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FOCUS Traditions Firearms Tactical Scopes illumination levels will probably be used, further extending battery life. That said, there is no automatic or timed shutoff for the illuminated reticle. The battery is easily accessed in an O-ring sealed recess in the color selection knob. The AR Marksman gives the offcer a choice between red and green illuminated reticles. Again, green is six times easier to see than red against most backgrounds. The option of having two colors of illumination is a tactical advantage. In some cases, red is the better choice. In other cases, green is the better choice. Both green and red illuminated reticles are adjustable in fve different brightness levels. One of the complaints about illuminated reticles under dim/low-light scenarios is that the reticle is too bright. Not so with the AR Marksman. In fact, from the lowest level of red to the highest level of green, the police sniper has 10 different brightness choices. The fact that Red Level 1 and Green Level 5 are just one click from one another shows how well this scope is designed. This illuminated reticle, dim light feature is critically important for police snipers. According to the American Sniper Association's Police Sniper Utilization Report, 45 percent of documented shooting took place in low-light hours. Simply turn the heavily knurled rheostat adjustment turret located between the ocular (eye piece) and the power change ring. The colors and illumination levels are etched into the adjustment turret, each with a frm and positive detent stop. Only the center section of the Mil-Dot reticle is illuminated, i.e., the center wires and the four dots in each direction. The outer sections of the crosshair remain black. By the way, Mil-Dot means milradian not military. In simple geometry terms, a milradian is 3.6 inches at 100 yards. Overall, the illuminated reticle, especially the option of green illumination, is one of the best features of the AR Marksman scope. Range estimation is easy with a Mil-Dot reticle, but seldom necessary. The vast majority of police sniper shots are under 100 yards where no range estimation is needed. However, it is there just in case. Simply match the range estimation to your dope (data on previous engagement) book. The AR Marksman has features not found in many police rifescopes, and some features found only in the most expensive scopes. The one feature on some police scopes that the AR Marksman lacks is bullet drop compensation. According to the ASA's Police Sniper Utilization Report, and based on 218 police sniper shootings between 1984 and 2004, the average police sniper distance is 51 yards. Of these, 95 percent took place between 5 and 100 yards. Of the rest, just over 2 percent were between 100 and 150 yards and just over 2 percent were between 150 and 250 yards. Clearly, a bullet drop compensation feature is not needed for a police sniper scope. Sighted in for 100 yards, both the 223 Rem and 308 Win shoot fat to 200 yards. External Parallax Adjustment Of much more importance to the police sniper at these common engagement ranges under 200 yards is the parallax adjustment. An external parallax adjustment is on the left side 38 LAW and ORDER I January 2014 An external parallax error adjustment is extremely important for a police scope considering that 95 percent of police sniper shots take place between 5 and 100 yards. The AR Marksman is adjustable from 4-power to 16power. A 3x-12x version of the AR Marksman is also available. The Illuminated Mil-Dot reticle has five brightness levels for green and five for red. The battery life during full-bright illumination is 30 hours.