In Service Rifle competition in the United States, scopes are currently limited to a maximum magnification of 4.5 power (4.5X). Both the NRA and CMP rulebooks stipulate that variable and fixed scopes cannot exceed this power, and the objective lens diameter must not exceed 34mm.
Service Rifle Scope Configuration Rules
Maximum Magnification: 4.5x power is the max magnification allowed for Service Rifles.
Variable Power Limit: If using a variable scope, it can have any magnification range as long as it cannot be dialed higher than 4.5X.
Lens Size: 34mm is the maximum allowed objective lens diameter.
Sight Consistency: The same optical sight must be used for all stages of a course of fire. Changing optics between slow-fire and rapid-fire strings is prohibited.
Mount Height: The scope centerline must be no higher than 3.5 inches above the barrel bore centerline.
Popular Service Rifle Optics
Because of the 4.5X power limit and 34mm max objective size, Service Rifle competitors typically run purpose-built AR-optimized service rifle optics or tactical low-power variable optics (LPVOs). The most popular service rifle optics include:
Sightron S-TAC 1-4.5X24mm SR-1/AR-1 Scope
Nightforce Competition SR Fixed 4.5x24mm
Leupold VX-4.5HD Service Rifle 1-4.5x24mm CDS-ZL2 HPR-1
At the request of our readers, we provide select “Deals of the Week”. Every Sunday afternoon or Monday morning we offer our Best Bargain selections. Here are some of the best deals on firearms, hardware, reloading components, optics, and shooting accessories. Be aware that sale prices are subject to change, and once clearance inventory is sold, it’s gone for good. You snooze you lose.
NOTE: All listed products are for sale to persons 18 years of age or older. No products are intended for use by minors.
Palmetto SA — Hot Trending Sale on ARs, Optics, Ammo
⏺️ » Huge discounts on guns and optics
This week there is a Major Sale at Palmetto State Armory. You’ll find great deals on AR lowers, complete ARs, Vortex optics and more. If you are looking to build an AR-based service rifle or varmint rig, this is an excellent opportunity. And there are great deals on ammo also.
MidwayUSA — Case Cleaning & Preparation SALE
⏺️ » Big savings on case prep tools and products
Brass prep is one of the most critical steps when it comes to reloading. If you need to step up your prep game, check out the Case Cleaning & Preparation Sale over at MidwayUSA. A wide variety of quality case prep products are on sale at significant savings — 15% to 30%. From tumblers to trimmers you’ll find everything you need to get your brass in tip-top shape.
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Box to Bench Precision (B2B) has developed an oversize (23.5″ x 30″) precisely-scaled target designed for Load Development and Scope Testing. This waterproof target is very innovative. On the target you’ll find clusters of aim points for various tasks. Upper left are orange aiming spots for testing various powder charges. In the upper right quadrant are more red aim points to be used when testing bullet seating depth. Running down the center of the target is a vertical line with horizontal marks showing precise MOA and Mil heights at 100 yards — use this feature to verify your click values. ORDER HERE.
And there’s more. In the lower right quadrant (far right) are three black targets to be used for chrono work. With these you can record cold velocity, hot barrel velocity and a “Final Velocity”. Over in the lower left quadrant, in the left-most column, are three dot targets for zeroing and recording group size with load data. Finally, four more black/white targets can be used for a scope box test (aka “shooting the square”). With a box test, you move from target to target, clicking in sequence to each corner of the square in sequence, eventually returning to your original aim point. If your scope tracks correctly, the last box test shot should end up right on top of the first shot.
Record the Entire Load Development Process on One Target
For those used to shooting at conventional bulleyes or benchrest targets, this target may seem confusing, but it can really help organize and simplify the process of load development. We like the idea of having a single, durable target that performs double-duty — serving for load development as well as scope checking. And we like the fact that the target is pretty strong — the maker says: “The target is Tear-Resistant and Water-Proof”. We’d expect a maker based in the Pacific NW to design a target that can handle wet weather.
Previous version of target shown. Current version has some minor enhancements.
How to Order
So how much does all this target technology cost? A pack of three 23.5″ x 30″ targets costs $27.00, a five-target pack is $40.00, a seven-target pack is $49.00, while a ten-target pack runs $55.00. These targets ship FREE in a durable cardboard tube. To order these targets, visit the Box To Box Precision Online Store.
