Have you ever watched a skilled shooter hit a target perfectly from a mile away? That incredible feat demands more than just a steady hand; it requires a top-tier long-range rifle scope. Reaching targets beyond 1000 yards is a serious challenge, and your scope is the most important tool you have.
Choosing the right optic for extreme distances can feel overwhelming. You face a maze of technical terms like elevation turrets, parallax adjustment, and glass coatings. Getting the wrong scope means missed shots and wasted time at the range. Hunters and competitive shooters need clarity, ruggedness, and precise tracking to conquer those long, difficult shots.
This guide cuts through the confusion. We will break down exactly what features matter most when you aim for 1000 yards and beyond. You will learn to compare magnification, reticle types, and illumination so you can invest wisely in glass that performs when it counts.
Ready to stop guessing and start hitting those distant steel plates? Let’s dive into the best long-range rifle scopes that will take your shooting to the next level.
Top Long-Range Rifle Scopes 1000 Yards Plus Recommendations
- Magnification: 6-24x
- Objective Diameter: 50mm
- Field Of View: 28 ft @ 100 yards
- Click Value: 1/8 inch @ 100 yards
- Illuminated Type of the rifle scope: Red and Green
- 35mm Tube Size. Scope providing crystal clear targeting at 12-60x magnification, with a 60mm objective diameter.
- Side parallax adjustment allows fine tuning focus.
- Reticle illumination in both red and green with multiple brightness intensities. Glass Etched Reticle.
- Capped reset turrets are finger adjustable with 1/8 MOA clicks that can be reset to zero after sighting in.
- Nitrogen purged scope body, completely sealed with o-ring, rendering scope waterproof and fogproof.
- Superior Multi-Coated lenses for reduction of glare and reflection, while maximizing light transmission for ultimate image brightness and clarity from edge to edge.
- Red, Green and Blue illuminated color Mil-Dot reticle, along with auto off to save battery life.
- QTA (Quick Adjustment) turrets with precise 1/4 MOA click value for wind and elevation adjustment.
- Constructed with single piece of premium Aircraft-grade aluminum alloy with 1 inch tube diameter body.
- Nitrogen filled scope body, completely sealed with o-ring, making scope shockproof, waterproof, and fog proof.
- [10-40X56 Rifle Scope]The high power 308 second focal plane rifle scope with 10X-40X magnification and 56mm objective lens support you to reach long-range targets with ease.
- [Quick Aim]Mil dot reticle with 11 red brightness, it provides bright and vivid pictures in all lighting,estimate the distance and lock the target quickly to ensure accurate aiming.
- [Multicoated-Lenses]Fully multicoated scratch resistance lenses that increase light transmission with multiple layers of anti-reflective coatings.
- [Side Focus 10 YDS-Infinity]Side focus parallax adjustment knob that ranges from 10 Yards to infinity providing improved accuracy at longer distances. long range distance precision shooting 1000 yards hunting optic rifle scope
- [Stable Performance]The rifle scope housing is sealed, and nitrogen purged for fogproof and waterproof performance in the most adverse weather. Its 34mm monotube construction shock rated to 1000G/s!
- ✔【 High-End 6-24x Rifle Scope】：The UUQ 6-24X50 rifle scope has a magnification range of 6-24x, a length of 15.5 inches (394mm), and an objective lens diameter of 50mm. The exit pupil diameter ranges from 80mm to 100mm, and the field of view is 10.47'-24.11' at 100 yards. Adjustments for windage and elevation are made in 1/4 MOA increments, which means 1/4 inch at 100 yards. This scope offers versatile performance for long-range shooting.
- ✔【 Precision Exposed Locking Turret and Sunshade】：The UUQ 6-24X50AO rifle scope comes with an easy-to-adjust exposed locking turret that has a zero reset function, making it simple to calibrate windage and elevation. It provides precise, tactile, and audible feedback for adjustments, enhancing accuracy during dynamic shooting. The included sunshade reduces glare, improves visual clarity, and protects the lenses from environmental factors, increasing shooting accuracy in bright conditions.
- ✔【 Reticle Focus Adjustment and AO Adjustment】：The UUQ rifle scope features an adjustable objective for parallax correction and a fast-focus eyepiece. This ensures the reticle is clear and precise in different lighting conditions. To achieve the best sharpness when aiming at distant targets, turn the focus knob fully counterclockwise, then adjust the eyepiece inward until the reticle is clearly visible.
- ✔【 HD Lenses with Etched Glass Reticle】：This 6-24x scope features high-definition, fully multi-coated lenses for the best clarity and color accuracy. It includes an etched glass reticle with red and green modes, each having five brightness levels. This allows you to customize visibility in different lighting conditions, ensuring excellent clarity and precision.
