"OPTICS FOR PRACTICAL LONG RANGE RIFLE SHOOTING"
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This article covers the basic equipment, information, and skills required to successfully engage in practical long-range rifle shooting. Keep in mind that this is an article and not real training, and there is no substitute for getting out there and learning from each shot.

It is divided into three sections. The first is about the rifle and gear. The second discusses trajectory and optics selection in depth. The third explains how to put everything together to make hits on targets in the field.

PRACTICAL LONG RANGE RIFLE SHOOTING Article Series:

PART I: THE RIFLE & GEAR - priorities, cost, calibers, rifles, ammunition, scopes, range-finders, ancillary gear, spotting, data

PART II: OPTICS - ballistics, elevation, wind, lead, data cards, dialing elevation, parallax, first focal plane vs. second focal plane, elevation adjustment & travel, clicks, zero-stop, single- vs. multi-turn knobs, bullet-drop compensators (BDC), tube diameter, reticle features, MIL vs. MOA, reticle illumination, brightness, magnification, objective size, specific recommendations

PART III: SHOOTING - zeroing, finding a range, targets and placement, packing up, arrival, target location, positioning, making scope adjustments, engagement, follow-up, shooter/spotter communication, efficiency

Practical precision rifle shooting involves engaging small and/or distant targets at the limit of weapon, ammunition, and shooter capability under time pressure in field settings.

Applications include but are not limited to: very small targets 1/4"-1" at 100 to 200 yards, so-called "cold bore" shots, arbitrary unknown distance targets, moving targets, ranging, shooter/spotter communication, and combinations of all of those under time constraints.

Generally, these include everything a rifleman is likely to find in any "sniper", "tactical", or "field" rifle match. The typical platform is a bolt action rifle, though an auto-loader of sufficient accuracy and appropriate caliber can do the job with some trade-offs.

For our purposes, consider "long range" to reach to the load's trans-sonic boundary (the point at which the bullet slows to 15 to 20 percent faster than Mach 1). For example, with typical 308 loads and rifles, we are interested in ranges from 25 yards out to about 700-1100 yards, depending on ambient conditions and the particular load.

Some understanding of bullet trajectory and the physical factors affecting bullet flight is needed as background before discussing optics.

In the simplest case, take an accurate rifle with sights zeroed at 100 yards shooting one type of ammunition. In the absence of wind or shooter error, the bullet will impact the point of aim (POA) when the target distance is 100 yards-- hence its "zero" is at 100 yards.

The "line of aim" is a line straight from the shooter's eye, through the sighting device, to the target. The bullet starts off below the LOA by the distance between the center of the sighting device and the center of the bore. This is called the "sight over bore" distance. The axis of the bore is not parallel to the LOA-- the bore is angled slightly upwards. This causes the bullet to start off with some "upward" velocity. As it flies down-range, it rises to meet the point of aim (POA) which is where the LOA intersects with the target.

Depending on the bullet's velocity, the bullet might keep rising above the LOA and again intersect with it a second time as it falls. Alternatively, it may rise just enough to meet the LOA and then start to fall again.
In this graph, two loads are displayed. The green trajectory is a 308 load zeroed at 100 yards. It starts 2" low, rises to the LOA at 100 yards, and then drops off the graph 8" low at 267 yards.

The red trajectory is the same load zeroed at 200 yards. It starts 2" low, intersects with the LOA the first time at about 40 yards. At 120 yards, it's about 1.6" above the LOA, then drops, intersecting the LOA again at 200 yards. This is the second, or primary, zero. At 300 yards, it's about 7" low.

Looking at the graph with the 200 yard zero, the point of impact (POI) at 100 yards would be about 1.6" above the point of aim (POA). At 240, the POI will be 2" below the POA. At 300, the POI will be 7.5" below the POA. Thus, to hit a small target at 300 yards, the shooter would have to hold 7" above the target. The bullet continues to fall relative to the line of aim as target range is increased.

