everything you need to know about optics€¦ · as ballistics. here we’re going to go into some...

Everything You Need To Know

About Optics

The most extensive free guide to Rifle Scopes, Binos and Spotting

Scopes available.

www.bluelineoptics.com

pg. 1

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT OPTICS

Besides your gun, your optic is your largest investment, in terms of dollars spent.

In some cases, it’s even more expensive. And believe it or not, this is for a good

reason. A good optic can give you the crystal clarity you need to hit that 1200

yard shot you’ve been practicing for.

And a bad one can destroy that chance by adjusting you too far in the wrong

direction.

When you buy glass, you are paying for quality. And typically you get what

you pay for.

Unfortunately, there really isn’t that much on the internet in terms of a guide that

breaks down optics technology and explains how it works. You can spend days

browsing forums, Reddit, Facebook groups and blog posts trying to piece

together all the info you need to make a good decision. Take it from someone

who has done so.

Then there’s books on long range hunting and shooting. There are a lot of really

good ones out there, but what I’ve found is the optics talk is kind of just thrown in

with all the other stuff about the gun that you need to know.

The information is there, but scattered all over the place. Not to mention, it’s

littered with subjective opinions and dogma. Everyone has their favorite brand,

and customers who have been treated right for so many years are very loyal.

And this is a real issue for me. Because there is a lot more to the scope than

just a piece of equipment thrown on the rifle to see a target.

You see with optics, you are dealing with the physics of light in relation to the

physics of bullet travel. And the farther out you want to shoot, the more tiny

errors in your calculation will affect your bullet’s final hit.

What’s more is your calculations won’t matter if the scope doesn’t adjust how you

want it to anyway.

All of this inspired me to create a completely comprehensive guide for optics

technology. And by optics I mean Rifle Scopes, Binoculars and Spotting Scopes.

pg. 2


About The Author

Nice to meet you, my name is Ryan and I live in

Overland Park, KS. This part is about me and is

therefore unnecessary for you to read, but if you’re

interested here’s some things you should know:

I love long range shooting (it’s my only hobby

besides reading & running)

I’m a software engineer by trade

I take an analytical approach to everything -

numbers don’t lie, but people sometimes do

I love teaching other people about things I know

I’ve taken the same approach to long range

shooting as I do to everything in my life: data trumps all.

At the end of the day, numbers don’t lie. Sometimes we as humans make

things up to save face, but numbers don’t have fear or emotion. So if you’re ever

concerned on what to do next, look at the numbers and see what they have to

say.

I firmly believe that to truly master something, you have to teach it. For some

reason this gives you entirely new distinctions that you don’t get when learning it.

I started Blue Line Optics with the goal of creating the most comprehensive and

concise (both matter) resource for optics on the internet. People find it useful

because I use an analytical approach to what I talk about.

What to expect in this guide

I wanted to make this guide for you to have something of value that I just haven’t

seen anywhere else out there yet: a comprehensive, concise and easy to

understand guide about optics.

Most importantly, I wanted one that talks about the subject as if you were

learning it in a classroom, without the opinion and dogma one finds all over the

web.

pg. 3


We are going to be looking at the actual math and physics behind shooting.

Nothing here is fluffed up, and you’ll walk away with the knowledge you need

to buy the scope you need for your situation, not just one that other people

said is cool.

There might be stuff in here you already know, so feel free to skip around to

things you find interesting. The table of contents is below, and the link will take

you to the page where that information starts.

If you’re brand new to optics, I suggest you read this all the way through. Some

material builds off other material, and skipping to different sections is the quickest

way to make mistakes.

Ready to get started? Let’s roll!

pg. 4


About Optics Technology: The Different Types

Of Optics and what their roles are in a shoot Optics don’t start to become really important until we get out to 100 yards/meters

and beyond (note: some people use yards, some use meters. Both work, but

I’m more familiar with yards, so I will use yards throughout this guide).

This is because of the restraints of the human eye. A human with 20/20 vision

(about 35% of the population) can see details clearly at 20 feet, for example.

The role of an optic is to simply extend this clarity to farther distances. It does this

through the different magnification adjustments on the optic.

For example, if you are using a 6x power magnification adjustment on a Rifle

Scope, you will see the target as if it were 6 times closer to you than it actually is.

This allows you to see clarity on your shot, which is important when spotting

rounds, measuring distances, etc.

With that said, your chosen optic has many different uses, and what you are

using it for specifically will play the largest role in determining what you ultimately

choose. It’s critical that you understand the scope of choice depends on you.

The same is applied to spotting scopes and binoculars as well.

Let’s go through a couple of

different roles that optics play in

shooting:

Correcting your barrel - this is

what the Rifle Scope’s essential

function is.

Observe the picture to the right:

https://uihc.org/health-topics/what-2020-vision

pg. 5


We’re going to talk about this a little bit more later on. Essentially, bullets do not

fly in a straight path.

In fact, as soon as your bullet leaves the barrel, gravity takes over and it begins

to fall to the ground. This is physics in action.

At a distance of 25 yards, this isn’t that important. Still important, but not

that important.

But at 100 yards, this matters. Because where you point the barrel is not going to

be where the bullet hits. The bullet is going to drop.

What your Rifle Scope does is adjust it’s orientation, so that you have to adjust

the barrel to match. You take all of the factors into consideration of your shot

(gravity, wind, etc) and make the adjustment on the reticle.

This will force you to adjust your barrel so that the reticle aligns with the target.

Except what you are actually doing is moving your barrel away from the target

so the bullet will hit the target after it is acted upon by outside forces.

This is what the Rifle Scope does, first and foremost. All the other tasks are

secondary to this, if you are going to be a successful shooter.

Measuring distance to target

There are tools out there (like Rangefinders) that will allow you to measure the

distance to target, and they’re much more accurate. Well, depending on who

makes the one you’re using.

pg. 6


However, sometimes this isn’t a practical option. And some guys/gals like to

measure distance the old fashioned way anyways.

For that, we can use a Rifle Scope, specifically the reticle adjustments within the

Rifle Scope.

If you know the dimensions of the target, you can figure out the distance to the

target using your scope. We will go into the calculations later, but essentially

you’re using basic geometry.

The reticle adjustments will be in angular measurements, either Mil or MOA.

When we use these, we can relate to the size of an object as a ratio of the

distance to the object because the angle is accounted for.

We’ll go into more detail about this later.

Spotting rounds (and making corrections)

This is important, especially in target

shooting.