At the request of our readers, we provide select “Deals of the Week”. Every Sunday afternoon or Monday morning we offer our Best Bargain selections. Here are some of the best deals on firearms, hardware, reloading components, optics, and shooting accessories. Be aware that sale prices are subject to change, and once clearance inventory is sold, it’s gone for good. You snooze you lose.
NOTE: All listed products are for sale to persons 18 years of age or older. No products are intended for use by minors.
Palmetto SA — Memorial Day Sale
⏺️ » Great deals on rifles, AR components, ammo
Many leading vendors are running major Memorial Day Sales. Palmetto State Armory has hundreds of popular items on sale this week. Enjoy major discounts on AR components, complete rifles, handguns, optics and more.
Midsouth — Primers Sale and Free Shipping or Free Hazmat
⏺️ » Primers SALE plus Free Shipping or Free Hazmat on powder/primers
Midsouth is running notable promos right now with significant discounts on primers plus savings on powder shipping and hazmat. This sale includes major brands including Hodgdon, CCI, Winchester, Accurate, Remington, Ramshot and many others. Choose FREE Shipping or FREE Hazmat on orders over $99! Use Code MD26FS for Free Shipping on orders over $99 or use Code MD26FHM for Free Hazmat on orders over $99. Order Must Include $99 of In Stock Items – Up to 49lbs. NOTE: These codes expire Monday 05/25/26 at 11:59pm CST.
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This was one of our 25 Most Popular Articles in past years. We’re repeating it for those of you who may have missed it the first time around. These diagrams were created by the South Texas Shooting Marksmanship Training Center (STMTC).
There was an excellent article about Mirage created for the South Texas Marksmanship Training Center (STMTC). This article explains what causes mirage and how mirage can move the perceived aiming point on your target. Most importantly, the article explains, in considerable detail, how you can “read” mirage to discern wind speeds and wind directions.
Mirage Is Your Friend
While hot days with lots of mirage can be frustrating, mirage can reveal how the wind is flowing (and changing). If you learn how to recognize and read mirage patterns, you can use that information to shoot higher scores. That’s why many leading long-range shooters tell us: “Mirage is your friend.” As the STMTC article explained: “A mirage condition is not a handicap, since it offers a very accurate method of perceiving small wind changes[.]”
Mirage Illustrated with Diagrams
With simple but effective graphic illustrations, this is one of the best explanations of mirage (and mirage reading) we have found on the internet. This is a “must-read” for any serious competitive shooter. Here is a brief sample from the article, along with an illustration. NOTE: the full article is six times longer and has 8 diagrams.
The term “mirage” as used by the shooter does not refer to a true mirage, but to heat waves and the refraction of light as it is bent passing through air layers of different density. Light which passes obliquely from one wind medium to another it undergoes an abrupt change in direction, whenever its velocity in the second medium is different from the velocity in the first wind medium; the shooter will see a “mirage”.
The density of air, and therefore its refraction, varies with its temperature. A condition of cool air overlaying warm air next to the ground is the cause of heat waves or “mirage”. The warm air, having a lower index of refraction, is mixed with the cooler air above by convection, irregularly bending the light transmitting the target image to the shooter’s eye. Figure 1 shows (greatly exaggerated) the vertical displacement of the target image by heat waves.
Heat waves are easily seen with the unaided eye on a hot, bright day and can be seen with spotting scope on all but the coldest days. To observe heat waves, the scope should be focused on a point about midway to the target. This will cause the target to appear slightly out of focus, but since the high power rifle shooter generally does not try to spot bullet holes, the lack in target clarity is more than compensated by clarity of the heat waves.
Story tip from Boyd Allen. We welcome reader submissions.
At the request of our readers, we provide select “Deals of the Week”. Every Sunday afternoon or Monday morning we offer our Best Bargain selections. Here are some of the best deals on firearms, hardware, reloading components, optics, and shooting accessories. Be aware that sale prices are subject to change, and once clearance inventory is sold, it’s gone for good. You snooze you lose.
NOTE: All listed products are for sale to persons 18 years of age or older. No products are intended for use by minors.