A table can be constructed which relates the drop distance for every range out to the maximum engagement range. An abbreviated table might look like this, for a rifle with a 100 yard zero. (An actual table would have intermediate distances like 120, 140, etc.)

RANGE   DROP
 100     0"
 200     2.87"
 300     11.2"
 400     25.6"
 500     46.9"
 600     76.0"
 700    114.9"
 800    161.7"

This is helpful, but the shooter is left with the problem of how to aim 47" higher than the target when the distance is 500 yards. There won't be a 47" yardstick sticking out above the target. Aiming the cross-hairs at a point imagined to be 47" above the target is difficult and very error prone. Instead of measuring hold-over in terms of linear distance (inches or cm), it would be helpful to translate those linear distances into units of angular measure. The concept of angular measure is that an angle of 1 degree demarcates 1.7 yards at 100 yards, or 3.5 yards at 200 yards. Everyone with a basic understanding of geometry should understand how angles work.

There are two units of angular measurement commonly used in rifle scopes. The first is the "minute of angle." Dividing a circle into 360 degrees, then each degree contains 60 minutes. One MOA demarcates 1.0472" per 100 yards of distance.

The second is the "mil". One mil is one part transverse per 1000 parts distance. In units we understand, 1 mil is 3.6" per 100 yards (ie, 100 yards is 3600", one thousandth of which is 3.6"). Consequently it's also 1 yard at 1000 yards. Alternatively, in metric, 1 mil is 10cm per 100 meters, or 1m at 1000 meters.

Just like the atmosphere pushes on the bullet as it moves forward, slowing it down, any winds present in the bullet's path can affect its trajectory. The most common effect is the cross wind. A 10mph cross wind will move a typical 308 bullet about 6" at 300 yards. The following graph demonstrates the wind deflection as range increases for a left or right 10mph wind.

RANGE  DRIFT for 10mph cross
 100    0.6"
 200    2.6"
 300    6.0"
 400   11.0"
 500   17.8"
 600   26.5"  
 700   37.5"
 800   50.9"

For moving targets, the shooter must aim in front of the target a distance which depends on the target distance and speed. This is called "lead." We'll generate a table for some standard target speed and add it to our table.

Both the "drift" and "drop" values in the tables can be translated to use angular measurements (MOA or mils) instead of linear measurements (inches or cm) to aid utility.

The shooter might end up with a data card that looks something like this. The first line describes the load so he can keep straight what the data-card describes. The second line reminds him what each column means.

155 LAP: 2825fps 100yd 0'
RANGE   elev wind   4mph->(MOA)
  25    4.00  0.25   6 moa
  50    0.75  0.25   6 moa
  75    0.00  0.50   6 moa
 100    0.00  0.50   6 moa
 125    0.25  0.75   6 moa
 150    0.50  1.00   6 moa
 175    1.00  1.00   6 moa
 200    1.50  1.25   7 moa
 225    2.00  1.50   7 moa
 250    2.50  1.50   7 moa
 275    3.00  1.75   7 moa
 300    3.75  2.00   7 moa
 325    4.25  2.00   7 moa
 350    5.00  2.25   7 moa
 375    5.75  2.50   7 moa
 400    6.50  2.50   7 moa
 425    7.25  2.75   7 moa
 450    8.00  3.00   7 moa
 475    8.75  3.25   7 moa
 500    9.50  3.50   7 moa
 525   10.25  3.50   7 moa
 550   11.25  3.75   7 moa
 575   12.00  4.00   7 moa
 600   13.00  4.25   8 moa
 625   13.75  4.50   8 moa
 650   14.75  4.75   8 moa
 675   15.75  5.00   8 moa
 700   16.75  5.00   8 moa
 725   17.75  5.25   8 moa
 750   18.75  5.50   8 moa
 775   20.00  5.75   8 moa
 800   21.00  6.00   8 moa

Columns:
1. Range
2. elevation for #1's target distance, in MOA
3. wind for #1's target distance, in MOA
4. lead for #1's target distance, in MOA for a target traveling at 4mph (a medium walking pace)

All the trajectory values can be calculated using one of the modern small-arms ballistics calculator programs, such as Sierra Ballistic Explorer, Exbal, QuickTarget, Agtrans, etc. Several parameters are critical to their accuracy: (1) bullet ballistic coefficient (BC) values, (2) accurate measured muzzle velocity from a chronograph, (3) solid zero distance, and (4) accurate environmental conditions including station pressure, temperature, or density altitude.

