock, with real tactile clicks at half-MOA and 60 MOA of adjustment each way. I was just reviewing an EOTech Vudu that doesn't have locking turrets — I don't know why you wouldn't put locking turrets on everything — and this budget optic has them.

Another detail I genuinely appreciate: eleven brightness settings with an off position at every half-turn. If you're an optic company and you're not putting an off at the half-click, what are you doing? It helps the shooter tremendously and conserves battery. The reticle is an MOA-based system, and being first focal plane it grows as you zoom — easy to zone in at six power, though you lose it a bit at one.

That's the real weakness: illumination. At setting 1 in daylight you ain't seeing it, and even at 11 on a bright day it's barely there at one power — I'd want three or four more levels of bright. At six power it does its job. Glass clarity is pretty clear across the whole range, with the sweet spot right around 3.5 to 4 power. The throw lever is also a little stiff compared to the Strike Eagle I'd been running, though about the same as a Tango MSR.

Now the range results, because this is where it got fun. Sighted in at 50-75 yards in just a couple adjustments — the turrets tracked exactly like they should. Steel at 100 yards, no problem. Then we stepped all the way back to 300 yards on six power and knocked a 6-inch plate clean off the stand. Came back in to 200: clean shots, spot on every single time, zero issues. I am not the steadiest arm at 300 yards, and this optic made it easy.

Where does it land? Website price is about $399, but Tacticon always has some deal running — right now it's their nine-year anniversary at 40% off, which puts you around $210-240. That's right in line with the Sig Tango MSR, Vortex Venom, and Strike Eagle, and I'd say the glass clarity actually beats the Strike Eagle. It's hands-down better than the Vortex Crossfire. For me, at one power I'd still rather run a 45-degree offset red dot for close work — you know I'm not an LPVO guy for CQB — but as a do-it-all budget optic? Hell of a job, Tacticon.