Graf & Sons — Berger Bullet Sale
⏺️ » Good 20-29% savings on Berger match and hunting bullets, many calibers
When it comes to competition components, Berger Bullets produces some of the best bullets you can buy. And Berger offers a wide selection of calibers, bullet weights, and bullet profiles (standard, VLD, hybrid). With savings up to 29%, now is the time to stock up for this year’s matches and take advantage of these big Berger bullet discounts at Grafs.com.
MidwayUSA — Major Discounts on All Types of Optics
⏺️ » Big Optics Sale with major savings, plus FREE Shipping offers
If you’re looking to grab a new scope or other type of optic, check out the optics sale at MidwayUSA. You’ll find riflescopes, spotting scopes, binoculars, thermal monoculars, rangefinders and Red Dots at crazy low prices. For example the Burris 5-20x50mm Eliminator rangefinder scope has been discounted $800, a huge 40% savings. Plus many orders over $100 will qualify for FREE Shipping this week.
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This popular video, viewed 3.9 million times on YouTube, provides a clear explanation of Minute of Angle (MOA) and how that angular measurement is used. Among novice shooters, there is much confusion over this term. In this NSSF Video, Ryan Cleckner, a former U.S. Army Sniper Instructor, defines the term “Minute of Angle” (MOA) and explains how you can adjust for windage and elevation using 1/4 or 1/8 MOA clicks on your scope. This allows you to sight-in precisely and compensate for bullet drop at various distances.
For starters, Ryan explains that, when talking about angular degrees, a “minute” is simply 1/60th. So a “Minute of Angle” is simply 1/60th of one degree of a central angle, measured either up and down (for elevation) or side to side (for windage). At 100 yards, 1 MOA equals 1.047″ on the target. This is often rounded to one inch for simplicity. Say, for example, you click up 1 MOA. That is roughly 1 inch at 100 yards, or roughly 4 inches at 400 yards, since the target area measured by 1 MOA increases in linear fashion with the distance.
More Minute of Angle (MOA) Explanatory Videos
This Gunwerks video explains that Minute of Angle subtends approximately 1″ for each 100 yards (well, 1.047″ to be more precise). That means a Minute of Angle increases in actual measured size the greater the distance of the target from the shooter.
This lengthy (24-minute) video defines Minute of Angle, and uses multiple diagrams to illustrate how MOA angular measurements works. The video also how MOA-based click values translate to point-of-impact changes at various distances.
At the request of our readers, we provide select “Deals of the Week”. Every Sunday afternoon or Monday morning we offer our Best Bargain selections. Here are some of the best deals on firearms, hardware, reloading components, optics, and shooting accessories. Be aware that sale prices are subject to change, and once clearance inventory is sold, it’s gone for good. You snooze you lose.
NOTE: All listed products are for sale to persons 18 years of age or older. No products are intended for use by minors.
Midsouth — RCBS Sale on Popular Products and Dies
⏺️ » Major discounts on RCBS reloading hardware, tools and dies
Need a press, case prep machine, or brass cleaning system? Then head over to Midsouth which is running a major RCBS Reloading Product Sale right now with major discount on case prep equipment, tumblers, trimmers, and more. Along with these reloading products, scales, and press, Midsouth is also running a major SALE on RCBS MatchMaster Reloading Dies. You can save $20-$30 now on these die sets, which are available for over 50 cartridge types (from .17 to .338 calibers), including these popular 6mm cartridges: 6mmBR, 6mm Dasher, 6mmx47, 6GT, 6XC, 6mm Rem, 6mm Creedmoor, and .243 Win.
Locked & Loaded Ltd. — Rimfire Ammo Sale for .17 Cal, .22 Cal
⏺️ » Major discounts on .17 Cal and .22 Cal rimfire ammunition
Shooting rimfire is way less expensive than centerfire shooting. And right now at LockLoaded.com you can get significant savings on popular rimfire ammo types: .17 HM2, .17 HMR, .17 WSM, .22 Short, .22 LR, and .22 WMR (WinMag Rimfire). NOTE: To see the full selection of each rimfire cartridge type, use the Caliber Index control after visiting the Locked & Loaded Rimfire Ammo Page.