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The following graph shows the effects on bullet path of dialing elevation. The red trajectory is with a 100 yard zero. Next, the shooter wants to engage a target at 400 yards, so he dials the elevation specified by his data-card for 400 yards, which results in the green trajectory. He repeats the same procedure for 600 yards (dark blue), 800 yards (purple), and 1000 yards (cyan).

The following graph show the same trajectories, but with the bullet path converted to Minutes of Angle (MOA) above Line of Aim. Observe that the MOA difference between the lines is constant as distance is increased (the lines are "parallel"). This means that regardless of the zero distance dialed, there is the same angular difference between any two zero distances (e.g. 400 vs. 600 is approx 6 MOA.

There is one drop curve for a certain load (when the drop data is converted to angular units) and that that curve is merely translated up and down by dialing the elevation knob.

It is important to verify computed data by actually shooting targets at various distances and looking at the actual hits (or misses) to determine if the elevation values are correct. Shooting known-distance targets every 100 yards out to the maximum range is a good way to do this. Let's look at the things we want to accomplish with the rifle sighting system:

1. Precisely specify drop hold-over out to our maximum engagement distance.
2. Precisely specify wind drift out to our maximum engagement distance.
3. Precisely specify target lead for moving targets/shooter.
4. Range targets of known size when Laser Range-finders are not appropriate
5. Observe target area
6. Retain #1-5's capabilities in low light conditions

Magnified rifle optics have several salient optical properties which we need to understand before discussing the capability trade-offs later: Parallax is the error in apparent POA vs. actual POA due to misalignment of the shooter's eye vs. the scope's axis. A scope can be set to be parallax error free at one distance. A scope either has adjustable or fixed parallax. Fixed parallax means the distance at which there is no error is fixed to something like 100 or 200 yards from the factory. Most tactical scopes have adjustable parallax, which means the user can adjust the parallax error free distance on the fly to reduce parallax error whatever the current target's distance. Variable-magnification optics can have a first focal plane (FFP) or second focal plane (SFP) reticle configuration. A first-focal (FFP) reticle's features always demarcate the same angular measurement regardless of the scope magnification setting. The reticle will appear to "shrink" and "grow" with the target area as the magnification is adjusted.

A second focal plane (SFP) reticle demarcates angular distance that depends on the scope magnification setting. The reticle appears to stay constant as the target area shrinks and grows as the magnification is adjusted.

A fixed power optic is FFP by definition.

With the background out of the way, What are the capability trade-offs of the different feature choices?

Elevation specification can be done by external knobs (or direct mount adjustment, e.g. the Elcan), via reticle features, or a combination.

Knobs: If the primary method of specifying elevation is by external knob, the knob will have "click" values. Each time the knob "clicks" to the next setting, the elevation setting will be changed by the click amount. Typical values of clicks are 1/4 MOA, 1/2 MOA, 1 MOA, or 0.1MIL.

The scope's internal mechanical design and the scope mounts used determine the maximum range for which elevation can be specified. In the specifications for a scope, the maximum elevation travel is described as something like 60 MOA, 80 MOA, 100 MOA, etc. This is the total "top to bottom" travel of the erector assembly inside the tube.

If the rifle and mounts are level, the elevation adjustment should be in the middle of its total travel when zeroed. For example, if we start with "0" at the bottom, a scope with 60 total MOA elevation will likely be zeroed at about 30 MOA up from bottom, and cranking it all the way up, it would stop at 60 MOA. In this case, the scope is limited to 30 MOA "up" elevation from center/zero. This will limit the maximum engagement range by limiting the elevation setting that can be dialed. For example, if a certain 308 load needs 31.5 MOA elevation for 1000 yards, the described scope will not be able to dial enough elevation. When it hits its maximum at 60 (30 above center/zero), it will still be 1.5 MOA "short."