Because if you’re hunting, you

probably won’t have a second

chance to make that shot, right? But

when you’re sighting in a scope, you

are going to be using a system of

trial and error to put the bullet where

you want it.

It all starts when you zero the scope.

What we do when we zero a scope is we make Mil or MOA corrections at a

certain distance until we have a group of shots within 1 inch of each other.

You’ll use your scope to estimate how much of a correction you need to make to

the scope so your rounds are hitting where you are aiming.

pg. 7


Then when you take it out farther, if there corrections you need to make, you will

make them the same way. Being able to spot rounds gives you the ability to

determine if your original calculation was correct or not, and how much to further

correct it.

Safely spotting targets

Notice the word “safely” here. It’s important not only to see the target, but to

know what’s behind it.

I am a true believer that firearm safety is everyone’s responsibility, but especially

the shooters. You are responsible for every single round that leaves the gun, no

exceptions.

So when you’re shooting, you can use your optics to spot the target, and spot

what is behind it so you’re hitting what you want to hit.

And with Spotting Scopes and Binoculars, there are plenty of folks who use them

to spot birds and wildlife, and have no intention of hunting them. That’s great!

This guide is more geared towards Rifle Shooting, but we go into detail about

how these optics are made up and what makes them great as well.

pg. 8


The physics of bullet travel - applied ballistics Like I mentioned earlier, optics are a combination of the physics of light meeting

the physics of bullet travel. The travel of a projectile through the air is referred to

as ballistics.

Here we’re going to go into some physics. We’re not going to get too deep into

the thick of it though, so it won’t be too complex. But this is one of the more

complicated portions of the guide, and of long range shooting in general.

Newton’s First Law Of Motion

Newton’s first law of motion is “An object at rest stays at rest and an object in

motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless

acted upon by an unbalanced force.”

Simply put, an object will keep moving at the same speed and same direction

unless an outside force acts upon it. The object itself is not the force, rather the

force acts upon the object.

In ballistics, the different forces we focus on are:

• The ignition of the gunpowder

• The pull of gravity

• The wind blowing

• The drag of the bullet through

the air

• Barometric pressure

• Air temperature

• Recoil of the gun

We’re just going to focus on the first three for this guide. Barometric pressure and

air temperature will ultimately affect the drag of the bullet, but this is a tad more

complicated and not as relevant to what we are talking about.

For now, let’s focus on how the different outside forces affect the bullet, and how

the optic helps you correct for these.

pg. 9


See the diagram below:

This is what a bullet drop looks like, in relation to what the scope makes it look

like. The bullet does not fly in a straight path.

It begins falling the moment it leaves the barrel, and I mean the very moment it

leaves the barrel. This is due to Newton’s First Law Of Motion - gravity is the

outside force.

Initially the bullet was at rest in the

chamber. The the hammer hits the

cartridge, sparks the powder and applied

this force to the bullet, which travels out the

barrel.

At this point, the bullet is still being acted

upon by the initial gunpowder fire, and the force of gravity. Do you think it has

any other forces acting on it as well?

Yup! The bullet drag which is basically just the friction of the wind on the bullet.

The Bullet’s Path

So the farther the bullet gets from the barrel, the more it slows down. This is

happening at an exponential rate, not a linear one.

pg. 10


So what you have to do to hit a target that is straight ahead of you is point the

barrel up. This allow you to hit it with an arch.

So what is the role of the optic in this scenario? The optic makes it so you can

correct your barrel so that it shoots in this arc.

For instance, you might make an elevation adjustment on your scope for a target

200 yards away:

This moves your reticle below the target (or at least below where you were

aiming). You now have to move your barrel up to realign the reticle to the target.

But the barrel isn’t pointing at the target, the barrel is point above the target:

But it doesn’t matter to you, because you don’t care where the barrel is aimed, as

long as the bullet hits the target.

pg. 11


This is what is happening with the Rifle Scope when it is attached to the rifle. It

allows you to adjust your barrel so that it hits the target.

So that’s great and all, but how exactly do you make these adjustments? I mean,

we can’t do arc calculations in our heads can we?

Well, actually we can. And I’m going to show you how.

pg. 12


Angular measurements We touched on Angular Measurements earlier very briefly, but this section is

going to go into much more detail.

Now, if you’re new (and even if you’re not) you will probably be wondering about

which one to go with, Mil or MOA. I wrote an entire post on this and people have

found it to be incredibly helpful. You can check it out here.

If you don’t want to read that much into it, what I can say is that it really doesn’t

matter which system you use, but rather how you use it.

Your ability to master the system and it’s fundamentals will determine how

well it works for you. In long range shooting, it is not the system that fails, it is

the shooter’s application of the system.

Ready to get into it? Let’s do it!

What are angular measurements?

Angular measurements are what we use to determine the linear distance of an

angular motion.

When you move a rifle barrel, it moves in an arc, not a linear distance. See the

picture below:

pg. 13


This is what is happening when you move your barrel up and down to correct for

the distance to target, like we were talking about earlier.

The rifle moves in an arc, and this arc represents an angle. Now, back to basic

geometry:

If we know the angle, we can measure the distances on the triangle.

Thankfully, we are not going to need to figure out the Cosines, Tangents and

Sines of the angles, because we have Milliradians and Minutes Of Angle worked

out for us already.

What Mils and MOA do for us is convert that angular arc into different linear

distances. This allows us to make a “Mil/MOA Correction” which corresponds to a

linear correction on the target.

Now here’s the key: these linear distances vary depending on how far away

from the angle is that you take the measurement. See the picture below:

So to use Mil and MOA, you will usually need to have at least an idea about how

big the target is or the distance to the target. For extreme long range,

approximations probably won’t cut it, as errors increase in magnitude the

farther out you get.

But before we go any further, let’s talk about the two different measurements and

how to use them shall we?

pg. 14


MOA

MOA stands for Minutes Of Angle, and it is the angular measurement that is

1/60th of 1 degree. Which makes sense, right? A minute is 1/60th of an hour, so

a minute of angle would b 1/60th of an angle, which always makes it 1/60th of 1

degree.

Here is a graphic representation for you:

Now that information alone doesn’t really help us. We want to use MOA so we

can make linear adjustments angularly. So for that, we need to know what

distance 1 MOA represents.

The basic answer to this question is:

1 MOA = 1.047 inches at/per 100 yards

Notice I said “per” as well? That’s because this is how you are going to translate

what 1 MOA is at all different distances.

