Some experience driven comments,
Foremost, hire a shooting coach that will drill you endlessly on the basics!
No one, and I mean not one single person learns to shoot 1,000 yds without the basics being drilled into them!
If you meet someone that shoots well @ 1,000 that says they are self taught, they LIE.
This is like driving fast on a road track, go to driving school so you at least know the vocabulary and can describe what the car is doing... Long range shooting is no different, and it's MUCH cheaper/more efficient to do it up front than learn the hard way!
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1. No 'Also Ran' or 'Just Like' optics.
I found out the hard way the lesser priced optics DO NOT perform like the real thing.
From lense center grinding to mounting to mechanical fitting, there is no substitution for the few actual top end manufacturers.
I've tied up a second retirement fund in 'Same As' optics, and they just are not what they claim.
2. Just because this or that optics maker has a government contract doesn't mean that optic is 'Top End' or a military issued tested/tough enough for long term use.
I can think of at least half a dozen that do have government contract sales but didn't work as advertised and/or needed constant send back to the manufacturer to get rebuilt.
3. Keep in mind YOUR application, you won't be shooting unknown 'Estimated' ranges in the desert one week, or the jungle next week...
While I have zero issues with 'Tough' or 'Hardened' products, I'm NOT dragging a rifle through a jungle or desert creep anymore, so I don't need rubberized armor or any 'Super Duper' crap that adds weight and makes the optic harder to use.
A plain target optic is fine with me since the rifle goes from case to bench, back into the case...
4. MOUNTS are just as important as the optic!
A $2,000 optic in $30 mounts shoots like a $30 optic.
*IF* you are using your optic on an aluminum upper (like an AR format), then use ALUMINUM, long footprint one piece mount. The mount & upper will heat expand & contract at roughly the small rate NOT putting a bow in your expensive optic tube.
Lap the rings ROUND!
I guarantee a high end optic will have a ROUND tube, and an oval ring distorts the tube.
Use rings that have at least two screws per side, this distributes pressure more evenly and screws will stay tight without over torquing them.
If you have a steel receiver, use a ONE PIECE STEEL MOUNT.
Again, steel receiver & steel rail mount will expand/contract at roughly the same rate.
I use -8 screws, often adding an extra screw at one or both ends to keep the rail SECURE, and to stiffen up the ejection cut away in the receiver.
The more rigid, the better chance of accuracy...
5. Mark your rings/caps for front/rear & right/left sides so the rings/caps go back on the same way every time.
Use an INCH pound torque screwdriver to tighten cap/ring screws! Once a fasteners is stretched, it's worthless, an in.lb. drive tool will prevent this from happening and get your rings/caps back on where they belong and the correct torque for repeatability.
The ring/cap in front gets 1 punch mark and the rear two, on the left side, so rings/caps all get back where they belong. This is real easy and makes quite a difference.
Match the ring punch to the cap punch and the rings/caps are back on correctly. Very simple to do.
6. It's REAL hard to beat a FIXED power optic, say 10x for 1,000 yards.
The reason is, with vairable magnification, the image will sometimes change focal planes a dozen times, and that's a crap load of lenses, adjustment mechanicals that all have to work EXACTLY CORRECTLY, each & every time, for the optic to be of use.
The aforementioned thermal expansion alone screws things up, not to mention one single tiny grain of sand or machining burr throws everything off in unpredictable ways.
Keep in mind the Marines used fixed 10x optics for decades, scoring with the best target shooters in the world & making hits on enemies @1,000 to 1,200 yds with amazing regularly... While shooting a 7.62x51 cal round most people think is substandard today.
The warfighter NEEDS the power to do what most common shooters can't do at all, but a target bench shooter doesn't need something that will survive 100 foot fall from an aircraft.
7. Unless you know EXACTLY how a 'Mildot' reticle works, simply avoid them.
Unless your range finder is calibrated in metric (like a mildot reticle), then avoid them.
I've heard the endless argument about mildot NOT being metric or English standard, but the point of the matter is they simply are metric based, and intended to range using a human outline for range estimation.
Plain old cross hairs, based on English yards (not meters) makes for more pleasant target shooting.
8. Stay away from anything with a battery.
Nothing like EXPENSIVE, odd batteries that are always dead when you need them...
Or worse yet, corrode in the optic when not in use.
Battery corrosion IS NOT covered under any warranty I've ever heard of, and I've had two expensive optics die from leaking 'China' batteries even though they weren't left for long periods...