The way to get around this is to use an inclined scope base. An inclined scope based has some downward "slope" built in. An inclined base with 20 MOA angle will shift the zero point in the scope further away from its top extent. For example, with the 60 MOA scope described before, instead of being zeroed around +30 MOA (its center), it would be zeroed at about 30 - 20 = 10 MOA up from bottom, and have about 30 + 20 = 50 MOA "up" elevation left. Now instead of running out of elevation travel trying to dial 31.5 MOA, the scope will dial freely up another 50 MOA-- when it is dialed to 31.5, it still has 18.5 MOA left for dialing to longer distances.

The smallest elevation change possible using the scope's mechanism will in part determine the smallest target for which we can specify hold-over at an arbitrary distance.

For example, if we have a scope with 1 MOA clicks, at 400 yards that will demarcate 4.2", so it will not be possible to dial the correct elevation to hit a 3" target at 400 yards with this setup. One adjustment setting might be just under the target, and the next would be 1" high over the top of the target.

The tradeoff of fine clicks is that more of them are required to achieve the same elevation adjustment. For example, if 15 MOA are required to get to 600 yards, that would be 60 1/4-MOA clicks, but only 15 1-MOA clicks. The large, coarse click values can be faster to adjust in the field, at the expense of fine-grained adjustment ability.

If an external knob has a "zero stop" feature, the knob will physically stop turning at or near its "zero" setting. When the shooter wants to dial back down to his zero, he can turn it until it stops.

A scope without a zero-stop, like the pictured Leupold, has a knob that will keep turning until the erector assembly bottoms out in the scope body tube. Each revolution the knob turns move the knob up or down, just like a jar lid. On a scope without a zero-stop, the shooter typically notes which "hash mark" the zero-revolution corresponds to.

In many scopes, a larger click size means fewer revolutions of the elevation knob are required to reach its maximum elevation. A good example of this is the Leupold M3 knob, which turns only one revolution but has 1 MOA clicks. The opposite example would be the Leupold M1 knob, which has 3-5 revolutions depending on scope model and 1/4 MOA clicks.

Some scopes are designed to have very many small clicks in only one revolution. A good example of this would be the US Optics EREK knob, which has 90 clicks per revolution and can be ordered with 0.25, 0.5, or 0.1MIL click values, which would yield 22.5MOA, 45MOA, or 9.0MIL travel per revolution.

Likewise, some scopes are designed to have just two turns of travel, with some indication to the user which revolution the knob is on. The best example is the Schmidt & Bender "Two Turn" PMII scope, which has approximately 27 mils of travel in two revolutions. Even the two-turn scopes have enough travel in the first revolution to shoot to 1000 yards with 308WIN.

A single or two-turn scope simplifies elevation adjustment by freeing the shooter from keeping track of the current revolution of the knob. With a regular M1-style multi-turn knob, the shooter consults his log-book and reads 17MOA, then has to adjust his scope up one full turn (15MOA) and then two MOA past. With a single or two turn scope, he merely turns the knob about 1/3 of one revolution until the markings for 17MOA are visible. Some scopes come with bullet-drop compensator (BDC) knobs. These knobs are calibrated for a certain load by having markings typically every 100 yards or meters on the knob itself, so the shooter can look for the distance on the knob instead of the angular elevation amount. If the shooter is engaging a target between marked distances, for example 450 yards, he will have to guess or look up in his data which click value between the 400 and 500 yard markings to use.

A BDC knob is nothing more than a regular knob with markings that correspond to the load used.

When the elevation knob is adjusted, it physically moves an assembly -- some lenses and the reticle -- inside the main tube body of the scope, just "under" the elevation knobs. This assembly is called the "erector" assembly because it inverts ("erects") the image coming from the objective lens. The erector assembly travels up and down as the elevation knob is turned, and left to right as the windage knob is turned. The movement of the erector assembly moves the "zero" of the reticle.

