All posts tagged Tactical Rifle Scopes

Lasers and Flashlights the key is to know when to turn them off

I did a demonstration with one of my friends how using night vision and IR was really easy to pick up from a counter sniper situation if you were projecting it from the same location.   For instance, if you have night owl night vision which is pretty good for the money, the IR is located right above the objective lense.   If you had something like that mounted on a rifle scope and someone who had the same nightvision, but didn’t turn there IR on, they could find you as easily as you would have if you turned on a flashlight in the night.   The best way to aid a sniper in combat is to project IR from above and not directly from a rifle.  The point of this is just because you can do something with an accessory on a firearm doesn’t mean it’s really going to give you the edge.  You have to know how to deploy it.

I never thought just slapping a laser on my AR15 would be fun, I always thought it was kind of pointless because a laser is virtually a perfect beam of light, but a bullets trajectory changes very fast and the laser is about as good as a red dot or rifle scopes in all practicality.   Flashlights are a good thing to have around or on your firearm in your home, but if you are going to use it offensively and not defensively, you have to deploy  tactics that hide movement and don’t give your direction of movement away.   If you are in  your house and hiding in your bedroom ect.  In 99% of situations, yelling down the stairs that you have a gun and you are going to blow their head off if they come up will stop a threat being able to identify something in a corner like a burglar in hiding is what your flashlight it for.

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The AR15, they don’t work for everything

After I see the enormous amount of stuff that people are mounting on AR15s, I enjoy watching the shit to skill ratio that many M4 owners deploy.   I don’t want to come off as an elitist, but I still hold a grudge against many in the AR15 crowd from all of the years I didn’t own one and listed to all of the prima donna’s boasting in the late 1990’s.    It seems that some think the the .223 or 556 round is more leathal if it is fired out of an AR15 than it is in any other similarly chamber rifle.   I’ve seen so many times at gun ranges where a guy shows up with atleast $3000 on his M4 and is spending  his entire day shooting at 25yds-50yds.   I have no problem training in those ranges, but that is fighting territory which the M4 does a good job in.

While this may sound like I’m being overzealous, I have also kept tabs on the number of guys that refuse to shoot those same guns at the 600yd ranges that are right next to them.  I like to ask them if they have shot over there, and the answer is the same, nah, I don’t need to.   Well, what’s the point in having a 600 meter reticle on rifle scopes like the ACOG and never knowing how to  hit targets at those ranges?   It’s not all about point and click, you will miss targets with enough wind, and engaging threats and distances means more travel time for the bullet and just because you see it in the crosshairs at 600 meters, doesn’t mean your bullet is going to hit it 2 seconds later.  I read about a gun fight that took place in the early days of the Afghanistan invasion where a couple guys in a downed helicopter couldn’t take out a bunker at 600yds and almost ran out of ammunition.   The enemy kept ducking under cover and kept shooting and ducking back in.   A good 7.62 that penetrated cover or had more range could have meant the difference.

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Bringing an old gun to the range

I have some funny experiences to share when it comes to choosing guns and calibers for long range shooting.  I use to be a member of a gun club that went out to 600yds, but it has long been closed down.   When I was working on zeroing a DSA STG58 rifle at a 500yd target, I wasn’t getting any better than 10 inch groups at 500yds, but that wasn’t too bad considering I was shooting military ammo.   That is just roughly 2 MOA at that range and for a gun that was a standar barrel and not match grade, I was pretty happy with it.   I have had some issues with the DSA FAL mount I have, but since I have loctited the mount, it hasn’t come loose on me.

While I was shooting there,  an old guy showed up with a 45/70 and a 12 inch box that he was going to shoot.   He fired at 200yds to check his iron sight zero and it was dead on, he moved the box out to 500yds and asked me to spot his bullets for him.   He took one shot and hit just in front of the box and then made an adjustment.  I had one of several Leupold 3-9×40 tactical rifle scopes A few seconds later he fired a second round and nailed the box.   He said I could shot at the box if I wanted to so I did.   My gun could hit it, but I had about a 50% hit rate when shooting off of the bench while this 70yr old guy hit the box every time with iron sights.   I’d like to know where that guy is these days because it made me realize that just because you have a modern firearm, doesn’t mean you are going to be a better shot them some old guy with his 45/70.