So if you want to calculate what 1 MOA is at 300 yards, you just multiple 1.047

by 3, and you get? 3.141 inches.

pg. 15


Now, there are a lot of really good shooters out there who don’t believe you

should keep that 0.047” at the end of the MOA, and just round of. I respectfully

disagree.

The argument is that 0.047” is nothing, and even at 1000 yards the difference will

be 0.47”, which is less than half an inch. True.

But I truly think that as soon as we start rounding off numbers, we compromise

the integrity of the shot. And you shouldn’t be rounding numbers until the last

possible moment.

For instance, most MOA scopes will make corrections at 0.25 MOA. so when we

adjust to correct for that, our increments need will need to be in variations of ¼

(0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.00).

Right there, you are going to have to make a rounding adjustment. If you round in

the first place by moving the 0.047” off, that’s two rounding adjustments you’ve

made.

Now you might say - “Ryan, if your adjustments are in ¼ MOA, don’t you

want to have a whole number anyways?”

Yes, that would be nice, and yet there is still more math that goes into our shots.

These rounding instances will add up over time, and I believe that compromises

the integrity of the shot.

Let’s take the 1000 yard shot for example. At 1000 yards, 1 MOA = 10.47”. If we

were to just scrape off the 0.47”, we could make this a flat 10 inches.

Here, we have to round eventually, because 10.47 doesn’t break evenly by 0.25.

So we have to round that to 10.5 inches.

¼ MOA adjustments for rounding vs not rounding:

Rounding: 2.5 inches

Not rounding: 2.625 inches

pg. 16


So every click you make is off by 0.125”. That’s not much by itself, but added up?

It could throw you off quite a bit.

Remember, the farther out our shots get, the larger these variations will be. I’m

not saying it’s always going to make a huge difference, but we are dealing with

precision rifle shooting, not good enough rifle shooting.

Bottom line: little things can add up to big things. You can choose not to care

about this, and you might be just fine. But little things do add up, and you might

be surprised how quickly they do.

Mil

Mil stands for Milliradian(s) and is the metric version of angular measurement

that we use in PRS.

I personally love using Mil. There are a couple of

different issues with it that might make using MOA

more advantageous and we’ll go into those a little

later on.

But as you can see above - using MOA gets

messy. The math is messy, every time you use it.

There are times when Mil gets messy too, but

ultimately it’s just a much cleaner way to adjust

shots.

As you can see from the picture, one Radian is the angle that results when a

circle’s radius is equal to the length of edge of the circle.

A milliradian is 1/1000th of a radian. Which makes sense from the metric sense

of the word right? A millimeter (for those that remember) is 1/1000th of a meter.

This makes your calculations so much easier. Why?

pg. 17


Because all of a sudden, you don’t even need to worry about that 0.047” we were

talking about earlier. A milliradian is 1/1000th of any distance.

So what is 1 Mil at 1000 yards? 1 yard. 1 Mil at 1000 meters? 1 meter. 1 Mil at

1000 miles? 1 mile.

This is why it’s so easy to use. MOA doesn’t have this kind of flexibility.

For example, with MOA you would need to convert inches to centimeters to

determine what 1 MOA is in terms of centimeters. As if the 1.047” wasn’t messy

enough right?

Now, before I get you hooked on Mil, you should know there are two advantages

that MOA has over Mil:

It’s slightly more precise

And by slightly, I do mean very very slightly.

Typically, a scope will adjust MOA at ¼ (0.25) MOA per click. Meaning, every

time you click the turret, the scope adjusts up, down, left, right 0.25 MOA. At 100

yards, this is an adjustment of 0.26175” (1.047” / 0.25 = 0.26175).

Mil scopes, on the other hand, typically adjust at 0.1 per click. At 100 yards, 1 Mil

= 3.6 inches. We get this by the formula:

100 * 36 (this is inches in a yard) = 3600.

3600 / 1000 = 3.6 inches.

So a click adjustment on Mil is 0.1 * 3.6 =

0.36.

The difference is 0.09825. Not a huge

deal, but what did I say earlier? Integrity matters right? So we don’t want to just

throw this away from consideration.

MOA is slightly more precise than Mil.

At 100 yards, MOA will adjust

0.09825” more precisely than Mil

does.

pg. 18


That being said, since the click values for Mil are so small (0.1) vs MOA (0.25)

you are going to be able to get a lot closer to your intended adjustment than you

will with MOA.

But the MOA adjustment will still bring you closer in terms of inches.

For instance, a 1.7 MOA adjustment will be a 6.12 Mil adjustment. You’ll adjust

MOA by 1.75, and Mil by 6.1. Mil will be short by 0.02 (which is 0.072”) and MOA

will be high by 0.05 (0.05235”). Not a huge difference, but I like to take it all into

consideration.

Most ranges (in the US anyway) are in yards

And when converting to Mils while still using the American system of

measurement, you need to make sure you are keeping your units consistent.

For instance, if you’re using Mils to measure distance to target (we’ll go over the

formula below), your result will be in inches, and you’ll need to convert to yards.

Again, this is more math, and the more math you use, the more you are open to

error. All you have to do is fat finger your calculator and you’ll get something a

couple inches off, potentially.

MOA’s calculation will be pretty easy though. Since

1 MOA is seen in terms of inches, most consider

this to be “easier” to use.

I’ll point out here that this logic is based on using 1

inch as 1 MOA, instead of 1.047”. As we’ll see in

the formulas below, this makes a difference in how

you calculate distance to target.

Formulas you need to know

Now, knowing what Mil and MOA is really has no use if you don’t know how to

use that. For this, there are some formulas you will need to know.

Keep units

constant. This

is going to

save you a ton

of headache

when doing

the math.

pg. 19


Below we have them broken down by reticle type (MOA or Mil) so you can

access it easy.

Mil

Calculating Mil at any distance:

Calculating distance:

Okay, these distance calculations will differ depending on what you want the

results in. When it says “in inches” I mean that your Mil measurement is in

inches. You probably won’t have a Mil measurement in Yards, but I’m putting it

here so you understand it better.