9. 'Clicks' are OK if the adjustment is fine enough... Most usually aren't for long range targets.
Keep in mind that most optics are 1/2", 1/3" or 1/4" OR, 1/2, 1/3 or 1/4 MOA (1.049") @ 100 yds.
That adjustment limitation continues to compound with increasing range.
Friction settings will allow you to select spaces between 'Clicks' for more precise adjustments, some optics will NOT let you stop between 'Clicks', so it's something to watch for...
10. Make darn sure your lenses are CENTERED, (centered in their adjustment travel) vertically & horizonal and adjust the MOUNT to get you close to the target @ 1,000
While lense manufacture has got a ton better in the past few years, the optical center of any lense is about 10-15%.
Honing/Lapping rings bases is slow work, but you get PRECISELY what fits your rifle.
The closer the mount is to the correct optic tube alignment, with lenses centered in the tube, the more accurate those lenses will be with SLIGHT adjustment.
It will throw you off at short range since you have to crank into the margins of the lenses, but keep in mind the deviation is reduced at shorter ranges.
Might as well have the optic working optimum at maximum range rather than at minimum range...
11. Centered over bore, on vertical axis...
This is 'Cant' in the optic when the optic is twisted over the barrel.
Those bubble levels WILL NOT get you square over the bore!
I've tried a bunch of them, and none beats the string/plumb-bob for squaring the optic with bore.
Hang a string/plumb-bob out so you can focus the optic on it. Loud color string helps.
Take bolt out, center the BORE on the string.
Rotate optic so vertical reticle is hiding the string.
Be VERY careful when you tighten the ring caps, keeping the string behind the vertical reticle line.
If you want to, put a bubble level on the receiver now, often times people are stunned how far off that bubble level is! Just because the top of the rifle/mount is flat doesn't mean it's level/plumb, and a plumb-bob is the ONLY way to square optics with bore...
Keep in mind that 1 minute of CANT (on a clock face) is a 55" misalignment @ 1,000 yards according g to the USMC.
I've personally never intentionally misaligned exactly one minute to see if this is true or not,but since the USMC long range/snipers manual hasn't been wrong about anything else, I'll take their word for it.
12. Bullet drop compensation.
The ONLY way a bullet drop compensator works is *IF*...
You are firing EXACTLY the same ammo through the exact same type of rifle the compensator was designed for...
Which makes it about worthless in civilian shooting, no need to have the reticle all marked up and busy if it's not going to be accurate, and virtually ZERO are past 300 yds.
The bullet has to leave the muzzle at EXACTLY the correct velocity, and the bullet has to have EXACTLY the correct weight & ballistic coefficient that matches the compensation hash marks on the reticle.
Faster or slower, different spin rate, different weight or BC and the compensator can't be accurate, so why bother?
Long range shooters always work up range cards for the ammo/rifle they are shooting, so what's the point?
Some are 'Sort Of' accurate at shorter ranges, but I can guarantee you it won't be anywhere close at the ragged end of the ballistic curve on any caliber...
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By weeding out what you don't want, won't use you can limit your search to optics in your price range, or optics that don't have gimmicks & whiz-bang claims.
Right now, the most over-rated are also the most over priced and you see advertisments all over the place for them...
While companies like Leupold make a great product at a fair price without all the "Navy Seals" & special forces claims simply because they make a product that works as described, and they last for years & years if not a lifetime.
The military isn't going to replace your optic when it fails, they aren't going to update when the next whiz-bang gadget comes along, you aren't toing to need any of that whiz-bang stuff at your favorite 1,000 yard range (which are few & far between)...
The three rules should be,
1. Application.
2. Application.
3. Application.
Here is a short story for you...
When I started to compete in long range (40 odd years ago), I ran into some British shooters that were confused if I was American or from Canada.
They said Americans put $100 optic on $1,000 rifle,
While the rest of the world put $1,000 optic on $100 rifles.
A LOT of Mauser 98 outside of service rifle competitions, and a Mauser could be had for $100 almost anywhere in the world.
I had won the Leupold I was using, and about 50% of everyone else was too, while the Europeans ran a lot of Zeiss, and the 'Also Ran' types used 'Discount' optics.
Americans liked Weatherby at that time, $1,000 rifle which usually had $100 optic and just donated to the cause right along with the discount optics types.
I wish I would have taken that to heart at the time, it would have saved me a ton of money in the long run...