The erector's movement within the scope body is limited by the side of the main tube diameter of the scope. Thus the larger the scope tube diameter, the more elevation travel will be mechanically possible. (It is also possible that the elevation knob mechanism itself limits travel before the mechanical limit of the erector. This is most common in "one turn" scopes like the Leupold M3.)

Scope tube diameters include: 1" (25.4mm), 30mm, 34mm (Schmidt & Bender), 35mm (US Optics), and 40mm. The advantages of the larger tube diameters are more elevation travel available and a stronger scope. The disadvantage of larger tube diameters is that the selection of scope rings is few, however, there are several high-quality ring sets available for 34 and 35mm tubes.

The second method for elevation specification is to use reticle features. Many reticle designs have hash marks or dots down from the main cross hair which can be used for hold-over. In a FFP scope, the angles demarcated will be the same at any scope magnification. In a SFP scope, the angles demarcated will change as the scope magnification is changed. Thus, without overly complex calculations, reticle-based holdover is most useful in a FFP scope.

Just like the "click" sizes, the spacing of the hash marks for reticle holdover in part determine the smallest engage-able target size. For example, if a reticle has 1 MIL demarcations (ie, in a mildot reticle) and you need to shoot a 10" square target at 600 yards, you need to hold approximately 3.4 mils high, so you'd put the target approx 40% of the way from the 3rd to the 4th mark. If the target is small, there is no precise sight picture-- you're holding "in space" again.

A more sophisticated reticle designed specifically for reticle-based holdover (and windage) is the Horus. The Horus H25 reticle is mil-based, with small tick marks every 0.2mil. A 308 shooter with the H25 reticle can shoot to 1000 yards using the reticle only.

For example, at the TACPRO 2005 sniper match, there was a stage in which 5 targets had to be ranged and engaged with one shot each under a strict time limit. I ranged the targets with my laser and wrote their distances on my note-pad. As I moved from target to target, I only needed to look up the drop for that distance and use hold-over in the Horus H25 reticle. I didn't have to fiddle with any knobs. This demonstrates the speed advantage of reticle-based holdover. A shooter should try to memorize his drop values, and it also helps if he can remember the current target distances or have a spotter to communicate them.

The last method for elevation specification is a hybrid, where the shooter might dial to an intermediate zero like 500 yards from his primary 100 yard zero, and then use reticle-based hold-under and hold-over for targets closer and further than the intermediate zero distance.

Reticle and hybrid holdover has the advantage of being much faster than dialing elevation changes between shots at targets of different range. The downside is that sight picture precision is reduced because of the larger granularity of reticle features vs. typical knob click values.

Again at the 2005 TACPRO sniper match, on a stage where I knew the distances beforehand (325, 375, 500), I dialed to 375, and noted the hold-under for 325 (0.4mil), and the holdover (1.1mil). While shooting the stage, I merely used the appropriate hold-under/over points in the reticle.

In variable power scopes, a first-focal plane (FFP) reticle configuration means that the angular measure of the reticle features stays constant. No matter what magnification it is set at, 1 MOA will be 1 MOA and 1 MIL will demarcate 1 MIL.

The FFP comes into play because with a wide range variable scope (my SN3 is 3.2-17x), dialing down the power will widen the field of view. Target to target transition times are drastically improved by widening the field of view. The ability to locate targets is enhanced by a wider field of view. To use reticle based holdover without the need to adjust to a specific magnification setting, the scope must have a FFP reticle.

Another advantage of the FFP is that ranging and miss-spotting can be done at any power and yield direct accurate results.

Exit pupil size numbers increase as the scope magnification is dialed down. That's the math behind the observation that a scope at a lower power will produce a brighter image than the same scope dialed up in power. During the day it doesn't make a difference. During the night, it makes a big difference in target ID and sight picture. For an illuminated reticle to be useful, its features need to demarcate the same at whatever magnification is needed for low light.

