How much magnification for 1 mile?

[lash]

Never only 1/4 inch of the flasher sticks out the edge. Place them on the top side of target and all the splatter goes down away from them. Especially at one mile

We saw at least two direct hits on Caldwell indicators at distances of 1355 and 1950 yards during a long range event in GA in September. Odds are a funny thing.

I don’t have that one handy at the moment, but this is one of 4 HIT indicators out of the five I had out for a match, lol.

View attachment 8522254

Or the guts of it anyway. The case was shot clean off.

Now I use two per target. Odds being what they are. Funny though that last match I had two on each target and not one was hit.

Here’s the HornyDaddy HiT indicator that @Mike Casselton was referring to above. This was one I lost at that same event. These were all attached well back from any spall but odds being what they are. This one was at 1220y.

Edit: still, at only $10/each, it’s totally worth it and is why I put two on every target at matches.

 

[Taylorbok]

We saw at least two direct hits on Caldwell indicators at distances of 1355 and 1950 yards during a long range event in GA in September. Odds are a funny thing.

Here’s the HornyDaddy HiT indicator that @Mike Casselton was referring to above. This was one I lost at that same event. These were all attached well back from any spall but odds being what they are. This one was at 1220y.

Did ur Caldwell units that got hit stop working? the ones that got shot with 22LR still worked where the LED's weren't destroyed.
Center fire rounds might cause to much damage?
That Hornady unit looks like it had some sort of electrical fire also, LOL.

 

[lash]

Did ur Caldwell units that got hit stop working? the ones that got shot with 22LR still worked where the LED's weren't destroyed.
Center fire rounds might cause to much damage?
That Hornady unit looks like it had some sort of electrical fire also, LOL.

I think one was 300wm and one was 300 NM. Both using 215-220gr clad bullets. They stopped working. One was blown off and up. The other shattered.

The Hornady ‘fire’ was likely from the lithium rechargeable battery taking it on the chin. It definitely let the smoke out, as we used to say.

Edit: just wanted to say that I plan on getting a couple Caldwell units also. I just need to look for those elusive $20 units.

 

[reelserious]

Eventually anything put downrange will get shot. So theres that. At $29 for a flasher i Dont care that much The caldwell is much better than the $150 ones we used to use

 

[lash]

Eventually anything put downrange will get shot. So theres that. At $29 for a flasher i Dont care that much The caldwell is much better than the $150 ones we used to use

While I do think that the $100-150 ones from magnetospeed are superior in some ways like durability for matches and resistance to extraneous vibrations, I agree. They essentially proved out the size of the market and encouraged competition.

We bought a $1000+ kit of ten in 2020-2021 and there are still three working units that haven’t been dismantled by rounds or spall.

Even so, unless MS responds with a well thought out and price competitive option, the Caldwells and Hornadys of this world currently own this specific niche.

 

[Taylorbok]

While I do think that the $100-150 ones from magnetospeed are superior in some ways like durability for matches and resistance to extraneous vibrations, I agree. They essentially proved out the size of the market and encouraged competition.

We bought a $1000+ kit of ten in 2020-2021 and there are still three working units that haven’t been dismantled by rounds or spall.

Even so, unless MS responds with a well thought out and price competitive option, the Caldwells and Hornadys of this world currently own this specific niche.

Even if the MS is more durable it's 7.5x the price of a Caldwell. You could put 4 on every target that required them and still be way ahead.

 

[reelserious]

Hell the last model was $195 and went off on a near miss which i did not find helpful. The new caldwell is GTG and can be considered expendable/ disposable

 

[GunnyUSMC]

Prior to shooting one-mile, my research indicated that magnification used for shooting one-mile averaged around 25x and the type of scope recommended was a First Focal Plane (as opposed to Second Focal Plane).

I decided to defy all the recommendations when attempting my first one-mile using a 6.5 creedmoor with a 26" M24 barrel and a Vortex SFP Golden Eagle with up to 60x magnification. During the shoot, i maintained between 50&60x. I was on target by the third shot and proceeded to transition to a 18" steel for the one-mile MOA challenge and again, I was on target by the third shot.

Fortunately for me, the targets were on a dirt embankment making misses relatively easy to see and adjust. Time of day was critical as we were on the line around 10:00am before the heat of the day started producing a heavy mirage.

moral of the story, there is no single solution. The phrase "It Depends" says it all. My setup was the complete opposite of what was recommended by the most experienced shooters but it worked perfectly.

 

[ggmanning]

Unfortunately I can’t go down range to place them.

Youn shooting Coleman Creek? About the only thing I don't like about those ranges no access to the steel. Still a nice place for 1 mile. He does have some decent berms on long targets for seeing splash.

