At GPS Defense, we have the ability to see many different skill level snipers operating many different weapon platforms. We noticed one problem with the stocks that one group of snipers had on their rifles HERE and noticed a scope ring problem on the very next class of SOCOM snipers.

These units have a near unlimited budget and are unfortunately being stuck with equipment that was not designed properly. We urge you to use the most effective equipment on your rifle, not necessarily the most expensive.

This second group of SOCOM snipers had two-piece rings on their scopes and rifles. The actual ring was attached to the quick detach base by a dovetail and roll pin system. When it comes to parts on a rifle such as this, simplicity is best. The more parts there are, the more likely there is a chance for something to fail.

These rings were “quick-detach”. We have never seen the need to get our scopes off of our rifle in a hurry. One of the students mentioned that it would be helpful in order to use their iron sights if the scope broke. This could be a benefit, but these rifles (along with many we see) didn’t have back up iron sights installed.

The dovetail section of the ring allows the upper portion of the ring to slide left and right if the roll pin is not installed. Even with the roll pin installed, it eventually will compress and allow movement in the system. This is bad.

There is no reason for that overly complicated section of the ring (that should just be one solid piece) to be there. It only allows for problems like we experienced.

The shooter was engaging unknown distance targets with reliable data that he had gathered on his system so far throughout the course. Out of nowhere, he was missing a target 10 feet to the left and then 10 feet to the right. We had been instructing this sniper for a few days now and knew that he could shoot much better than that. We stopped him from continuing and immediately checked for equipment problems. Sure enough, the unnecessary roll pin had compressed and allowed the two pieces of the scope ring to slide back and forth rendering the entire sniper weapon system useless.