Calculating Mil: distance to target (any unit) / 1000 = Mil (in

those units)

MOA to Mil: n MOA (where n is any number of MOA) / 3.348 =

total Mil

In inches:

Distance to target (in inches) = (size of target (in inches) * 1000) / Mil size of

target(in inches)

Distance to target (in yards) = ( size of target (in inches) * 27.77 ) / Mil size of

target(in inches)

In meters:

Distance to target (in meter) = (size of target (in meters)) /Mil size of target (in

meters)

In centimeters:

Distance to target (in meter) = (size of target (in centimeters) * 1000) /Mil size of

target (in centimeters)

pg. 20


MOA

Calculating MOA at any distance:

Calculating distance:

Note: for MOA, if you want to get distance in Meters/Centimeters, I suggest

getting it first in yards then converting to meter. For that do the following:

Distance to target (in meters) = Distance to target (in yards) * 0.91

This makes it much easier to convert and will be less work in the long run, since

1 MOA tends to be based on one inch already.

Calculating MOA: distance to target (yards) / 1000 =

Mil (in those units)

Mil to MOA: 3.348 * n MIL (where n is any number

of MIL) = total MOA

In Yards:

Distance to target (in yards) = (size of target (in

inches) * 95.5) / MOA size of target (in inches)

pg. 21


The anatomy of an optic

Now that we’ve gone into detail about what is happening when we shoot the gun,

we can take a look at the anatomy of the Optic itself.

The way I’m writing this is different than how I learned - typically people will show

you all the features of the scope, then you learn what they mean later. I don’t like

this approach.

I think it’s important you learn what’s going on in a shot. Then, as we go into the

details of the components of the optic, it will make much more sense as to why

it’s made up of the way it is.

We’re going to go over Rifle Scopes, Binoculars and Spotting Scopes.

Rifle Scope Components

As with the other optics, the Rifle Scope will be made up of multiple different

assemblies rather than just a bunch of lenses put in a tube.

And this is important to understand, because the quality of your scope will really

depend on how the scope is constructed, and how these different assemblies

work when you’re working them.

I mean what’s the use of having all these sweet features if it doesn’t work when

you need it?

In the pictures below, we’re going to be using an Athlon Argos BTR 6-24x50 FFP

IR MIL scope which I use on my Ruger American .308 Winchester.

There are 5 major parts of the scope:

Ocular Assembly:

This assembly consists of the Ocular Lens, the Ocular

Focus and sometimes the Illuminated Reticle

Adjustment.

pg. 22


This is the part of the scope where your eye goes. The ocular lens will typically

be made of extremely high quality glass (we’re going to get into this later).

The sole purpose of the Ocular Lens (and thus the Ocular Assembly) is t deliver

the light that is passed through the rest of the system to your eye. This is why the

Illumination and Fast Focus Ring are included in it.

The Ocular Lens is the Eye Piece where the light is passed through.

The Illumination Knob will illuminate the reticle (if this is featured on the scope, a

lot of them don’t come with this).

The Fast Focus Ring will adjust the focus of the reticle. Note that this is going to

be different than the parallax adjustment (which we’ll go over later).

Tube Assembly:

The Tube assembly is going to contain the Zoom System, Erector Assembly and

the First and Second Focal Plane.

What’s going to become apparent is that the wider this tube is, the more freedom

the rest of the scope will have to adjust. That’s why we typically assign higher

quality to a 30mm tube than a 1 inch tube.

pg. 23


What happens with the scope is light will go through the objective lens, and then

pass through all the different parts of the tube assembly.

The tube is really important to understand, because this is where all of the

functionality of the scope happens. So a company could be advertising really

high quality and clear glass, but if tube assembly isn’t functioning properly, the

light that passes through won’t matter.

Let’s take a closer look at the different parts of it:

• Zoom system: the Erector Zoom system is composed of two different

pieces of glass. What happens is when you shift the magnification knob

these two pieces of glass come together, making the image larger or

smaller.

• Erector Assembly: the erector assembly is where the Elevation

Adjustment, Windage Adjustment and Parallax Adjustment take place.

How this works is when you turn the knob for the adjustment, the inside

screw places pressure on the lens inside (see picture) and moves it up or

down. This is what adjust the reticle, talked about next.

• Reticle (First and Second Focal Plane): the reticle for each scope is

going to be contained on a piece of glass. This piece of glass will be on

either the first of second focal plane.

The first focal plane is the focal plane that is right behind the objective

lens. The Second Focal Plane is the Focal Plane that is right in front of the

Ocular Lens.

Objective Assembly: The Objective Assembly is made up of

the Objective Lens. Now, depending on what kind of lens we

are dealing with, this lens could be Chromatic, Achromatic or

Apochromatic. We’re going to go into detail about the lens

types later, but for now just know that these are the types of

lens assemblies.

pg. 24


Bino Components

A binocular in it’s simplest form is a set of two barrel chambers that have an

objective lens, an eye piece and a pair of prisms.

So compared to a Rifle Scope and a Spotting Scope, these are pretty simple in

terms of construction:

Ocular Eyepiece: this is similar to the Rifle

Scope Ocular Assembly, but usually doesn’t

contain the focus knob, that’s usually in the

middle of the binoculars. One feature of the

Ocular Eyepiece is the twist up eye cups or fold

up eye cups. What this does is it adds eye relief,

so that you can see the exit pupil better (more

on this later).

Focus Knob: The focus knob is usually on the

middle part of the binocular assembly. You focus

by turning the focusing screw in the middle. This

pushes the focusing mechanism back and

forward, increasing the distance between the

objective lens and the eyepiece lens.

Prism Assembly: When light

passes through the objective

lens of a pair of binoculars,

the image is inverted. For

some viewing applications

this wouldn’t be an issue but

for many this is a problem. In

order to rectify this, complex

lens arrangements can be

used to correct it. These can

often make the instrument

longer and trickier to handle. In binoculars prisms are used to make the

correction.

pg. 25


Objective Lens: the Objective Lens is the lens that takes in

the light from the

outside part of the world that you are looking at. The

Objective Lens on the Binos works the same way that a Rifle

Scope’s Objective Lens works. Higher quality glass (which

we’ll talk about later) will bring in a sharper image.

Spotting scope components

Like mentioned above, Spotting Scopes are

used to spot rounds and spot targets down

range. They typically have a greater

magnification capability, giving them a much

higher ability to focus in on targets a lot

farther down range than what a Rifle Scope

can.

They come with more or less the same

assembly mechanisms that binoculars do,

but with a couple different features and the assembly is a little different:

Ocular Eyepiece: this is similar to the Rifle Scope Ocular Assembly, but usually

doesn’t contain the focus knob, that’s usually in the middle of the binoculars. One

feature of the Ocular Eyepiece is the twist up eye cups or fold up eye cups. What

this does is it adds eye relief, so that you can see the exit pupil better (more on

this later).

