Rifle Scopes Your ideas for a SWAT team sniper scope?

Re: Your ideas for a SWAT team sniper scope?

Alot of good advice so far. My .02 is understand the difference between an LE and Military Sniper. When will you as a LEO ever take a shot past 500 yards? My A/O has both soccer mom suberbs, a decent sized mall as well as farm land. Being a regional SWAT team we have been all over the county, which includes two colleges and farm land as well as city area. The longest we were deployed was 250 yards due to the subject having scoped hunting rifles and we needed some degree of cover / concealment. Our job is to Observe Report and IF needbe Protect /Shoot. The Military Sniper also Observes and Reports but also uses distance as his friend to escape and evade after the fact depending on what thier job was to do and why they were there. Correct me if I am wrong but the distance statistics are only recoreded when a sniper made a shot and not for every sniper call out thoughout the U.S. I believe that a 3-12 or a 4-16 and at max a 5-20 depending on your area would do fine. Two of the County Snipers use Luey's because thats what they were issued and wont buy anything else. I had to buy all of my own gear and I use a 5-20 because in my area the shortest distance would be 50 yards and if we get out longer that 20 power comes in mighty handy and does not require adding more gear like a spotting scope. I am still new at this myself and like others am allways learning. Any constructive critisism on my post is welcomed and would be viewed as a learning experince.
 
Re: Your ideas for a SWAT team sniper scope?

IMHO 5x is way to much on the bottom if you are at 50 yards. Suspects have a tendency to pop up where you weren't looking.

I run a 5-20x right now and I have cussed it a couple times. I would much prefer 3x on the bottom and give back some on the top if necessary. The only reason I am still running the 5-20 is that my other scope is a 3.2-17 and tunnels from 3.2-5x so it doesn't really give me a greater FOV.
 
Re: Your ideas for a SWAT team sniper scope?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: LoneWolfUSMC</div><div class="ubbcode-body">IMHO 5x is way to much on the bottom if you are at 50 yards. Suspects have a tendency to pop up where you weren't looking.

I run a 5-20x right now and I have cussed it a couple times. I would much prefer 3x on the bottom and give back some on the top if necessary. The only reason I am still running the 5-20 is that my other scope is a 3.2-17 and tunnels from 3.2-5x so it doesn't really give me a greater FOV. </div></div>

Did you happen to look at the 3-20X50 S&B at Show? I was wondering if it had a similar tunneling. I really am liking the HDMR on the low end however, I am using the h-58 and it is way busy I believe for LEO operations. The HDMR also has slight tunneling but not to bad. I have not seen any tunneling with the 3-15 premier, which might be the go to scope other than price.
 
Re: Your ideas for a SWAT team sniper scope?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: frankythefly</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Did you happen to look at the 3-20X50 S&B at Show? </div></div>

I didn't get by S&B. A Horus reticle would probably not be my first choice for an LE scope. In fact for LE work the plain jane mildot works great.

A hole a lot of us fall into is trying to stick a competition scope on a working rifle. I end up in the same hole because my best rifle is both a working rifle and my competition rifle. I try to make it do double duty and it ends up heavier and more expensive than it needs to be for a working gun.
 
Re: Your ideas for a SWAT team sniper scope?


We run two scopes on our precision rifles, both USO. One 3.2 x 17. The other a 5x25. Both will dial down to a sub-50-yd shot, but the 5X is harder to use with the really close range work. The 3.2 does better. But both are usable across the whole gamut of shot.

Being in a very rural area, we want the option to be able to dial out to some long ranges. But also recognize that most LE engagements are at <100 yds.

Just to give an example, I engaged a c. 10 YD target at Gastonia last year using the 5 x 25 TPAL. This was the 'kickoff' target for the movers stage and was at a crazy down angle from a tower. I utterly centered the <0.5" middle dot. But that's because I practiced at VERY close ranges with the scope and had the dope on it. It was not a 'clear' scope picture. But I knew my hold, which was well above the center to compensate for height of reticle above the bore.

You can use equipment in a lot of creative ways if you practice with it and know your dope.

Cheers,

Sirhr
 
Re: Your ideas for a SWAT team sniper scope?