 

[secondofangle2]

TLDR

But, I shoot a 6-36 S&B. Was out 2 d ago. shooting at a 24" plate at 1850 yard w 375 CT. Dialed down to 20-25x to increase FOV and spot my own misses (shooting alone). Plus, shooting westward as the sun set. Trade-offs.

 

[KitShickers]

Youn shooting Coleman Creek? About the only thing I don't like about those ranges no access to the steel. Still a nice place for 1 mile. He does have some decent berms on long targets for seeing splash.

Yes sir. My happy place.

 

[velocidad247]

Youn shooting Coleman Creek? About the only thing I don't like about those ranges no access to the steel. Still a nice place for 1 mile. He does have some decent berms on long targets for seeing splash.

Yes sir. My happy place.

How busy is Coleman Creek (CC) on Fridays? CC is 2 hour drive but having a 1200 meter and 1 mile range is appealing. Frontline Defense and Woody's Rifle Club are within a hour but nothing past 1000 yards.

 

[ggmanning]

I mainly go to Woodys. Im 20 minutes away but hit CC several times a year for the distance and field set ups. CC has a ton of steel all over the place. I usually go Thursdays and shoot almost alone on the long ranges over the course of a few hours. Only been once on a Friday and it was pretty wide open that day. Just got to check CCs calendar, military groups use the long ranges some.

 

[Desert Fox]

A quality 6-24 or 5-25 is all you need. I shoot ELR and most of the time when mirage are heavy, I rarely dialed up no more than 18 to 20X.

 

[MikeMiller]

I use a Razor Gen 3 6-36 on my mile weapons. It is perfect for this

 

[HD1911]

Last time I shot a mile was on 18x.

 

[KitShickers]

How busy is Coleman Creek (CC) on Fridays? CC is 2 hour drive but having a 1200 meter and 1 mile range is appealing. Frontline Defense and Woody's Rifle Club are within a hour but nothing past 1000 yards.

It depends. They have a lot of matches and military training days. But they usually say so on their calendar a month in advance. Weekdays when there are no matches are usually fairly wide open, Friday usually being the busiest weekday. Weekends are fairly crowded unless the weather sucks. They are about to raise their cost of membership so join soon if you plan to.

 

[velocidad247]

It depends. They have a lot of matches and military training days. But they usually say so on their calendar a month in advance. Weekdays when there are no matches are usually fairly wide open, Friday usually being the busiest weekday. Weekends are fairly crowded unless the weather sucks. They are about to raise their cost of membership so join soon if you plan to.

I figured Friday might be busier than Tues. - Thru. CC currently has a $600 holiday special for new members that includes the initiation fee and a swag bag valued at $60. The 2 hour drive is keeping me from committing. I might have to take a tour of CC and Woody's before making a decision.

 

[ggmanning]

CC has far more distance shooting and scenarios/steel for carbine and pistols than Woody's. Woody's is a nice place and my main range but much smaller than CC. Woody requires qualification for 1000 yard range access if that matters. It is not a big deal if you shoot distance much, you just won't be allowed on the 1000 yard range until you shoot the qual held a few times a year. It does make the 1000 yard range much less busy than the other ranges on those days that are busy and that is very nice.

 

[Maggot]

Lots of different opinions will come out, no doubt. It also depends on conditions, if you have someone spotting for you or you have to do it yourself, etc. It doesn't take a lot of mag to SHOOT a target at a mile, but if you're self-spotting you need more mag, and most importantly, excellent resolution.

For me, I'm self-spotting most of the time. I mostly have everything set on 25X at that distance, even the NF 7-35 and SB 6-36. The SB 5-25s also stay on 25X. All of them have excellent resolution, so it works pretty well for me. A cheaper scope with similar mag but poor resolution would not be up to the task.

This is just what works for me, in the conditions I shoot in (Southeast, green hayfields).

I've kind of come to the opinion that the lower-cost end of the "buy once, cry once" ELR optics is the NF 7-35 ATACR. Going up in cost from there are the SBs, ZCOs, and TTs (and a few others), all very capable and with even better glass and other features, but the NF at least performs at a level that it could never be blamed for holding you back, costing you a target, etc. It's a great place to start if cost is a concern (still expensive, but somewhat, to much less so than the others). It is very popular in ELR comps, and seems to hold its own if match results are any indication. That said, I still prefer my SBs, but they cost more, and the NF has performed well enough I don't see it as a handicap.

For what it's worth, I compared the night force 7 / 35 and the Zeiss 6x36 And found the glass on the Zeiss To be clearer and I preferred The smoothness of the magnification ring. ymmv