Magnification Adjustment: here is the same type of adjustment that can be

made on the Rifle Scope. This adjustment knob does the same thing on the

Spotting Scope as well - it moves two pieces of lenses together so that the

picture becomes bigger.

pg. 26


Focusing Lens: The focus knob is usually on the middle part of the binocular

assembly. You focus by turning the focusing screw in the middle. This pushes

the focusing mechanism back and forward, increasing the distance between the

objective lens and the eyepiece lens.

Prism Assembly: When light passes through the objective lens of a pair of

binoculars, the image is inverted. For some viewing applications this wouldn’t be

an issue but for many this is a problem. In order to rectify this, complex lens

arrangements can be used to correct it. These can often make the instrument

longer and trickier to handle. In binoculars prisms are used to make the

correction.

Objective Lens: the Objective Lens is the lens that takes in the light from the

outside part of the world that you are looking at. The Objective Lens on the Binos

works the same way that a Rifle Scope’s Objective Lens works. Higher quality

glass (which we’ll talk about later) will bring in a sharper image.

pg. 27


Common Optics Terminology You Should Know

As you can tell by now, these scopes and Binos are complicated pieces of

equipment. With that comes a bunch of different terms that get thrown into

marketing materials and other talk around gun ranges and the internet.

Bottom line: it can get confusing. But it doesn’t have to be. And remember that

just because a company advertises a feature, doesn’t mean it is going to perform

the way it needs to.

Here are some of the main optics terminology you need to know when shopping

around:

Rifle Scopes

ED Glass

You’re going to see this everywhere, because it’s a major part of the marketing

materials for companies now when selling any optic.

To understand ED Glass, you must first understand the physics of light.

So we’re going to take you back to 5th grade science class, where we discovered

that light is actually made up of different waves. And these waves all have

diferent lengths, depending on which color the wave represents.

And these waves bend when they pass through a medium. So this becomes an

issue for us when using a piece of glass.

See picture below:

pg. 28


When these waves pass through the glass, they end up coming to a different

“Focal Point” or where your eye’s line of site meets the light.

When this happens, it’s called Chromatic Aberration and it causes the resulting

picture to be fuzzy, like this:

This is where ED Glass comes in. ED Glass stands for Extra Low Dispersion

glass, and it describes the way the lens is constructed and how it’s treated. ED

Glass optics have a chemical makeup that aligns these waves onto the same

focal point as they pass through the glass.

You’ll also here “HD Glass” thrown around a lot. This doesn’t stand for “High

Definition” but rather “High Density” and it’s basically describing the same thing.

HD Glass usually only differs from ED by how it’s treated by the specific

manufacturer. We’ll use Athlon Optics as an example.

Athlon has the Ares BTR Rifle Scope and the Ares ETR Rifle Scope. The ETR

has their ED Glass and the BTR has their HD glass. The difference is that the ED

glass just has a more thorough treatment, making it a little more high quality.

pg. 29


ED Glass optics are more expensive, but seriously worth it. The only times when

they’re not worth it are when you’re not necessarily wanting to shoot that far. But

anyone wanting to go past 500 yards (arguably even 300 yards) ED Glass is well

worth the investment.

Achromatic, Apochromatic and Chromatic lens systems

This brings us to the different lens systems on scopes and Binos. There are 3

different types of lens systems:

Chromatic

Chromatic is the basic glass, and rarely will you even find a scope that is made of

it, unless your budget is $10.

Chromatic glass has not been treated, and is at the full effects of Chromatic

Aberration. Your picture is going to be fuzzy, especially at high magnifications.

This is because all of the wavelengths of light are going to be dispersing along

the focal plane, as you can see in the picture.

Achromatic

Achromatic treats the lens in a way, like described above, that causes the red

and blue wavelengths to come together at the same focal point.

pg. 30


It does not bring the other wavelengths together, so it’s not as effective as the

Apochromatic system, but it will still be far clearer than the Chromatic Glass.

Most cheaper scopes will feature an Achromatic system. The more treatment you

put on the glass, the more expensive it is to manufacture the scope. So

Achromatic will be more expensive than what a Chromatic lens will be, and not

as expensive as an Apochromatic system.

Apochromatic

Apochromatic is quite rare, and it’s in the very upper end of scopes that feature

this type of system.

The glass is not only treated, but it’s also set up with another lense with the

assembly. This causes all wavelengths to come together at the same Focal

Point, creating the higher resolution out of the 3 possibilities.

pg. 31


Glass coatings

When light passes through glass, it runs the risk of reflecting part of the light off

the surface. This is just a natural property of light.

Depending on the system, as much as 50% of the light can reflect off different

glass surfaces before it reaches your eye. This obviously doesn’t lead to a clear

picture!

To prevent against this, optics companies will “coat” the glass with chemicals to

pass this light through instead of reflecting it off.

There are 4 different types of coating procedures:

Fully Multi-Coated Optics: have all air-to-glass surfaces coated with multiple

anti-reflective coating films, and offer the highest image quality.

pg. 32


Fully Coated Optics: have all air-to-glass surfaces coated with anti-reflective

coating films.

Multi-Coated Optics: have one or more surfaces coated with multiple anti-

reflective coating films.

Coated Optics: have one or more surfaces coated with one or more anti-

reflective coating films.

The pricing of these optics will increase with the number of coatings provided on

the lens. This is simply due to the increase in manufacturing costs.

SFP & FFP

SFP and FFP are two terms you will see a lot with Rifle Scopes and you need to

understand them in order to know what you are buying. And this makes a huge

difference in the end quality of your scope.

SFP and FFP stands for Second Focal Plane and First Focal Plane, and refers to

where the reticle lies in the scope.

pg. 33


Second Focal Plane Scopes feature the reticle located in the Second Focal

Plane, which is the focal plane right between the Ocular lens and the

magnification assembly.

First Focal Plane Scopes feature the reticle located in the First Focal Plane,

which is the focal plane right between the Objective lens and the magnification

assembly.

On an SFP scope, the reticle does not adjust size when you change the

magnification, due to the fact that it’s placed before the magnification assembly.

An FFP scope is just the opposite: the reticle does adjust size when you

change the magnification.

The advantage of an FFP scope os that when you determine what Mil is at your

distance, this doesn’t change when you change magnification. This is important if

you plan to use the variable power, and I don’t suggest getting a scope with

variable power unless it’s an FFP scope.

