Sniper Shots

Telescopic sight is often deemed a scope. Usually this technology is used on sniper rifles resulting in the name sniper scope. It is an optical device used to give more accuracy using a point of aim for firearms, airguns and crossbows. Other sighting systems include the iron sights, reflex sights, and laser sights.

Up until the 1990s, military use of telescopic sights was limited to snipers because the optical components were expensive and extremely fragile. They had been used as early as the American Civil War on rifles, and even at earlier points throughout history. The glass lenses are vulnerable to breakage, and environmental conditions inclusive of condensation, precipitation, dirt, and mud which can impair the external lenses. The scope tube also result in the rifle to feel more bulky. Snipers primarily used moderate to high magnification scopes with specific reticles that enable them to estimate the distance from the shooting point to the target.

Telescopic sights are sometimes not advantageous to the user because of its tactical shortcomings. Snipers require stealth and concealment to get near enough to their target. A telescopic sight can obstruct this because sunlight may inevitably reflect from the lens and a sniper raising his head to use a telescopic sight might accidentally expose his position. The famous Finnish sniper Simo Häyhä relied heavily on iron sights rather than telescopic sights to eliminate some of these concerns. Harsh climate can also be a major problem for telescopic sights as they are less weather resistant than iron sights. Many Finnish snipers in WWII prefered to use iron sights mainly because telescopic sights did not handle the very cold Finnish winters well enough.

The market for military telescopic sights used for military long-range shooting is extremely competitive. Multiple high end optics manufacturers are consistently adapting and enhancing their telescopic sights to meet the demands of military organizations. Two leading European companies in this field are Schmidt & Bender and Zeiss/Hensoldt. American companies that have made their mark in this area are Nightforce, U.S. Optics Inc. and Premier Reticles. These more costly sighting parts typically cost € 1500 / $ 2000 and above. The best options for military telescopic sights are reticule illumination that may be used in poor lighting conditions and those that are inclusive of scope settings or ballistic relevant environmental measurements data that largely benefit the operator.

Presently many militaries issue telescopic sights to their infantry, normally compact, low-magnification sights appropriate for snap-shooting, like reflex sights. The US military issues ACOG, Aimpoint CompM2 and EOTech 553 combat optics. American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan often buy their own combat optics. The British army uses the SA80 rifle with the SUSAT 4× optical sight as standard issue. The Canadian Forces standard C7 rifle has a 3.4 Elcan C79 optical sight. Both Austria and Australia use variations of the Austrian Steyr AUG which has built an integral 1.5x optical sight since its issue in the late 1970s.