That’s the biggest reason that we divide scopes in the Outdoor Life optics test into two categories: Versatile Riflescopes that can be used for hunting as well as a wide variety of other target work, and Precision Riflescopes that are purpose-built for long-distance target games. That task is aided by shooters’ ability to precisely focus the image, use illumination to highlight the reticle against the background, and rely on excellent glass and coatings to resolve small targets at far-distant ranges.Ī scope with all the attributes required by precision target shooters is often big, heavy, and overbuilt for more pedestrian tasks such as walk-about hunting and close-in target shooting. “As a result, we sell a lot more products.”Īny shooter who has run a PRS course understands the difficulty of acquiring distant targets, then using all the tools of their riflescope-precisely dialing the distance and windage solution with finely calibrated turrets, or using the fine references in the reticle to hold over or hold off-to make consistent hits at targets well beyond 1,000 yards. “We don’t sell a lot of those scopes, but it confirms to the customer who buys our second-tier scopes that we’re serious about serving shooters,” said the representative. Late to the precision-shooting game, this company scrambled to produce a 34mm, first-plane milling scope, which because of the precision components required by precision shooters, is priced well above $1,500. But it’s the influence of these shooters that is moving the market.Ī representative of one scope company told me that he gets more requests for “MIL/MIL” scopes-riflescopes that have both turrets and reticle tuned to milliradian values, than for any other configuration, including the venerable old 3-9×42. It says a lot about the ascendance of practical shooting games that now these companies’ flagship products are precision scopes built on hulking 34mm tubes with first-plane reticles that only a handful of shooters will ever use as intended. Not many years ago, these optics companies would pour those resources into a flagship binocular or spotting scope, or into a riflescope with super-premium glass that might pair with an heirloom rifle. But to appreciate how deeply the precision-rifle movement has penetrated the optics industry, consider all the resources firms are pouring into riflescopes that really have only one job, to help shooters engage steel targets at extremely long ranges. The explosion of participation in long-range target shooting has spawned an entirely new category of riflescope.
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