An SFP scope will not give you the ability to change magnification while keeping

your Mil/MOA baseline. You have to remeasure every time you change

magnification.

pg. 34


THe only real advantage of an SFP scope is that since the reticle doesn’t change

size, it will obstruct less of your view when you zoom in on a target. But again,

this doesn’t matter if you have to keep readjusting the distances anyway.

Parallax Adjustment - Parallax is a phenomenon that results when the target

image does not quite fall on the same optical plane as the reticle within the

scope. This can cause an apparent movement of the reticle in relation to the

target if the shooter’s eye is off-centered.

If you are still confused, use the following examples to identify situations

where parallax occurs, or is off:

When the target image is not focused on the reticle plane and your eye is

off-center behind the scope, parallax occurs. This is because the line of sight

from the eye to the focused

target image does not coincide with the

reticle aiming point.

When the target image is not focused

on the reticle plane and your eye is

centered directly behind the scope,

no parallax occurs. This is because the

line of sight from the eye to the focused

target image coincides with the reticle

aiming point.

When the target image is focused on the reticle plane, parallax cannot

occur—even if your eye is not centered behind the scope. This is because the

line of sight from the eye to the focused target image always coincides with the

reticle aiming point no matter where you position your eye.

Zero Stop Adjustment - prevents the elevation turret from being rotated

downward past the point of original zero. A “zero” is where the scope is adjusted

so that the bullet will hit precisely where the center of the reticle is aiming. Most

people zero scopes at 100 yards (myself included).

pg. 35


It is most useful for shooters who routinely adjust the elevation turret “up” for long

range shots, allowing them to always easily and accurately return “down” to their

original zero setting. Zero stops are usually seen on higher quality long range or

tactical Rifle Scopes.

Binoculars

Binos come in a couple of different designs, and the design will be influenced

mainly by how the prism inside the Binocular is assembled.

The image you see in binoculars is generated by the light coming in through the

objective lens. This image generated is backwards and upside down. We then

use prisms to basically act like like mirrors. The prisms use internal reflections to

bring the beam of light from the objective lens closer together and to correct the

orientation of the image created by the objective lens.

Roof Prism

Named for the roof-like appearance of the prisms, the roof prism binocular

has objective lenses and eyepieces positioned in a straight line and is

appreciated for a streamlined, durable chassis. Phase correction coatings

on the prism glass keeps the light

in correct color phases—enhancing

the resolution, contrast and color

fidelity. Fine quality in this complex

prism design is possible as a result

of care in engineering and design.

Porro Prism

Many people will recognize the traditional binocular shape of a

Porro prism by its offset barrels. Named after the Italian optical

designer, Ignazio Porro, Porro prism binoculars have objective

lenses that are spaced wider apart than the eyepieces. This design

offers a rich depth of field, wide field of view, a three-dimensional

image, and delivers good quality at a reasonable cost.

Reverse Porro Prism

The reverse Porro prism is a compact version of the full-size Porro prism

binocular with the eyepieces spaced wider apart than the objective lenses.

pg. 36


Bak4 Prisms

Bak4 Prisms are used in most high end binoculars. That being said, their use

doesn’t necessarily mean the binocular itself is high quality.

Which is something you should keep in mind for the future – binocular and any

type of optic’s quality depends on a variety of different things, not just one or two.

The Optic is a system, and systems have to work together!

Bak4 stands for BaritleichKron (German for “Barium Crown”) and simply refers to

a different type of glass used for the prism inside the scope. Usually, it’s

compared to BK7 prisms, of which it has a higher refractive index.

This higher index just means it reflects more light. Some tend to think BK7 makes

an optic “cheap” but I haven’t seen much proof in regards to this. Bak4 is higher

quality though, just not the thing that puts me over the edge when buying

something.

That being said, it usually is associated with a lot of other great features in an

optic, because it’s usually used on higher priced optics.

Spotting Scopes

Spotting scopes provide higher magnification than available through most

binoculars and are designed for viewing wildlife and landscapes at longer

distances. In many cases, manufacturers make a spotting scope design available

with both an angled and a straight body style. Though one design is not better

than the other, each offers distinct advantages.

The Angled Body

This design will feature an

eyepiece that is set at a 45-

degree angle. This style lets

people of different heights share

without adjusting the tripod.

Because angled scopes can sit

lower on a tripod, users will

benefit from the added stability.

pg. 37


The Straight Body

Will feature an eyepiece in line with the objective lens. This natural line of sight

works well with a car window mount.

Bak4 Prisms

Bak4 Prisms are used in most high end binoculars. That being said, their use

doesn’t necessarily mean the binocular itself is high quality.

Which is something you should keep in mind for the future – binocular and any

type of optic’s quality depends on a variety of different things, not just one or two.

The Optic is a system, and systems have to work together!

Bak4 stands for BaritleichKron (German for “Barium Crown”) and simply refers to

a different type of glass used for the prism inside the scope. Usually, it’s

compared to BK7 prisms, of which it has a higher refractive index.

This higher index just means it reflects more light. Some tend to think BK7 makes

an optic “cheap” but I haven’t seen much proof in regards to this. Bak4 is higher

quality though, just not the thing that puts me over the edge when buying

something.

That being said, it usually is associated with a lot of other great features in an

optic, because it’s usually used on higher priced optics.

pg. 38


Specifications - what they mean and what to look

for

When you’re shopping around, you’ll see a lot of numbers and terminology being

thrown around.

We talked about a couple of them up above, but there’s more that you’re going to

need to know. We’ll also take a look at what a high quality optic will feature, and

what to be on the look out for.

Let’s start with Rifle Scopes!

Rifle Scopes

With Rifle Scopes, we’re going to start with the title of the Rifle Scope, then work

our way from the ocular assembly all the way to the objective assembly.

The Scope we are going to use an example is the first scope I’ve owned and built

a gun around, the Athlon Argos BTR 6-24x50 FFP IR MIL. Let’s start with the

title.

Athlon is the name of the company that makes the scope, Athlon Optics.

Typically, the company will list their name first on the name.

Argos is the name of the family of scopes. For instance, Vortex Optics will have

a family called the Razor.

6-24x50 - this defines the magnification and the Objective Lens size. 6-24x is the

range of magnification in which the scope can zoom in and out. 6x

magnification means the image will seem 6 times closer, 24x means 24 times

close.