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Having fun but having the right stuff

I would have to say that the vast majority of those that have anything more than a flashlight and optic on the M4 are probable putting something on our guns that we really don’t need, but just enjoy having on.   There’s nothing wrong with having an LWRCI upper with a quad rail or a MidWest quad rail if you think you can put it to use, but when we actually have to carry the Carbine for any real length of time, we’ll wish we could strip a few extra pounds of weight off the gun.  Many of our Staff have been attending competition shoots lately that have been really well run.   These events are everything from battle scenarios or even Zombie shoots.

Last  year in Pennsylvania we attended a Carbine shoot where the the attendees has to sign in at 8am and once they left the club house, they couldn’t drop off any gear and had to lug it all with them for the day.   All of the competitors were carrying M4 or AR15 variants and a few had AK rifles.    Ammunition loads were approximately 400rds of rifle and 100rds of handgun ammo.    I enjoy these events because we get too see some real hard use of tactical gear and tactical accessories.   We tend to not see things fail at these shoots because the competitors are in the higher class as far as skill and the types of firearms they use.   If you ever want to see what kind of optics work and which firearms and when things jam, go to a competition shoot at your gun club and sit back and watch.

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Ruger 10/22 range day and scope options

I’m brainstorming with this blog post so give me some of your advice if you have any on what to put on my Ruger 10/22 rifle.   This is a standard 10/22 and not a tricked out barrel or trigger.   I purchased all of my 22lr for new shooters to learn on and didn’t want to get too fancy with optics in the beginning.   After picking up a Marlin Model 980 bolt action and having the rear sight replaced with an adjustable elevation like the standard 10/22,  I haven’t had the urge to buy another optic for this gun.   Many bolt actions are capable of shooting quarter size groups at 100yds with the right kind of ammo, but even though my bolt action has that capability, I still wanted it for novice introduction to firearms.

My ruger 10/22 was a training gun, but after recently doing some aggressive testing between the two, there was no comparison in accuracy.   The bolt action was shooting dime size groups at 50ft and the Ruger was shooting 2 inch groups with the same ammo.   I’m thinking about picking up a rifle scope for this gun that is either a fixed power or a red dot.   I have a Butler Creek 25 round magazine that I have yet to test out, but it could be a good close quarters combat training tool for wiping out soda cans and other carbonated reactive targets.   I had an Eotech 552 on a Ruger Mini 14 and had fun with it, but went back to a 3-9x40mm scope because it just seemed more practical.

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Short deployments and planning ahead

I prefer the Eotech optics for most fighting within 200yds.   I have yet to pick up one of the G23 FTS magnifiers because I am waiting to find out if there is going to be a 4x version coming out.  To me there is zero magnification and then there is 4x, and then I move up to 10x.   I really find there to be no real reason to do the 1-3x or anything between 5-8x.   The magnifer is an good idea for someone who already owns the Eotech and wishes they had an ACOG.   You may think that is a funny thing to say, but it’s true.   The Trijicon ACOG is a nice optic, but it does have it’s limitations in close up fighting and if you want to mount a red dot on top of the scope, you’ll be dealing with extremely high mounted optics for 30% more money.

 

I think there is a difference between what a SWAT Team should be planning to use as far as accessories and gear and what Military personal should expect.   I have had my fair share of experiences with combat Eotech rifle scopes optics and optics that I would just consider for hunting that were very durable.   I have never had a bad experience with an optic that cost me more than $200.   I’ve had some optics that have been on my hunting rifles  with 5000 or more rounds and I have never had a loss of zero.   Although we all know that there are differences in the types of optics, most of us won’t have issues if we mount them properly.  Most combat optics will come with a mount or already are a one piece unit like the Eotech rifle scopes.

 

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My Ranch gun and configuration

If you learn how to match your ammo to the barrel twist and do some serious slow fire testing you should be able to get MOA with a 3 shot group from one of these guns.   I use the Weaver Grand Slam on another Mini 14 if I think I might have to deal with prairie dogs.   If I am going specifically to hunt these animals, I’ll take a 22-250 and plan to setup for an afternoon with a packed lunch.   I’m a big believer in having a good a pair of binoculars with me just for getting a better field of view.

