Knowledge
Your route into long-range shooting
Understand the basics, explore the technology and find clear answers.
Riflescopes
Optical basics
- What do magnification and objective diameter mean?
- What do field of view and zoom tell us about the image?
- What are exit pupil, eye relief and eyebox?
- How do dioptre adjustment, focus and parallax differ?
- Why are light transmission and twilight factor different?
- What are colour fringing, distortion and edge sharpness?
- What do coatings, seals and gas fillings do?
Reticles and adjustments
- What do reticles and reticle illumination do?
- What is the difference between first and second focal plane?
- What do MOA and MRAD mean on riflescopes?
- What are adjustment range, repeatability and zero stop?
Mounts, comparisons and care
Precision rifles
Construction and precision
- What defines a precision rifle?
- What do the barrel, receiver and bolt do?
- What is the difference between a stock, a chassis and bedding?
- How do barrel contour, temperature and wear affect a rifle?
- What is barrel twist?
- Why are bullet length and stability connected?
- How can precision and shooting performance be described clearly?
Ballistic basics
- What does internal ballistics study?
- What does external ballistics study?
- What do velocity, energy and ballistic coefficient tell us?
- What do Mach number and the transonic region mean?
- What roles do Earth’s rotation, Coriolis and Eötvös play?
- How does a ballistic model differ from a measurement?
Understanding and comparing cartridges
- What is the difference between calibre, cartridge and bullet?
- Which cartridge families appear in long-range and PRS sport?
- How should performance figures for different calibres be read?
- How can .308 Winchester and 6.5 Creedmoor be compared fairly?
- What characterises 6 mm cartridges in precision sport?
- What does Magnum mean, and does it define a performance limit?
- Are .308 Winchester and 7.62 × 51 mm NATO the same?
Centrefire precision shooting
- What characterises .308 Winchester?
- What characterises 6mm Creedmoor?
- What characterises 6.5 Creedmoor?
Magnum cartridges
- What characterises 6.5 PRC?
- What characterises 7mm PRC?
- What characterises .300 PRC?
- What characterises .300 Winchester Magnum?
- What characterises .300 Norma Magnum?
- What characterises .338 Lapua Magnum?
- What characterises .338 Norma Magnum?
Specialist and ELR topics
Laser rangefinders
Measurement principles and readings
- How does a laser rangefinder work?
- How do resolution, accuracy and repeatability differ?
- How do line-of-sight distance and horizontal distance differ?
- What is meant by “gravimetric distance”?
Measurement limits and environmental effects
- Why is maximum measuring range not an everyday guarantee?
- What is beam divergence, and why can readings mix different objects?
- How do rain, fog, glass and bright sunlight affect measurements?
Device technology and safety
Disciplines
Rules and dynamic formats
- Where can I find the official competition rules?
- What is the Precision Rifle Series?
- How do PRS Rimfire, NRL22 and NRL22X differ?
- What defines NRL HUNTER and hunting-inspired competition formats?
Target and precision disciplines
- What is F-Class, and how do F-Open and F-TR differ?
- What are Target Rifle, Fullbore and Palma?
- How does long-range benchrest differ from other disciplines?
- Where do ISSF rifle events at 300 m / 328.1 yrd fit in?
- What does long-range sport within Germany’s BDMP include?