50 means 50mm which is the diameter of the Objective Lens. So remember

when we talked about earlier that a scope with a larger Objective Lens will bring

in more light? Well this tells you how big the Objective Lens is.

pg. 39


FFP stand for First Focal Plane. We talked about FFP and SFP and which one

means what and why, as well as which one you will probably prefer in the section

on Angular Measurements. Basically, your scope’s reticle will vary in size the

more you zoom in, whereas an SFP will not.

IR stands for Illuminated Reticle. An Illuminated

Reticle provides you will an illumination

adjustment for your scope, making the reticle

appear illuminated in your view. This is handy in a

low light environment.

The picture to the left is a good example of what

the reticle will look like when illuminated. Without illumination, it will be a black

reticle, but as you adjust the illumination on the scope, it will become more red.

MIL just means the reticle substensions are measured Milliradians. Go to the

section on Angular Measurements to learn more. Typically, scopes will be

available in both Mil and MOA.

There are more specs we want to go over that won’t be in the name, but will be in

the specs section of a product page. Let’s take a Blue Line Optics Product page

for an example!

Here is the page for Argos:

pg. 40


We are going to go over the specs of a Rifle Scope, but these same specs apply

to Binos and Spotting scopes.

Let’s take them one at a time:

Tube Diameter: 30 mm - this means the diameter of the tube that makes up the

middle of the scope is 30mm. A tube with a larger diameter provides for more

Elevation and Windage adjustment on the reticle. More preferable for longer

range shooting.

Eye Relief: 3.3″ - the distance between the Ocular Lens and your eye where the

picture will take up the entire lens without any black rings around it. This protects

your face from the recoil of the rifle. Getting hit in the face isn’t fun, not that I

would know or anything…

Field of View @100 yards: 16.7-4.5 feet - the distance between the left and

right edges of the image you see. We see @100 yards because that’s how far

out a Rifle Scope’s FOV is measure, Spotting Scopes and Binos are measured at

1,000 yards typically.

Click Value: 0.1 MIL - when you turn a turret (Elevation or Windage) on the Rifle

Scope, you hear a “Click.” So the “Click Value” is how many Mils or MOA the

reticle moves per click. Mils are usually 0.1 Mil Click Value, MOA is typically

0.25.

Adjustment range per rotation: 5 MIL - this is how many Mils one full rotation

of the elevation or windage turret will adjust the reticle. This will be denoted by

the number on the turret, meaning the numbers on the turret will go from 0-5.

Total Elevation Adjustment: 18 MIL - this means both up and down, how many

Mils total can the reticle adjust.

Total Windage Adjustment: 18 MIL - this means both left and right, how many

Mils total can the reticle adjust.

pg. 41


Parallax Adjustment: Side Focus – 10 yards to infinity - you have the option

with the scope to begin adjusting for Parallax at 10 yards, all the way out to

wherever you are shooting. Keep in mind, just because you set the Parallax

adjustment to that length, doesn’t mean parallax will be adjusted there. We talk

about adjusting for parallax on the website in more detail, but for now just know

there are scopes that adjust for it.

pg. 42


Determining Quality

Okay so you’ve got the knowledge down, and you know what to look for in an

optic. But what about an optic makes it high quality overall?

And what’s more important - is this higher quality worth the extra cost that’s

going to come with it?

Like I mentioned above, ED Glass costs more because it’s harder to

manufacture. And this is going to be a theme when we get into the other

components of the scope that also make it high quality.

So in this section, I’m going to go into detail about what makes for the scope to

have quality and what kind of trade offs you might need to consider if you are

going to go with a lower priced one.

Quality Glass

The thing to remember about quality glass is the coating that comes with it, and

whether it’s ED Glass or not.

Remember that the coatings allow more light to pass through the glass and

ultimately through to your eye. This is going to make a huge difference in the final

picture you get.

And ED Glass is going to correct the focal plane where the light waves meet.

This will reduce the contract of the image anymore.

pg. 43


One other component of quality glass is an extra coating of protection to protect it

from the elements. For example, a lot of Athlon Optics have what they call XPL

Coating. This adds an extra layer of protection to the glass to protect it from dirt

and debris.

Quality Turrets

You might hear the term “tracking” a lot when people talk about Rifle Scopes.

This is referring to how the reticle keeps its position when you adjust the

elevation and windage turrets.

For example, if you have your scope zeroed at 100 yards and you want to adjust

it up 2 Mil to correct for a distance, you want to know that the reticle will be

pointing exactly 2 Mil up from the original position when you click the turret 20

times (0.1 Mil per click).

And then you want to know that when you bring it back down to zero, it’s actually

going to shoot at that original zero.

Scopes that have this have what we call high quality tracking. And tracking is

extremely important, arguably the most important component of the scope.

And for good reason - you want the bullet to go to where you adjusted it. A bad

scope won’t adjust correctly, and you’ll be off your mark and won’t know why.

When buying a scope, ask about the tracking test on the scope. Usually this

comes in the form of a box test, where the shooter zeroes the scope, then makes

a box by adjusting by various Mil/MOA in the Up, Down, Left and Right positions,

then back to zero.

Ideally, when he/she brings it back to zero, that shot should be within ½ inch of

the original bullet. If it’s outside, you either have a shooter error, or somethings

wrong with the turrets.

Trade-Offs To Consider

Glass Quality

With quality glass, you’re going to pay more. With quality turrets, you’re going to

pay more.

pg. 44


That’s the thing with scopes, as well as in life - higher quality materials and

processes cost more.

So one thing to consider before you get out there and start looking for the scope

you want, keep in mind what you’re using it for. If you’re not going to shoot at

1000+ yards, you might not need ED Glass.

And ED Glass will easily double the price of your scope in most cases. But again,

this is a good thing!

Objective Lens Size

The objective lens size is going to affect how much light can be taken in by the

optic. This will affect the overall clarity, and will deliver brighter images..

These are typically more expensive, although not tragically more expensive. For

instance, an Athlon Argos 50mm Objective Lens scope is $369.99 where a

56mm Objective Lens will be $389.99.

It will also make the optic heavier, but by a pretty small amount. Using the same

example above, the extra objective lens adds on only 2.6 ounces to the total

weight using a 56mm objective lens instead of the 50mm.

Typically guys and gals who shoot during low light hours (early mornings and

evenings) find a larger Objective Lens valuable to bring in more light and see the

target clearer.

`

Magnification

Don’t think that a higher magnification means the optic is going to be better. In

some cases, it’s more of a disadvantage.

