Imagine laying prone on a shooting mat, your favorite rifle(with scope) parked before you resting on a bipod. You squint downrange across the rolling green landscape, hills, and valleys rising and falling gently in a grass sea. In the distance, you spy the faint glint of something catching the sun’s rays, and an oddly geometric shape standing out against the lush nature surrounding it.
That’s your target, the polygonal slab of steel you need to hit with your shot. The problem is you can barely see it, as it looks like a postage stamp stuck out in an ocean of land. However, you saddle up to your rifle and peer through the scope affixed to the top. The tiny speck of target comes into view larger, a set of crosshairs imposed over the center of the plate. You regulate your breathing, gently slide your finger into the trigger guard, and smoothly apply rearward pressure. The rifle fires, and off in the distance, you hear a faint but welcome “pang” as your bullet impacts the plate.
While your mechanics, training, and execution are all to thank for a well-placed long-distance shot, that riflescope undoubtedly helped you find and acquire the target you just hit.