- ✔【 Durable Construction and Compatible Mounts】：This scope is made from rugged aircraft-grade aluminum, making it shock-resistant and ideal for airsoft, hunting, and shooting. It has excellent waterproof and fog-proof features, ensuring durability. It includes high-quality 1-inch rings for quick installation on standard 20mm Picatinny or Weaver rails.
- ✔【High-definition observation】：The UUQ 6-24x50 rifle scope has a 6-24x adjustable magnification, allowing you to observe hunting targets at different distances with clarity. It is suitable for quick shooting of moving and normal targets, with a 50mm objective lens, a field of view of 28 feet @ 100 yards, and a click value of 1/8 inch @ 100 yards.
- ✔【Upgraded Multi-coated Blue/Green Lens and Clear】：Experience unparalleled visual clarity with the upgraded multi-coated Blue/green lens of the UUQ 6-24X50 rifle scope. This cutting-edge lens technology ensures a bright and vivid view, making target identification effortless. By reducing light scattering and reflection, the lens maintains image sharpness and clear visibility of the range, guaranteeing exceptional performance in both bright and low-light conditions.
- ✔【Dual-color illumination and AO adjustment】：The UUQ rifle scope has five levels of red and green brightness, providing clear long-range shooting with excellent optical performance. The adjustable objective lens (AO) can be moved with the parallax adjustment knob at the end of the rifle scope to eliminate parallax and range estimation, with a quick-focus eyepiece, and can be adjusted for different people's vision.
- ✔【Durable construction】：The body of the UUQ rifle scope is made of durable aircraft-grade aluminum alloy, which is earthquake-resistant and suitable for hunting. The floating design of the rifle scope provides excellent waterproof and fog-proof performance, with O-ring seals and nitrogen filling to ensure the scope can be used in any environment.
- ✔【Outstanding customer support】：This scope is equipped with two high-quality 1-inch complementary rings, which are easy to install on any 20mm Picatinny or Weaver rail and can be used with various guns. UUQ is your best choice, providing you with perfect and rapid service to solve any of your concerns.
- High performance tactical rifle scope with 3-18x magnification for mid to long distance shooting out to 1000+ yards
- Functionally designed first focal plane MOA reticle, with easy-to-read ranging information that remains constant regardless of magnification, for faster range estimation and holdover correction
- Equipped with a parallax adjustment dial that allows for sharper focus of the target image, elimination of parallax, and range estimation
- Inline dial controlled reticle illumination with multiple brightness intensities, for better reticle visibility in low light environments
- Package also includes set of high profile picatinny scope rings, a detachable sunshade, a set of spring loaded flip-up lens covers
- 6-24x FFP Riflescope: Features the First Focal Plane design, the reticle scales with magnification for accurate holdovers at any range. The 6-24x50 scope offers an impressively clear image and rugged performance for medium range or long range precision
- Glass Etched Red Illuminated Reticle: 6 levels of red illumination to enhance low-light visibility. The moderate eye relief, ultra-forgiving fast focus eyepiece. It achieves clear sight up to 1,500 yards, quick reticle focusing, constant accuracy
- Precision Zero Reset and Zero Stop: The locking resettable windage turret and zero stop resettable elevation turret feature finger-adjustable, accurate, and audible 1/4 MOA clicks. These can be quickly and reliably reset to zero after sighting in
- Clear Multi-coated Lens with Parallax Adjustment: Features anti-reflective, fully multi-coated coating on air-to-glass lenses and side parallax adjustment knob to improve clarity, enhance light transmission, reduce glare, and eliminate excessive parallax
- Comes with 6x24x50 ffp 34mm tube riflescope x1, flip up lens caps x2, scope rings x2, wrenches x2, throw lever x1, sunshade tube x1,CR2032 batteries x2, lens cloth x1, manual x1
Choosing Your Long-Range Rifle Scope: A Guide for 1000 Yards Plus
Shooting accurately at distances over 1000 yards requires excellent gear. Your rifle scope is one of the most important parts. This guide helps you pick the best long-range scope for serious distance shooting.
Key Features to Look For
When you aim for extreme distances, some features matter more than others. These elements help you see clearly and adjust your aim precisely.
Magnification Power
- High Magnification: You need scopes that go up to 25x, 30x, or even higher. This lets you see small targets far away.
- Zoom Range: A wide zoom range (like 5-25x) gives you flexibility for both medium and very long shots.
Turret System and Adjustments
- Tactical Turrets: Look for exposed, resettable turrets. These allow quick elevation (up/down) and windage (left/right) adjustments in the field. Clicks must be precise and repeatable.
- MRAD or MOA: Decide if you prefer Mil-radian (MRAD) or Minute of Angle (MOA) adjustments. Consistency is key; match your turret clicks to your reticle subtensions.