 

Even though I own more  than a few combat worth AR 15 rifles,  I still got back to my trusty Ruger Mini 14 for the job it was intended to be used for.  As I was discussin previously when it came to what types of footwear to use throughout the year, It would be nice if we could take a light version of what many of us carry when we know we don’t need the standard setup.   The great thing about the Mini 14 Ranch guns is that they are light and short, and they are also already setup for optics.   I have a few of these  guns with different Weaver rifles scopes, but I think the most applicable would be a fixed power 28-30mm optic.

 

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Excessive magnification, or effective upgrade?

I have a Winchester Model 70 Pre 64 that I got off a family member for hunting when I was 17yrs old.   At the time, the 3-9 Redfield scope was good enough for me to average 2 inch groups at a 100yds.   As I grew older I slowly learned the tricks to cut my groups down and it wasn’t all about trigger control.   Stock work and trigger tuning got this 2 MOA gun to being able to put 9 rounds in a 2 inch circle at 200yds.   My Zeiss 6.5-20×50 gave me an edge for target shooting, but I realize it’s a little much for your average New York State white tails.

 

 

Just like many of the options we have when thinking about selecting a firearm, caliber, holster, sights, rifle scopes, we have to do a little thinking ahead.   We have to realize that there is such a thing as versatility with various rifle scopes , but nobody has a do it all scope yet.   I think there is going to be a day when we have a rifle scope that is zero magnification at one setting and 40x at another setting with bullet calibration and computerization built into the reticle, but right now, that would probable cost too much to field these kinds of rifle scopes to the average citizen.

 

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Mounting an optic and locking it down

Just like every other accessory or firearm, there are pros and cons of any tool.    The novice attitude towards firearms is that a certain firearm is better than another just because they spend more money on customization.    I’ve seen guys with Kimber 45acp that couldn’t hit a plate at 15yds and guys with a Mil-Spec 1911 hit a plate at 100yds.    There are always variables when it comes to accuracy and tolerances, but it’s more than likely all about the skill level of the operator.

When  you are discussing the topic of which rifle scopes are better than others, the real issue would be about the clarity and reticle type and the durability.    I have read so much BS when it comes to rifle scope durability because most of that is from improperly mounted optics.   I’d say 75% of the time I pick up a rifle that is not my own, the rifle scopes are canted or the rings are not loctited.    If you don’t have a scope that is leveled properly, your hold overs are going to be shooting to the left or right of your target instead of dead on, high or low.   You’ll have a heck of a time trying to practice your accuracy because your elevation adjustments will cause your windage to change.  Reliability with an optic has more to do with how you mount it and lock it down than the price you paid for it.

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Combat Optics and profile

Trijicon ACOGKeeping a scope cover on your objective and being aware of your flash is extremely important.  I highly recommend a flash kill cover for any combat optics and also suggest a cover for your flashlight.  Even something like a red lense will help avoid giving away too much reflection.   Flashlights are probable the biggest giveaway in low light even if you don’t turn them on.   Next time your at the range, put your rifle on the bench and walk down range and look again.   Keep in mind that even though you may be 50-100yds away and wearing camoflauge, your fancy schmancy M4 has various points of reflection and even moonlight will have an impact.

One trend that I haven’t jumped on the bandwagon with is the all of the battery operatored doodads on a rifle.    There are defintely reasons for putting lights on a gun and for 40mm objective lenses optics on your rifle, but many of those will stick out like a lighthouse in the field.   I remember a clear safety violation of a gun operator who was handling his rifle during a cease fire.   I was downrange about 500yds and turned and saw the flash of his Trijicon ACOG at that distance.   I knew he was handling his rifle, but it was too far for me to scream back and tell him to put his gun down.   It dawned on me that if I was the enemy, that guy would have been outed from 500yds away just because of how much his optics refected light.  He was actually  in the shadow of building and not in direct sunligh, nor was the sun shining from my direction on him.

 

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