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The AR On Patrol
With most of the .223 ammo screaming along at more than 3,000 fps, the bullets are prone to flying apart when they impact virtually any medium. Even FMJ ammo breaks up dramatically when it hits sheetrock at these velocities. Because of this, one school of thought holds the .223 as the optimum round for tactical entries. At close ranges the velocities are extreme, which causes violent expansion and devastating terminal ballistics for small to medium-size thin-skinned animals. The violent expansion, however, significantly limits penetration, which can be a very good thing when engaging adversaries inside a building that is occupied by innocent bystanders and your teammates.
The use of hollowpoint and ballistic-tip ammo will tend to exacerbate this situation because the bullets are predisposed to rapid expansion by their very design. Lightweight varmint bullets like 40-grain ballistic-tip bullets really don't have a place for tactical use, in my view. They expand too quickly, and they lack the mass to penetrate reliably. The 55-grain ballistic tips such as those Federal uses in one of its Premium loads may be acceptable for all the reasons previously mentioned, but heavier loads like Winchester's 64-grain Power Point or Federal's 69-grain Tactical load offer more penetration and should be considered better general-purpose rounds for tactical situations. My experience with frangible rounds leads me to believe they are of limited benefit in the .223. The extreme expansion and fragmentation doesn't allow for adequate penetration in many tactical situations.
Optics For The Tactical Police Rifle
Most police "sniper" shootings occur within 100 yards. High-magnification scopes limit the field of view at close range and limit light-gathering ability. The lower-range variables provide the flexibility police snipers need. Anything over a 4.5-14X is too restrictive for the wide range of circumstances that might be encountered.
Tube diameter is of no concern to police snipers because they normally don't shoot at the extreme ranges that require the additional adjustment range you get with a larger tube diameter. Contrary to what some may believe, 30mm tubes do not allow more light to travel through the scope. Larger objective lenses do, however, and the 50mm and 56mm objectives are seen on many tactical scopes.
A state-of-the-art sniper setup comprises a Leupold Vari-X III 3.5-10x40mm scope with illuminated reticle in Leupold Mark IV mounts on a Remington 700 with an H-S Precision PST25 stock and H-S Precision fluted stainless barrel.
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The additional light gathered by larger objectives is of little help if the lens and mirror coatings are not of the best quality. In many cases it is hard to determine much difference. One problem that excessively large objectives can cause is that they increase the height of your cheek weld on the stock and can cause accuracy problems. Generally, the 40mm, 44mm and 50mm objectives provide excellent results in quality scopes.
The difference in expected target distance for law enforcement also alleviates the need for complicated range-finding reticles. In most police situations, a regular duplex reticle is perfectly adequate. Mildots are generally not too complicated or distracting, and they still afford the opportunity to calculate bullet drop and wind drift if you do find yourself in the wide-open spaces. For military snipers, though, bullet-drop-compensating reticles can be very effective. My experience with a Springfield Government Model scope has shown me that a .308 can be used effectively on prairie dogs at significant distances.
Tactical sighting systems are available to accommodate a wide range of applications. Clockwise from top: Leupold Mark 4 CQ/T, IOR Bucuresti M2 Tactical, C-More Tactical Sight and Trijicon Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight.
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One of the really great new advances is the advent of the illuminated reticle. Frequently, SWAT and military actions occur in low light situations. The ability to quickly gain target acquisition in low-light situations can be critical. Nikon's new Tactical 2.5-10x44 is available with a dual illuminated mildot reticle, which has five intensity levels of both green and red illumination.
Leupold offers two of its tactical models with illuminated reticles, and I predict that that number will increase soon. IOR-Bucuresti of Romania offers several illuminated models including a 2.5-10x42 model and a 4.5-14x50 model.
