LAS VEGAS --- After decades of equipping military snipers with rifle scopes, the Leupold optics company has unveiled a new version of its scope that’s lighter and provides higher definition and better use of light for precision shooters.
The Mark V HD Long-Range Riflescope was unveiled this year and showcased at the annual Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade show here
Leupold has provided scopes for the Army’s M110 and the M2010 enhanced sniper rifle in .300 Winchester Magnum, which replaced the .308 caliber M24 sniper rifle.
The company also built a scope specifically designed for the Army’s Precision Sniper Rifle system but the service went with its previous scope instead.
The Mark V provides a 5-power zoom but at a lighter weight and with better light use than would normally be necessary to increase the zoom from the standard Mark IV or 4-power zoom.
While some optics programs in the Army and Marines are pushing digital technology and computerization of optics and targeting systems on small arms, the Leupold scopes have continued to rely on high quality glass and configurations that meet real-world sniper needs.
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The Mark V will ultimately replace the Mark IV family of systems, which have been in use by the military and citizens in some for since at least the 1990s. But the company will continue to produce the Mark IV to fulfill its legacy contracts and defense department needs, said John Snodgrass, a product line manager and Oregon Army National Guard veteran and shooting team member.
Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.
