Longrange magnification puzzle

[robin78]

I know there are many who want the highest available power on their longrange riflescopes for the .338LM, but wouldn`t a fixed 10X Leupold Mark 4 M1 with high elevation settings do the same job out to 1500 meters? Unless for spotting purposes on high magnification, what do most shooters crank their scope to before pulling the trigger? I saw once a picture of an us army guy with his M107 mounted with a Leupold Mark 4 M1 10X40 on top.

 

[bogeybrown]

From personal experience I've taken a Mk4 3.5-10 M1 out to 1200yds on a .308. I attempted a mile but ran out of elevation in the turret and would have had to back down from 10x to get enough reticle for a hold. Backing down from 10x to shoot an IPSC steel plate at a mile wasn't an option.

Where I found the 10x was limiting was registering my hits. At 10x and extended ranges with mild mirage I couldn't tell if the plates were actually swinging or if it was just visual distortion.

In talking to a recently retired SF sniper about the 10x optics he explained that on a square range the 10x had proven adequate for a very long time because it was enough mag to effectively hit out to 1000 or a bit more. Where he said the "need" for the increased mag came in with the current conflicts wasn't so much target engagement as it was target identification. Today's snipers are held to an insane standard on their ROEs and mistaking a shovel for a rifle through your optics at a click or more can land a sniper in a court martial. He said they did some drills when selecting the new round of optics where they'd have people walking around downrange with various items in their hands and had experienced snipers trying to determine positive I.D. on the people and positive I.D. on what they were carrying. It demonstrated the need for more than 10x.

Can you shoot ELR with a Leupy 10x? of course you can. Is it necessarily the best tool for the job? Having tried it I chose to purchase some much better optics for that role.

 

[wilwith1l]

Higher magnification also helps with RE. You don't always have a full "Heel to Head" view of the target, and given the typical attire of some cultures, it may be difficult to determine where the pelvic saddle is is for a "Hip to Head" read.

In the heat you already have the mirage skewing your sight picture, so a high zoom is nice to tighten up the image.

Also: The M107s have 4.5-14x Mk 4s which leave a lot to be desired. However, when doing rapid engagement exercises on vehicle size targets I (almost always) dial back to around 6 or so to open up the sight picture down range. Some guys even take it back to 4.5x

 

[robin78]

Ok, many thanks for good answers so far

 

[Trapshooter12]

For Target shooting I use the highest magnification but when I am out Hunting I turn it down to the minimum to get the largest field of view for the close in shots.