I was an assistant sniper team leader and the designated "supply sergeant" for the team. I was in charge of T&E'ing all kinds of gear. It was a rough job.
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The best fit for our purposes <200yds, low light, durable, simple, fast to operate, etc. was the USO 1.8-10 illum. Thing is built like a tank, compact, customizable, and made in the USA by some good folks.

IF you ever have an issue they are small enough to take care of you ricky-tick. I've had to send a few Leupolds back over the years and even including a letterhead request for expedited service, they took a while to get back. That's something to consider.
 
Re: Your ideas for a SWAT team sniper scope?

+1 on USO's customer service....Becky who works there had my scope almost completely rebuilt and had it back to me in less than 5 business days. It's a 1.8x-10x-37.

They fixed the non-working illumintaed reticle...reset the erek knob to factory zero..and added parralax adjustment. Fina another scope co. that will do anything near that fast. They rock. And yeah, it is built like a tank.
 
Re: Your ideas for a SWAT team sniper scope?

I am in the same boat you are in. As an LE Marksman in an urban environment FOV becomes a very important factor in choosing optics. I am specing new rifles for our team now and have opted for two scope options; the NF 2.5-10x32 and the USO 1.8-10 slimline. I am leaning toward the NF because of the weight savings.
We currently run the Rem 700 PSS with the old Leupold VXIII Tactical 3.5-10x40 duplex. I wanted something lighter, shorter and easier to use at shorter distances while maintaining an adequate LR capability.

This what I have requested:
Rem 700 LTR
Badger 20moa alloy base
Seekins 30mm alloy rings
NF 2.5-10x32 Mil/Mil Zero Stop
Badger M5 bottom metal
Badger EFR
Harris HBLMS Bipod
Pod Loc
The Wilderness Ching Sling
Eagle Stock pack

This will be a sub 11lb rifle that will do everything that we need them to do.
 
Re: Your ideas for a SWAT team sniper scope?

We have Leupold 6.5x20 MK4s and the 20x top end does help with target ID and intel gathering opposed to the 14x top end of our older scopes. That said, the 6.5x low end is not ideal for a 30yd position. I'm not current on what all is available but something around 3-4x on the low and 18-22x on the high end would be nice. Illumination is a must.
 
Re: Your ideas for a SWAT team sniper scope?

I would rather have a scope with too much magnification ..... that I never use. Than "need" the magnification that "1" time and not have it when it counts.

As for illunination, it can't hurt. And, if the batteries go dead ... no big deal. You would still have the normal reticle to use.
 
Re: Your ideas for a SWAT team sniper scope?

Tons of good info here. I have been on our team going on 15 years. For 14 years I have been on our sniper team. We run 3.5 on the low end and 10X on the top end. You must have illumination. I have been on numerous deployments from 11 yards to 120 yards. When deployed at 120 yards more magnification would have been nice for intel gathering, but at 11 yards 4 power worked good to make sure hostage heads were out of the way before the shot. I have shot the 10X out to 1360 and it worked but more would be better. I think you just have to look at all of your options and go with the product that gives you the best options for your A/O. Def. stick with top quality products.
 
Re: Your ideas for a SWAT team sniper scope?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BigB308</div><div class="ubbcode-body">You should just wait until the new scopes come out. Schmidt and bender has a 3-20 and leupold has a 3-25 If I remember correctly. </div></div>

3-18 for 2k-2500 I think. It looked really compact in the video I saw too maybe 12"?
 
Re: Your ideas for a SWAT team sniper scope?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BigB308</div><div class="ubbcode-body">You should just wait until the new scopes come out. Schmidt and bender has a 3-20 and leupold has a 3-25 If I remember correctly. </div></div>

Just waiting for an unseen, untested scope in an unknown price range seems like a bad plan of action. One of my instructors here always says "Hope is not a course of action." He's right.
 
Re: Your ideas for a SWAT team sniper scope?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SPDSNYPR</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
Just waiting for an unseen, untested scope in an unknown price range seems like a bad plan of action. One of my instructors here always says "Hope is not a course of action." He's right. </div></div>

I tend to agree with you. LE work does not require cutting edge tech. It requires proven tools.