Included within the umbrella of tactical scopes is a wide range of electronic red-dot and heads-up-display units designed for quick target acquisition. These sighting systems are generally designed for semiautomatic or fully automatic assault weapons or submachine guns. Initially plagued by problems with mounting systems, accuracy, reliability, battery life and ability to see the dot (wash-out), these types of sighting systems were previously relegated to the competition shooters and gadget collectors whose lives were not on the line. Many changes have elevated these scopes to a new level of performance. Now they are considered battle-proven and required equipment in certain tactical circles.
Since the Swedish Aimpoint was introduced in the United States in 1975 there has been a steady growth in popularity of these unique and effective sighting systems. Aimpoint continues to improve on its designs and has won several military contracts for scopes used by soldiers all over the world. The current tactical models are the CompML2 and the CompM2. They are identical except the CompM2 has different brightness settings to accommodate night-vision equipment. These compact, rugged, waterproof units run off one 3-volt lithium battery. They utilize a four MOA red-dot aiming point.
Leupold has been a leader in the optics market for decades but until recently shied away from tactical red-dot sighting systems. This seeming reluctance now appears to have been planning and preparation. Earlier this year, the Mark 4 Close Quarters/Tactical scope was introduced. This scope offers the flexibility needed by both the military and law enforcement for their respective tactical missions. The Mark 4 CQ/T uses a Circle Dot reticle, which is functional with or without illumination. In daylight, the reticle appears black like a conventional nonilluminated scope. When illuminated, the amber color of the reticle is easy to acquire yet not overpowering. There are 10 illumination settings, including two for night vision, that allow for a full range of lighting conditions.
Power is provided by a single AA battery. Another well-thought-out feature of the Mark 4 CQ/T is the variable power range. With a twist of the eyepiece you can change from a 1X setting to a 3X setting. In conjunction with the power adjustment, the dot size automatically changes from 9 MOA at 1X to 3 MOA at 3X. This incredible piece of ingenuity allows for true close-quarters "both eyes open" work, with no magnification and a very easy-to-acquire aiming point, as well as highly accurate midrange shooting with enhanced visibility and a fine aiming point.
C-More, Trijicon Reflex, EOTech, Bushnell HOLOsight, Tasco Optima 2000 and a few others make up this group of innovative tactical sighting systems. These sights project a laser (class II) onto a transparent display window. The laser "draws" an aiming point--either a dot or another pattern such as a circle dot--on the window, which is used as the aiming point much like more conventional red-dot type scopes.
Heads-up display-type scopes lend themselves very well to CQB shooting. With no tube to look into, it makes it easy to shoot with both eyes open and maintain the peripheral vision that is essential for dynamic-movement shooting. Since there is no magnification offered in these types of scopes, it makes it possible, depending on the types of mounts, to use iron sights as a backup in the event of a battery failure or other mechanical breakdown. Most of these types of scopes are available with different sizes of dots or different reticles, but frequently this is not a quick change. It generally requires tools and a little time to accomplish.
One of the big issues concerning all types of electronic sighting systems is battery consumption. With some types of electronic sights you are really out of luck if your batteries run down and you don't have a mounting system that allows for the use of iron sights. Trijicon's newest tactical sight, the TX30 TriPower Reflex, has addressed this problem by integrating fiber optic technology, tritium illumination and on-call battery backup. The TX30 is due for release later this year.
There are other optical scopes that we refer to as "tactical" due to their size and other features. The emphasis for these scopes is general combat situations with ranges varying from intermediate to long distance. Trijicon's ACOG (Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight) 4x32 defines this niche well. This compact and rugged scope is a remarkable blend of functionality and precision. A simple bullet-drop-compensating reticle is precise enough for long-range shooting yet easy to acquire for intermediate-range encounters. Although not electronic, the ACOG employs tritium to illuminate the reticle for shooting during darkness.
Sgt. Mark Hanten has nine years with the San Diego Police Department SWAT team including each of the team's elements: Primary Response Team, Sniper Team and Special Response Team (full-time element). Sgt. Hanten's primary responsibilities have included tactical operations, testing and evaluating equipment, firearms instruction and tactical instruction.
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