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SniperWorld
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mission: spotting scopes
Intelligence:
military snipers all over the world generally operate in teams of two: a shooter and a spotter. The shooter in the team, often called the sniper, is often armed with a scoped rifle and a pistol. The spotter is usually equipped with binoculars, a spotting scope, and an assault rifle, for backup. The spotting scope is important, because it allows the spotter to see what the shooter is seeing through his scope, only generally the spotting scope has a wider field of view of the entire target area. Spotting scopes pick up where conventional binoculars leave off. Most spotting scopes are labeled with three numbers.
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| The first two are magnification range and the last one is always the size of the front (i.e. 'objective') lens. For example, a 15-45x60 spotting scope would have a zoom of 15 to 45 times magnification and an objective lens diameter of 60mm. The wider the objective lens, by the way, the more light the scope lets in, hence the brighter and more clear the image will be to the shooter. This is an important variable to consider, especially when the spotter intends to use it in low light conditions. The larger the objective lens, the more detail and clarity you can see, however, a large, cheap quality objective lens won't rival the clarity of a small, high quality lens. When choosing among scopes, remember to choose quality over size. If you can get both at the same time, then even better. Another limiting variable to consider is atmospheric density, which limits how much detail you can see at great distances. The spotter must take into account such atmospheric conditions as heat waves, dust, humidity and air currents; all of which affect the clarity of long range optics. Seeing a person's facial features, at a mile or more through an ocean of turbulent, continuously moving air is not possible. Consequently, most spotting scopes are 60x magnification or less. Many beginners and novices make the mistake of thinking they'll just use an astronomical telescope and use it as a spotting scope, only to be thwarted by atmospheric conditions that limit their maximum magnification to 60x, which of course is far less than their hundreds of times magnification astronomical telescope was intended for. Sometimes a spotting scope will also have a close focus, which enables the spotter to focus less than 20 feet. Many spotters find this useful when using the scope in conjunction with a camera. When it comes to the world of rifle scopes, spotting scopes, and optics in general, you will be well served to remember this simple phrase, "Keep your expectations in line with price, and buy according to your needs." If you're just in the back forty, shooting beer cans with your buddy Dwayne, you don't need a thousand dollar spotting scope. If you're part of a Navy Seals sniping team, you probably do. As one might imagine, there is a huge chasm of difference in clarity and performance between cheap, low-quality scopes and premium high-quality ones. Lastly, not to be like Detective Columbo, but one more thing: remember that your spotting scope is only good as long as it's stable, so be sure to get a tripod for it. |
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