A FFP reticle setup allows reticle-based and hybrid reticle/click holdover to be used at any magnification setting.

There are some disadvantages to a FFP reticle in certain situations. As the magnification is increased, the width of the lines which comprise the reticle increase in apparent size and will obscure more of the target than the fine lines in a SFP reticle. Conversely, when the magnification is set near the bottom, for example at 4x on a 3.2-17x optic, the reticle lines "shrink" in size along with the target image and may become difficult or impossible to see in some lighting conditions due to their very fine width.

Windage works just the same as elevation. Knob clicks or reticle features can be used. The big difference is that the amount of wind hold off is much less than the maximum elevation required for the cartridge's maximum range. A typical 308 load might have 8 MOA deflection with a 20mph cross-wind at 800 yards, while it needs about 18 MOA of elevation at that distance. This means that windage travel is typically not an issue.

Because wind changes can be very dynamic, using the reticle for windage hold-off can be more effective than dialing wind. For example, by the time you notice the wind and dial a correction, it may have changed already. Using reticle windage hold-off can be immediate.

Again, lead works basically the same as windage.

In principle, either system can be used. If you're thinking about or communicating elevation values (for example looking at data and then dialing or holding off), a typical elevation value in MOA for 308 looks like "11.25" which is four digits, but the same mil-based would be just "3.2" or two digits. (In fact you can go out to over 1000 yards before needing more than two digits of elevation in mils.) This is less information to process. There are two types of parallax adjustment. The first is an adjustable objective, in which the objective bell itself rotates to adjust parallax. The second is a rotating knob typically on the left side of the scope, opposite the windage knob.

The adjustable objective is optically simpler, meaning fewer lenses and more clarity and brightness, but the shooter must reach forward to the objective to adjust it. The rotating knob adjustment is more convenient since it's located closer, near the rest of the turrets, however, more lenses are involved which can reduce clarity and brightness.

In either case, some parallax adjustment knobs or objectives are marked for range so the shooter can dial it based on the target distance. Others are not marked with distances, and it's up to the shooter to determine visually when the image is in focus and parallax-free.

To determine if parallax exists at a certain distance, the shooter aims at an object at that distance, then moves his head slightly side to side and up and down without moving the rifle. If the reticle aiming point stays "on" the object, then it is parallax-free. If the reticle aiming point moves with regard to the object, then some parallax error is present.

In some low-light conditions, it is difficult or impossible to see a black reticle on a dark target. Most tactical scopes are available with the option of an illuminated reticle. Mechanically, this consists of some type of external switch or brightness adjustment control, a battery, and a light source such as an LED (light emitting diode) inside the scope actually providing the light to the reticle.

Some reticles are fully illuminated, but some reticles only illuminate their center portion. A fully lit reticle can be too "busy" visually, while a partially or center lit reticle might not illuminate all the reticle features. Brightness adjustment is critical. If the reticle is too dim, it might as well not be illuminated at all. If the reticle is too bright, it will wash out and obscure the target.

There are several methods to turn on or adjust the brightness. Leupold scopes have an on/off/brightness turret at the 10:30'o'clock position on the ocular housing, just to the rear of the power adjustment ring. This is offset from the elevation adjustment knob, but still obscures it somewhat. Nightforce scopes have a simple on/off switch activated by pulling put the cap of the parallax adjustment knob. Schmidt & Bender have an auxiliary knob on the side for on/off and brightness adjustment. US Optics scopes with illumination similarly have a auxiliary knob somewhere on the turret housing of the scope, location depending on other scope features.

Illuminated reticles, when turned on, are visible from the front of the weapon, through the objective lens as a red/orange light. The frontal visibility depends on the angle of observation, the intensity of the reticle, and scope design. If it is critical to not be observed from the target area, then reticle illumination must not be used.

Most modern tactical scopes will have similar image brightness during the day, but differences at twilight and low or no-light can be dramatic. There are three main factors which affect low-light brightness: lens quality, magnification, and objective lens diameter.

