With all the equipment you can buy and think you might need, probably the most important in my experience is going to be a range finder. If you don't know the distance, you can't hit the target. I have shot medium ranges for a long time without a range finder. I set up my own steel targets and knew the size of the plates, so I could MIL them with my scope to get the distance. But once I got out to 600 to 1400 yards, I wanted to know the exact distance. It's important to know the exact distance to get first round hits.
You can't have too much of a range finder. It's always better to have more distance capabilities than you need. A general rule with range finders is, get twice the distance you plan to shoot. What I mean by this is, if you shoot out to 1000 yards, you want to get model x2000. The company will tell you it will work out to 2000 yd and it most likely will, but only on extremely large reflective targets such as buildings. With smaller targets such as steel or non-reflective targets like trees, typically you get about half that. I would go ahead and save up and buy the best you can afford. In the long run, it will save you money on ammo because you won't have to walk in your shots. And, if you get a good one now, you won't have to buy what you really need in the future. Buy once cry once, as they say.
I like my range finder to do one thing; tell me the range. You can get range finders that tell you angular measurements and your dope, but just keep in mind you will pay more for that. Because I use dope cards, a dope book and I have other ballistic calculators, I don't need all that in a range finder. However, it may save you on other equipment, which can equal less money, less gear, and less weight to carry.
The amount of time and money I have spent on missing targets because they were not at the distance I was told or thought, would probably have bought a good range finder. But I put it off because of cost. When I finally did buy one I was quickly shooting past it's capabilities. So, I will have to buy another one. I hope you will learn from my mistakes.
This is part of the reason I write these articles; so I can save you money and get you into the sport. Also, because I firmly believe riflemen will, at some point, save our country again.
The Overwatch
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