Service Rifle Spotting Scopes
My dear LR shooting lovers:
Remember that you will be looking at the 3" or 1" or 5" orange indicators on the target. So with that in mind, super high magnification is not so crucial... nice to have great resolution power (super nice glass, but expensive) to read the mirage and the different wind conditions at different mounds. I like to short focus on the mounds in front of you to visualize the wind patterns. Recall that the nearest or closest winds have the greatest effect on any bullet.
I'm coming from the Welfare school of thought when it comes to shopping for a spotting scope, so I'm not going to jump on the KOWA (super nice resolution) bandwagon, YET. I'm still in the Bushnell & Nikon price points.
I learned this skill from a bunch of double distinguished shooters from the US Army teams that I've shot with/against over the years at CFSAC/NSCC in Connaught. Oh by the way, I use this technique a great deal at the Sniper matches with great success... my partner won the National Championship (Top Individual) at NSCC in Jul 2005 at Connaught.
I never said I was a great shooter.
Just a great spotter.
45 degree eyepieces are the cat's pajamas when it comes to comfort or older neck muscles in the prone position. The ONLY drawback to the 45 degree eyepiece is that the rubber cups become a water collector in the rain. See what works for you.
I'm not going to suggest what YOU should buy. I've had a 25X 45 eyepiece Celestron and I learned this the hard way. Great glass, but I sold it for the reasons below.
Oh, I forgot.... it also helps to shoot a waterproof spotting scope... lessons learned from the shzt sandwich. Some of my previous scopes were NFG once the downpour began. I've been shooting these matches long enough to learn that if you "Fail to plan, plan to fail."
In Service Rifle most of us keep our shooting kit in a rucksack. I would like to employ a rolling cart, but we really don't need such a wagon if we can get by with a rucksack. That means we gotta carry out kit a longer way since Range Control at Connaught only allows 2 vehicles downrange, hence the rucksack. With that parameter, 80mm objective scopes can get heavy as well as the heavier and stronger tripods needed to support these amazing optics. This is where the 50mm and 60mm objective scopes shine. In your rucksack, the tripod should fold up and fit alongside the spotting scope. At this point I really appreciate a rubber armored unit, such as the Bushnell Spacemaster with 60mm objective with a 15x - 45x eyepiece. It comes in a "kit" with a tabletop "shooters stand" which is just ducky in the prone position. Great for Service Rifle. Only drawback is that the eyepiece protective cap/drum gets loose and rolls around at the bottom of your ruck, especially when you are in your preptime and are trying to get your notebook, magazines, scorebook, scorecards, ammo and other kit squared away and ready to shoot or spot. Mind you, a piece of 550 cord or para cord will sort out this problem.
As long as no other competitors protest that you may be using an illegal wind measuring device.
Hey, I've seen some CFSAC teams employ rack/storage tags on their front C7A1 sling swivel(s). Then other competitors would bring up this point to the FPO's on the line.
Who knows what their intentions are/were.
I quite like to look and feel of the compact Leupold spotting scopes since they are ideal for the rucksack method of organizing your shooting kit. At least in Service Conditions matches we don't shoot in the standing position with a requirement for a spotting scope like I did in NRA High Power NM course of fire, that's when I needed a heavier and stable tripod that you can get close to (not so wide base, like a video or camera tripod).
Now if you are shooting Service Rifle and then Sniper rifle at the same set of Matches (CFSAC / NSCC format) then you might not entertain using different spotting scopes since their needs are different.
Understand as a sniper's spotter, I want to see the trace or swirl of the bullet as it crests and then drops into the fig. 11 or fig. 14 or dbl fig. 11's. So I need a scope that has superior resolution. I used a KOWA TSN 7 (sp ?) to assist a former sniper partner of mine to win the National Championship back in July of 2000. That was his scope and was that sucker ever clear. I could make out the glint of the back of the boat tail bullet halfway to the target. Often I could make out the tiniest trail of smoke behind the 168 gr. VLD bullet out of his 7mm Rem. Mag. This trail would be visible for the shortest split second about 1/4 to 1/2 way to the target. The rest of the way, I could see the disruption of the bullet as it passed through the air molecules.
For those of you who are not aware of what the bullet trace is about, lemme explain. The air between your muzzle and the target is composed of molecules (Nitrogen, Oxygen and some water). As the bullet travels, it pushes the air / displaces the molecules like a motorboat forces a wake on both sides. Some days, I can pick up this swirl (Canadians use this word) or the trace (US Snipers like this word better) right outta the barrel (especially at the 300 m Agony Snap) and somedays at around 1300 hrs when the sun is highest, I cannot make out any swirl while engaging fig. 11's at the 600m Deliberate match.
In Service Rifle matches, you will never need this kind of resolving power that comes from super expensive and $$ glass. You can get away with a super cheap 25X fixed scope. Just make sure it's waterproof. yuk, yuk, yuk.
Okay, so now you as the sniper spotter should set up your scope just over his/her shooting shoulder, just above the barrel axis. I've had success being parallel if not exactly in line with my sniper partner's barrel. Many times, I will ensure that my partner is at his/her natural point of aim/position and their rifle is rested and scope lined up, I will deliberately adjust my spotting scope slightly ABOVE their ear muff cup. Sometimes a slight head position change (before or after the trigger break) will obstruct the bottom half of my field of vision. This position works best for me. You go and practice to discover what practice works best for YOU. Often I will short focus about 1/2 way down the range on a mound or a firing stake or some grass AT that mound. My vision of the target is still good enough to interpret the spotting / indicator discs, but I'm staying focused 1/2 way or 3/4 to the target since I NEED to pick up the swirl or trace of the bullet as it passes my focal point down range. Also, this is the high point of the bullet's trajectory so I've learned to "pick" up the bullet at it's peak and follow the trace as it "dives" into the target. Sometimes I will lose the swirl BEFORE it dives into the midsection of the fig.11. Sometimes I will follow the entire trace as it dives into the crotch area of the fig.11... this will be followed by a question to my sniper with the intention of precipiating an elevation change on their scope turret.
Wow, what a mouthful.....
When I spotted and "coached" my partners' bullets to their respective National Championships, I used these scopes : KOWA TSN 7XX around $ 1000 CDN and a Bushnell Spacemaster 15x-45x-60mm Rubber armoured. So there you go.... 2 very different price points. I've even witnessed other ORA members take the NSCC Top Sniper Pair matches with Bushnell SENTRY spotting scopes. So there... does money buy a great scope ? DARN Rights it does. Will that same money ensure a National Championship ? Not Always... but getting out and practicing will get you and your sniper partner there !! LOL
Anyways, it's March break and I'd better git some reloading done for the coming shooting season.
I hope this little discertation has been helpful especially to you LR shooters and wannabe LR shooters. All the text I'm passing on to you is documented over and over again in various sniper cells and publications. This material is not news to LR shooter/spotter pairs. I just hope many more of you will get out and shoot LR with your PRA's, and therefore use your bangsticks beyond the 100 yard mound. As Sgt. Kent Gooch (US AMTU) would say, " Get off the FZCKING 100 yard mound !!"
Cheers,
Barney