The easiest way to increase brightness is to dial down the magnification on adjustable scopes. There is an inverse relationship between magnification and image brightness. This is another good reason to choose an adjustable magnification scope.

The second two factors affecting brightness are characteristics of the scope itself. Given two scopes with the same lens quality, the one with the larger objective lens will be brighter simply because it can focus more incoming light from the target area through the scope's lenses. Finally, lens and lens coating quality is critical to image brightness. Higher quality lenses and coatings will pass through more light and less brightness will be lost through the scope itself.

There is a trade-off to be made between objective size and mechanical considerations. A scope with a 80mm objective will gather 4x more light than a 40mm objective, but it will be much heavier and will require extremely high mounts to clear the objective bell over the barrel. Mechanical considerations favor the smaller objective, and a lower sight over bore distance is preferable since it reduces the mechanical offset.

The following is the end-point I've arrived at after going through all of the above. A practical long-range rifle shooter who wants to shoot MOR, sniper, tactical, and field matches should pick a scope with the following features:

1. Variable magnification in the 3-18x range. Low power is useful in low light, on close targets, and on movers. Higher magnification helps for target ID and sight picture at long range. Scope must have parallax and focus adjustment.
2. Knob "clicks" no more coarse than 0.5 MOA. The standard clicks of 0.25 MOA or 0.1 MIL are great. 0.1MIL is about 1/3 MOA. Clicks in this range are fine enough to allow precise specification of elevation for small targets.
3. The elevation knob should have a zero-stop set up to allow either no clicks below "0" or up to a couple MOA "below" 0. The zero stop helps to prevent the shooter from being a full knob-turn revolution off from where he intends to be, and is easier to check settings in low light conditions.
4. The reticle must be of a first focal plane configuration. The FFP reticle allows use of reticle features at any magnification setting, which is useful for target location, tracking of moving targets, fast engagements, spotting, and low-light.
5. The reticle should have angular features in units useful for both hold-over/under and windage hold-off. Typical units would be 1/2 MOA hash marks, or 0.2 or 0.5 MIL hash marks. The Horus H25 reticle appears busy, but is ideal for rapid engagements of multiple targets at different distances.
   
   Schmidt & Bender and US Optics are the only manufacturers who currently make top-quality scopes with the right features for practical long-range rifle shooting.
6. The angular units of the reticle features must match the angular units of the knobs' "click" values. There is no reason to have two different "systems" in use on the same scope. If the clicks are in MOA, the reticle features should be in MOA. If the reticle is in mils (e.g. Horus or Mil-dot), the knob clicks should be in mil units.
7. Field-adjustable illuminated reticle. The illuminated reticle dramatically improves sight picture in some low light environments. The ability to adjust the brightness in the field is critical to prevent wash-out with a super bright reticle setting. The downside of an illuminated reticle is that it can indicate the presence of the shooter.
8. Objective size. A good compromise point is a 44-50mm objective provided that the scope has very high quality lenses, such as those from Schmidt & Bender or US Optics. A larger objective size in a scope with lower quality lenses may be less bright than a smaller objective with high quality lenses.

Based on the above list, there are basically three choices that meet all of them:

1. Schmidt & Bender PMII, 3-12, 4-16, or 5-25, again with matching angular units in the reticle and on the knobs
2. US Optics SN-3 3.2-17x, preferrably with reticle features that match the knob clicks (mil/mil, or moa/moa)
3. Leupold Mark 4 "FF". The M1 version of this scope has no zero stop. The M3 version of this scope has a zero stop, but coarse 1 MOA clicks. There is a new M2 version of this scope with 0.5 MOA elevation clicks which should be a good choice.

$4600 3 barrels $1800 15,000 reloads $6000 CONSUMABLE COST -> $7800

This comparison doesn't even include the cost of formal training, match fees and travel costs. If you plan on shooting regularly to achieve a superior level of proficiency, it makes sense to buy the best rifle and scope you possibly can. -->
Proceed to PRACTICAL LONG RANGE RIFLE SHOOTING - PART III: SHOOTING

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