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Readers often ask “What’s the difference between a Weaver scope rail and a Picatinny Rail?” The answer is not as simple as it seems. The dimensions of a Picatinny Rail should be consistent (from one rail-maker to another), since there IS a government spec. Conversely, there is some variance in “Weaver-style” rails. The width of the groove is the most important difference between Picatinny Rails and Weaver-type rails. “Mil-spec” Picatinny rails will have a grove width of 0.206″ while Weaver rails typically have a narrower, 0.180″ groove width.
Does your rifle have a Weaver Rail or Picatinny Rail? Check the dimensions to be sure.
A while back, Brownells had a helpful GunTech™ Article that discussed the Picatinny Rail vs. Weaver Rail. That article explained:
What are the differences between the ‘Picatinny’ and the ‘Weaver’ systems? The profile of the two systems is virtually identical. Depending on the quality of the machining done by the manufacturer, the two systems should be indistinguishable from the profile. The key difference lies in the placement of the recoil grooves and with width of the grooves. MIL-STD-1913 (Picatinny) grooves are .206″ wide and have a center-to-center width of .394”. The placement of these grooves has to be consistent in order for it to be a true Picatinny MIL-STD system. Weaver systems have a .180” width of recoil groove and are not necessarily consistent in a center-to-center measurement from one groove to the next.
In many instances, a Weaver system has a specific application that it is machined for, so interchangeability is not necessarily an issue. A MIL-STD-1913 system must adhere to the specifications listed above in order for it to be considered MIL-STD, since the military desires uniformity in the recoil grooves to allow for different systems to be mounted on the weapon with no concern for compatibility.
Now, what does this mean? Boiled down, it means that accessories designed for a Weaver system will, in most cases, fit on a Picatinny system. The reverse, however, is probably not the case. Due to the larger recoil groove, Picatinny accessories will not fit a Weaver system. There are, of course, exceptions to every rule, but for a good rule-of-thumb, [full-width] Picatinny won’t fit Weaver, but Weaver accessories WILL fit Picatinny.
At the request of our readers, we provide select “Deals of the Week”. Every Sunday afternoon or Monday morning we offer our Best Bargain selections. Here are some of the best deals on firearms, hardware, reloading components, optics, and shooting accessories. Be aware that sale prices are subject to change, and once clearance inventory is sold, it’s gone for good. You snooze you lose.
NOTE: All listed products are for sale to persons 18 years of age or older. No products are intended for use by minors.
Midsouth — Big Savings on Lyman Products
⏺️ » Major discounts on hundreds of Lyman products
Lookin’ for a great deal? Currently there are over 500 discounted items in the Creedmoor Sports Sale section with 90+ in the Bargain Bunker (with major price cuts). You’ll find some great savings on Sightron Scopes, Wilson and Redding presses, Edgewood Bags, Protektor Front Rests, Wilson and Redding Dies, Berger Bullets, Starline Brass and much more.
Graf & Sons — Dillon Getting Started Reloading Kit, $719.95
⏺️ » Great starter kit with BL550 press, dies, powder funnel die and more
If you’re looking to upgrade to a progressive press consider the Dillon Precision BL550 Get Started Kit. This combo features the BL550 progressive press with multiple die slots and a quick-change toolhead for fast caliber swaps. NOTE: This Dillon BL550 is upgradeable to the RL550 for higher output. This “Get Started” kit also includes a 3-die set, digital scale, powder trickler, calipers, case gauge, ammo box, and more. The kit is on sale for $719.95 for a variety of popular cartridge types including .223 Rem, .308 Win, 9mm Luger, .38 SPL, .357 Mag, .44 Mag, and .45 ACP.
Whidden Gunworks — 50% Off Rimfire Gun Ammo Testing
⏺️ » Save 50% on test to find best ammo for your rimfire gun
Whidden Gunworks is offering 50% OFF Rimfire Test Range fees. The Whidden test center team will test your .22 LR rifle or handgun at 50m and 100m with top quality ammunition from ELEY, Lapua, Norma, and RWS. Multiple lots can be tested, and then you can buy the lots that shoot best in your firearm. Whidden Gunworks even offers door-to-door valet shipping. Offer good through May 17, 2026.
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