Illumination
- Reticle Illumination: A clear, bright reticle helps when shooting at dawn, dusk, or against dark backgrounds. Many high-end scopes offer multiple brightness settings.
First Focal Plane (FFP) vs. Second Focal Plane (SFP)
- FFP Advantage: For long-range shooting, FFP scopes are usually better. The reticle size changes with magnification, meaning your holdovers (aiming points for distance) stay accurate at any power setting.
Important Materials and Construction
A scope built for long range must withstand hard use and maintain optical clarity. The materials used directly affect durability and performance.
Lens Quality
- Glass Quality: Premium, fully multi-coated (FMC) ED (Extra-low Dispersion) or Fluorite glass significantly improves light transmission and reduces color fringing. Better light transmission means a brighter image, especially at high magnification.
Housing Durability
- Aircraft-Grade Aluminum: Most quality scopes use strong, lightweight aluminum tubing. This material resists shock from recoil.
- Sealing: The scope body must be nitrogen or argon purged and O-ring sealed. This prevents internal fogging when temperatures change quickly.
Eye Relief
- Sufficient Eye Relief: Powerful rifles kick hard. Ensure the scope offers generous eye relief (3.5 inches or more) to prevent scope bite (the scope hitting your brow bone upon recoil).
Factors That Improve or Reduce Quality
Optical quality is not just about the glass; the engineering behind the scope matters a lot.
Quality Factors (Improve Performance)
- Tracking Consistency: When you dial your turrets, the point of impact must move exactly as expected. Poor tracking ruins long-range accuracy.
- Edge-to-Edge Clarity: High-quality scopes maintain sharp focus from the center all the way to the edges of the view.
Quality Reducers (Avoid These)
- Parallax Error: Cheap scopes often have fixed parallax settings or poor parallax adjustment. You must eliminate parallax to ensure accuracy at extreme distances. Always buy a scope with an adjustable objective (AO) or side focus.
- Internal Shift: If the internal mechanisms shift when you adjust the turrets, your shots will miss. This is common in low-quality optics.
User Experience and Use Cases
How you plan to use the scope dictates the best design.
Competition Shooting
- Competitors often prefer FFP scopes with very fine reticles and massive elevation travel (often requiring a scope with a Zero Stop feature). Speed and precision are paramount.
Hunting Extreme Distances (Varmint/Large Game)
- Hunters need ruggedness and reliability. While high magnification is needed, a slightly less complex turret system might be acceptable if the scope needs to endure rough conditions. Weight can also be a factor for long treks.
Remember, investing more in quality glass usually pays off when you are trying to hit a target the size of a dinner plate at a mile away.
10 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About Long-Range Scopes (1000+ Yards)
Q: What is the minimum magnification I should look for?
A: For consistent 1000+ yard shooting, look for a scope that magnifies at least 20x. Many shooters prefer 25x or higher for spotting impacts and making precise adjustments.
Q: Is a First Focal Plane (FFP) scope mandatory for long range?
A: While not strictly mandatory, FFP scopes are highly recommended. They keep your holdover subtensions accurate regardless of your magnification setting, which simplifies holdovers immensely.
Q: What is “Tracking Error” and why does it matter?
A: Tracking error happens when the scope turret adjustment does not move the point of impact exactly where it should go. This destroys accuracy past 800 yards, so quality tracking is critical.
Q: How much elevation travel do I need?
A: You need significant internal elevation travel, often 80 MOA or more, depending on your cartridge ballistics. Always check the scope’s total adjustment range before buying.
Q: Should I worry about the scope weight?
A: Weight matters if you hike long distances. However, scopes with superior glass and robust internal mechanisms are often heavier. For bench shooting, weight is less of a concern.
Q: What is a “Zero Stop” feature?
A: A Zero Stop lets you quickly return the elevation turret back to your zero point after dialing up for long shots. This is a very useful feature for competitive shooters.
Q: What does “Fully Multi-Coated” mean for the lenses?
A: It means multiple layers of special coatings are applied to every glass surface. This coating reduces glare and maximizes the amount of light that reaches your eye, resulting in a brighter image.
Q: Can I use a scope designed for 500 yards at 1000 yards?
A: You can try, but you will likely run out of elevation adjustment. Scopes designed for extreme range have more internal adjustment built in to handle the steep angle needed for 1000+ yard shots.
Q: How important is the reticle choice (e.g., Mil-dot vs. Horus)?
A: The choice depends on your preference, but it must match your turret adjustments (MRAD or MOA). The key is to pick a reticle that is fine enough not to obscure the target at high magnification.
Q: Does the scope need to be waterproof?
A: Absolutely. All reputable long-range scopes must be waterproof and fog-proof. They are sealed and purged with inert gas to prevent internal damage from humidity and temperature shifts.