Rifle Scopes don’t all have what we call “Edge To Edge” Clarity. This just means

the scope is clear at all magnifications. Some scopes get blurry at higher

magnifications, and the focus doesn’t correct for it.

pg. 45


Binoculars will show a shallower depth of field and a diminished field of view.

Spotting Scopes can have a reduced image brightness with an increased

magnification.

All optics get shakier when at higher magnification. The smallest bump will

shake your image all over the place. Stability is very important when shooting, so

consider this over the others.

Prices

Some people I talk to balk at the prices of scopes and I just remind them - this is

a purchase you don’t make every day. You’re probably only going to do 1 or a

couple of these a year, in fact. So don’t feel uncomfortable spending a little bit to

get something of quality that’s going to do what you want it to do.

And there are great companies out there like Athlon and Vortex who are learning

to make these high quality optics at a lot more affordable prices. As

manufacturing processes improve, the cost to make these come down, and the

more they generally pass the savings on to you.

I built my first long range gun for under $1000 total (scope & gun & accessories)

and it hits 1000 yards, so don’t think you need to go all out or anything.

But do understand that a $90 scope is that much for a reason, and don’t expect

the world out of it if you shoot it and it doesn’t live up to the hype.

pg. 46


Reticles

For our last section, we are going to talk about reticles.

Now you’re going to see a lot of different talk about different kinds of reticles all

over the interwebs so just keep one thing in mind before you get too obsessed

with which reticle you want: it’s not the reticle that makes the shooter.

You can be very effective with a simple reticle. In fact, it could be beneficial to

learn the basics on a simple reticle, then upgrading to a more complex reticle

when you have the basics down. I personally learned on a complicated reticle, so

I can’t say I tried this specific approach, but you may have some luck with it.

That being said, a more complex reticle can make calculating things like

holdovers (or adjusting for them I should say) much much easier.

But to buy one, you have to know which one you’re talking about. Let’s get into

the different reticles and reticle subtensions you might be dealing with as you

shop for a scope.

BDC

You’ll see these on everything from Trijicon’s

ACOG to Zeiss optics that cost as much as your

second car. While cosmetic differences will

change from reticle to reticle, the premise is the

same – there are hash marks at the 6 o’clock

position that will help you gauge where a bullet

will land after a predetermined distance.

Sometimes those marks will be lines, circles, or

even chevrons. We’ll get into this later, for now

think of it as a reticle within a reticle so you can

reach further than your main reticle’s zero.

pg. 47


Mil-dot

The Mil-Dot reticle is designed to

provide the shooter with as much

information as possible to make that

one-time shot. Mil-Dots are great for

those who are familiar with the metric

system as well.

Because of these reliable

measurements, they can be used to

calculate target size from a distance

and even calculate wind speed.

Now Mil-dot gets it’s name because the

Mil incremements are made of dots, and any point on each dot is exactly 1 Mil

from the next dot.

That being said, Mil dot reticles can look like the one to the right which is in hash

mark increments. These are becoming increasingly popular, especially for

extreme long range shooting.

MOA

The MOA reticle has hash marks which represent different increments, much like

the newer Mil-Dot Reticles. In this case, the measurements are in MOA not Mil.

Typically, these reticles feature subtensions (the Mil-dot as well) which are

basically preset measurements between each hash mark.

pg. 48


Christmas Tree - see picture above

We’re going to consider this a subcategory of the BDC reticle, but the main

difference is going to be progressively wider markings going down the 6 o’clock

position on the reticle.

This is to help with wind shift at greater distances. Rather than adjust your scope

to compensate for a cross-wind you can use these marks to do it manually by

shifting to the left or right of the target – something we called Kentucky Windage

at Ft. Knox.

It’s great for that single shot, but follow-up shots will depend on your ability to

recreate that exact same reticle placement, so don’t expect consistency if you’re

not re-zeroing.

German

You’ll see illuminated versions of these in

higher end scopes like Leupold or Zeiss

followed by a number (German #4 as an

example). Each one has its merits, but

commonly they will have thicker reticle

lines at all positions except the top.

Typically, used for shorter distances, but

you can use them at longer distances too.

Dot Reticle

Replace the crosshair from an original reticle in the

center with a circle, and you get a dot reticle.

Typically, tactical shooting is the only time these

are going to be really beneficial to use, long range

is a no go.

pg. 49


Duplex Reticle

An excellent choice for a hunter. The bold and thick lines help you weed out the

background noise. This is an extremely common reticle, so expect to see this a

lot. Don’t be surprised if the scope manufacturer gives it a proprietary name like

Nikon’s Nikoplex or Simmons’s Truplex.

Reticle Subtensions

Subtension is how much of your target is

covered by the reticle itself. There are two

places your reticle may be found within the

scope and this affects subtension: first/front

focal plane (FFP) or second/rear focal

plane (SFP). The FFP is found in front of

the magnifying lens and the SFP is found

after magnifying lens.

This is an example of a substention - the

Athlon Argos APMR FFP IR MIL.

Each one of the distances on the reticle

(from one hash mark to the other) is related to a predetermined distance

calculation that is labeled at the bottom.

This is really handy for learning how far away from each other the different hash

marks are. It makes your adjustments a lot easier down the road.

pg. 50


Conclusion & Where To Go From Here

The best place to go from here is to simply go out and start shooting. Practice is

going to make you better in anything, and you don’t need the fanciest setup or to

get everything right right away.

There is plenty of room for trial and error, trust me I use it all the time!

If you’ve never bought an optic before, use this guide as tool for picking out what

you need versus what other people tell you is good/not good. There is nothing

here that is conjecture or opinion, it’s just the straight up facts.

And there are enough of them so that you can make a pretty good decision as to

what you will need to do what you want to do when shooting.

If you’re looking to spend under $1000 on a gun that can shoot 1000 yards, my

own personal budget setup is:

Ruger American 308 Win - $580

Athlon Argos BTR 6-24x50mm FFP IR MIL - $369.99

Seekins Medium 30mm Rings - $80

This build has hit 1000 yards and will hit 1000 yards for times to come.

Other than that, have fun. I absolutely love shooting, there’s nothing like a

precision sport to help make yourself better.

Which is the joy I get out of rifle shooting - I get better at shooting and can apply

these skills to life as well.

If you have questions, shoot me an email at [email protected]. I’d love to

chat and help point you in the right direction.

Thanks and have fun!

--Ryan

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everything you need to know about optics€¦ · as ballistics. here we’re going to go into some...

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