Every precision shooter should have a well-kept data book. If you are serious about long-range precision shooting, your D.O.P.E is something that rarely leaves your rifle—they go hand-in-hand.
I know that technology has somewhat taken over what we used to do, and some consider paper and pen “old school,” but I’m a firm believer in not putting 100-percent of my faith in technology. At some point in time, your gear will fail you.
One of the best data/D.O.P.E. books that I’ve had in my possession and still use often is the Storm Tactical Data Book. Nothing technologically groundbreaking about it, it’s just a user-friendly data book with a plethora of pages detailing just about everything from your standard target’s measurements to the slope D.O.P.E. equation and slope shooting applications. Here are some of the highlights I’ve found about this data book and why I use it:
Highlights
- Weatherproof/”right in the rain”
- Durable case
- Pocket-size (a major plus)
- Common measurements (competition/military)
- Quick-reference formulas
- Updated reticle familiarization charts
- .223, .308 (2640 fps HPBT), etc., ballistic drops and drift quick references
Deployment capable
Storm Tactical has a few added, and much needed, pages for anyone who is working in-theater. The pages in the back of the pocket-sized data book contain various ballistic formulas, slope D.O.P.E. and cosine charts, a wind-value clock system that breaks down just about every angle and its value, an extremely in-depth pre-calculated “MIL-distance” chart, and more. The Storm Tactical Data Book is something I wish I’d had while overseas, and I would have definitely issued them to the guys in the platoon.
