Range Estimation

Factors Affecting Range Estimation  Nature of Terrain  Light Conditions  Nature of target

 Upward sloping terrain distance appears shorter  Downward sloping terrain distance appears farther  Dead space makes target appear closer  Smooth and flat terrain makes target appear farther Nature of Terrain

Light Conditions  Bright and clear, the target appears closer  Dull and dark, the target appears farther  Sun behind viewer, the target appears closer  Sun behind target, the target appears farther

Nature of Target  The larger the target the closer it will appear  The smaller the target the farther it will seem  A light colored target will appear farther  A dark colored target will appear closer

Range Estimation Methods  Football Field Method  Appearance of Objects Method  Front Sight Post Method  Visible Detail Method  Bracketing

Methods (cont)  Halving  Estimating Distance by Sound  ACOG

Football Field Method  Estimate 100 yards, then determine how many of these units will fit between you and the target  This method’s accuracy is limited to the ground visibility  Accurate to about 800 yards

Appearance of Objects  This method requires the viewer to be familiar with the sizes and details of personnel and equipment at certain distances  Limited by visibility and familiarity of target

Front Sight Post Method  This method is used by comparing the front sight post to the target  A man size target appears the same size as the front sight at 175 yards and half of the post at 350 yards  A target larger than the post would be closer than 175 yds. and smaller than half would be farther than 350 yds.

Visible Detail Method  Observing the amount of detail on the target at various ranges indicates the distance  A human target at: 100 yds- facial features are identifiable 200 yds- loss of facial detail, but skin and equipment color identifiable 300 yds- clear body outline, face color visible, but other details blurry

Visible Detail Method (cont)  A human target at: 400 yds- body outline is clear but remaining details blurred 500 yds- body shape tapers at ends and the head becomes indistinct from the shoulders 600 yds- body appears wedge-shaped without the appearance of a head

Bracketing  The viewer estimates the shortest possible distance, then the farthest possible distance  The average of those distances is the estimated range to the target

Halving  The viewer estimates the halfway point to the target, then estimates the range to that point  Double that estimate to get the estimated distance to the actual target

Estimating by Sound  Sound travels at 1100 feet or 366 yards per second  If the muzzle flash of a weapon can be seen, observe the flash and count the number of seconds before the report is heard, then multiply the seconds by 366 to get the distance

 The outside legs of the stadia lines equals 19 inches (shoulder width of average size man) starting at 200m.  Between 200m & 600m the horizontal stadia lines represent 19 inches at each respective range (average width of a man shoulders). RANGING with TA01NSN

RANGING with TA01NSN cont. 200 meters

300 meters RANGING with TA01NSN cont.

Each stadia is 19” at the listed range RANGING with TA31F

RANGING with TA31F cont. Target ranged at 300 meters- outside of chevron legs Target engaged at center mass using the 300m post

Target ranged at 400m Target engaged at center mass using the 400m line RANGING with TA31F cont.

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