Originally Posted by
Mozella
To each his own or course, but I'll say this in rebuttal:
1. True, and that's exactly what you want; not the lens imperfections or course, but you want to see how much your hold varies. More magnification helps because typically you're trying to hold on a spot 1/8 MOA or smaller.
2. In precision target shooting nobody focuses on the black part. In F-class for example, the black part is 36" in diameter. Shooters focus on the center of the 3" X ring. You can't do that with a low power scope.
3. I'm not so sure about this. Everyone should learn how to shoot with iron sights, but I don't know anyone shooting mid/long range target matches who practices with iron sights thinking that will improve their scores. Perhaps some folks do so, but I don't know any.
4. Precision shooting is a "thinking" sport. I would say that more errors are made by "under thinking" than "over thinking". Usually when shooting mid/long range targets you can't see your bullet holes, or my old eyes can't see them anyway. That's why we use spotter discs. Knowing precisely where the last shot landed is the key to making the next one land closer to the intended POI. Over correcting is not a good thing, but unless you know where your last shot hit, how can you correct at all? Correcting is what mid/long range shooting is all about and where the rules allow seeing or marking the previous shot, EVERYONE who competes takes advantage of that fact. Thinking about your previous shots is the key to success. Without the mental discipline to focus on what is important a shooter probably won't do well because I guarantee the guys who go home with the gold are the ones keeping track of each and every detail, including where all their shots impact the target. At least that's how they do it where I shoot.
When it comes to scope power, put me in the "more is better" group.