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Today, shooting at a distance beyond 800 m is considered long range. 20 years ago, hitting a target 1000 m away was deemed an achievement but this is no longer the case – much has changed. In the present, shooting at a target 2000 m away or farther is almost a norm in competitive shooting, and competitions like King of 2 Miles are expeditiously gaining in popularity. With years, the shooting equipment has received many upgrades. Today, you can achieve a consistent accuracy with tactical rifles chambered in .338 LM or similar at a distance of 2 km, which is incredible.
Schmidt & Bender 3–12x50 PM II was one of the first riflescopes designed for this purpose. Soon, other manufacturers followed, introducing their own versions. Gradually, features such as an adjustable parallax and turn indicator were added. A modern long-range tactical riflescope is packed with features that allow the user to shoot at a considerable distance.
Today, there are more than 10 renowned manufacturers of long-range tactical riflescopes.
The King of 2 Miles competition (France)
Long-range tactical riflescopes boast either a MIL/MIL or MOA/MOA configuration, even though many professional shooters prefer the MIL/MIL variant because it is much easier/natural to calculate the number of clicks. MOA/MOA is usually preferred by American shooters. A long-range tactical riflescope is equipped with an FFP reticle and a tube that measures at least 34 mm in diameter (34 mm, 36 mm, and 40 mm are the most common). The tube is bigger because a larger elevation range than usual is needed for long-range shooting. The maximum magnification is at least 16x, often beyond 20x. The most common value for the lens diameter is 50 mm, but it isn't rare for manufacturers to offer even bigger lens diameters on their long-range tactical riflescopes. The turrets are of the tactical type, uncapped and robust. Most elevation turrets found on these scopes are multi-turn. On some premium long-range tactical riflescopes, a double-turn elevation turret is used. Zero Stop is a common feature.
A tactical turret on a Zero Compromise Optic 5-27x56 riflescope
As MIL/MIL tends to be the most popular configuration, these turrets often feature 0.1 MRAD clicks. Zero Stop and the locking function are common characteristics. A single-turn configuration does not grant the user a big enough elevation range, so double-turn and multi-turn turrets are much more common. Travel per rotation is also an important piece of information – 10 clicks in a single turn, for example, make it much easier to quickly dial in the amount of clicks needed to land the shot. There are various turn indicators on the market. Here, we list some of the most common:
• A nonmechanical turn indicator in the form of lines underneath the turret – this option is the most common but the most annoying to use since it is difficult to tell in which turn you are (the lines are usually quite close together);
• A mechanical, intangible turn indicator – in some turrets, a colour or a number change signifies the transition into another turn. Such indicators can be found on certain S & B and Minox riflescopes.
• A mechanical, tangible turn indicator – typically, a pin indicates the turn the turret is in; we can either look at it or feel it to find out in which turn we are. It can be found on some S & B, Kahles, and Vortex riflescopes.
Some Schmidt & Bender and Premier Reticles riflescopes feature a unique feature called MTC (More Tactile Clicks) – each 10th click is more tactile, giving the user an option to dial in the needed number of clicks without having to look at the turret.
A tactical reticle is always in the first focal plane (FFP) – the reticle subtensions do not change with magnification, which means that such a reticle can be used for distance estimation and bullet drop correction at any magnification setting. In the past, the Mil-Dot reticles were commonly used but are now obsolete. Long-range tactical shooters tend to go for reticles in the shape of a Christmas tree. 'Horus' was one of the first reticles of this kind. Even though reticle illumination is not a must-have, it is most certainly a nice addition. The reticle is matched with the turret clicks, making the riflescope either a MOA/MOA or MIL/MIL version. One of the modern trends is to have the windage turret capped – many modern riflescopes are designed in this manner. It is especially important that a click of the turret moves the point of impact exactly as listed, at precise intervals. In other words, the riflescope must track well. Great tracking is one of the key features of an accurate riflescope. Manufacturing a riflescope with a good tracking mechanism is not simple, which is why riflescopes with such a system generally carry a high price tag.
Horus H591 (Burris Optics)
A big elevation range is needed to make a successful long-range shot because of the bullet drop. The bigger the tube, the more elevation range can be implemented into a riflescope – that's a general rule. For this reason, a tube diameter of 34 mm is the industry standard in this category. There are some exceptions, though:
• 35 mm – Leupold, Vortex, IOR;
• 36 mm – Hensoldt, ZCO;
• 40 mm – IOR, Sightron.
For mounting, a high-quality aluminium monoblock mount is the most popular option. Most often, it is mounted on a Picatinny rail. Having an inclined mount (20–40 MOA) can greatly aid in long-range shooting. Spuhr, ERA-TAC, and Tier-One are the most renowned mount manufacturers in this category.
We cannot shoot at a target far away without proper magnification. At magnifications higher than 20x, the optical quality plays a major role. Only a quality image will provide the user with enough details to take the shot. The field of view also plays a major role. Even though this type of shooting mostly takes place during the daytime, it can be prolonged into the evening, which is why the riflescope's low light performance should not be overlooked.
Kahles K624i 6-24x56
A few years ago, March launched a Genesis riflescope with a huge amount of elevation. Even though it is an excellent long-range shooting riflescope with some of the above-mentioned characteristics, Genesis is not a typical tactical riflescope.
For extreme long-range shooting, many users combine their tactical riflescopes with equipment such as Charlie Tarac or Nightforce Wedge Prism.
Nightforce Wedge Prism
More and more riflescopes of this type are emerging on the market with every passing year. The best among them are produced by manufacturers (or individuals) with many years of expertise in this field:
• Hensoldt
• Zero Compromise Optic
• Leupold
• Schmidt & Bender
• Kahles
• Steiner
• Nightforce
• Vortex
• US Optics
Most high-quality long-range tactical riflescopes are produced in the US, Europe, and Japan.
A short presentation of Long Range Tactical Rifle Scopes is available here.
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