# ICP Profile: General Long-Range Precision Shooter

**Cold Bore Ballistics™ LLC — ScopeDOPE™**
**Classification:** Highly Confidential (04_-_Highly_Confidential/)
**Status:** Active

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## Table of Contents

1. [Profile Summary](#1-profile-summary)
2. [Demographics](#2-demographics)
3. [Equipment Profile](#3-equipment-profile)
4. [Psychographics](#4-psychographics)
5. [Current Ballistic Workflow](#5-current-ballistic-workflow)
6. [Pain Points](#6-pain-points)
7. [Buying Triggers](#7-buying-triggers)
8. [Objections and Counters](#8-objections-and-counters)
9. [Discovery Channels](#9-discovery-channels)
10. [The Right Message for This Profile](#10-the-right-message-for-this-profile)
11. [Competitive Landscape Awareness](#11-competitive-landscape-awareness)
12. [Kestrel Displacement Tier](#12-kestrel-displacement-tier)
13. [References](#13-references)

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## 1. Profile Summary

The General Long-Range Precision Shooter is a serious recreational shooter who engages targets at extended distances — typically 300 to 1,000+ yards — without necessarily competing in organized formats like NRL22 or PRS. They may shoot at a private range, a long-range club, or public land. They may hunt elk or mule deer at 500 yards, shoot steel at 800 yards for personal challenge, or both.

This ICP is a larger total addressable market than either competitive segment but converts at a lower rate for a product this specialized. Messaging optimized for competitors will still resonate with this group — they share the same values, the same technical vocabulary, and many of the same tools. The key difference is structural: competition provides constant, external, scoreboard-driven pressure toward optimization. This shooter's pressure is internal and personal. Their motivation is equally real — often more emotionally weighted — but it surfaces differently and on a different timeline.

They are not a casual plinker. They have invested in their kit, they track their performance, and they are open to a better data workflow when one is demonstrated credibly. Many are one missed field shot or one range session at a different elevation away from becoming motivated buyers.

**A note on the hunting subsegment:** A meaningful portion of this ICP hunts at long distances. Hunting is often the primary driver of their long-range capability investment — not a secondary application. ScopeDOPE's marketing does not address hunting directly (per `SCOPEDOPE_MARKETING_GUIDE.md §4.2` — ScopeDOPE is a competition tool). However, this ICP's motivations must be understood fully in order to write copy that resonates without violating that constraint. The offline-first, first-shot-accuracy, and field-conditions framing connects to hunting motivation without naming it.

---

## 2. Demographics

| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| **Age range** | 28–60; broader than the competition segments; 40–60 is well-represented and has higher average income |
| **Gender** | Predominantly male; female participation growing, particularly among those with a hunting background |
| **Geographic concentration** | Mountain West, Great Plains, Pacific Northwest, and rural Texas (hunting overlap dominant); Midwest and Southeast for range-based long-range |
| **Income** | Middle to upper-middle. A long-range capable setup is not cheap — $2,000–$6,000 is typical total investment. |
| **Occupation** | Broad. Veterans and LEO well-represented. Ranchers, outdoor professionals, and engineers common. No single occupation dominates. |
| **Motivation** | Personal challenge, precision at distance as a craft, field effectiveness (hunting), or skills-building toward eventual competition |

---

## 3. Equipment Profile

**Rifle:**

| Tier | Setup | Cost Range |
|---|---|---|
| Entry long-range | Savage 110 Apex Hunter, Ruger Precision Rifle, or Tikka T3x + basic optic | $1,000–$2,000 |
| Mid | Bergara B-14 HMR, Browning X-Bolt, or Howa 1500 chassis + quality optic | $2,000–$4,000 |
| Serious | Factory precision or entry custom + Vortex Razor, Nightforce NX8, or Tract TORIC optic | $4,000–$7,000 |

**Common calibers:** 6.5 Creedmoor (dominant across all tiers), .308 Winchester (entry), 6.5 PRC (growing), .300 Win Mag, 7mm Rem Mag. Field hunting overlap adds .300 PRC and .338 Lapua at extreme distance.

**Optics:** Vortex Viper PST, Tract TORIC, Nightforce NX8, Athlon Ares, Bushnell Elite Tactical. Budget-to-mid tier is the most common range for this ICP. Premium optic ownership exists at the serious tier but is not universal.

**Existing ballistic tools:**
- Hornady 4DOF — free; widely used as a starting point for this ICP; generates a theoretical table
- JBM Ballistics — web calculator; trusted by the more technically literate members of this ICP
- Kestrel 2700 or 3500 — basic weather meter with no ballistic solver; used for wind reading only; common at the mid and serious tiers
- Kestrel 5700 Elite — aspirational; present at the serious tier among those who have aspirations toward competition
- Hand-written or printed DOPE cards — universal at all tiers; typically derived from the calculator above, corrected manually at the range

---

## 4. Psychographics

**Self-directed optimizer.** This shooter does not have match results, a leaderboard, or a rival competitor driving them toward improvement. The pressure is internal and personal — often anchored to a specific missed shot or a performance gap they identified. This makes the motivation real but the buying timeline unpredictable. The trigger is experiential, not scheduled.

**Technically curious, not technically obsessive.** They understand ballistics better than a casual shooter. They know what BC means. They have thought about muzzle velocity. They have read some forum threads. But they are not reading Applied Ballistics textbooks for sport the way a PRS competitor might. The product's technical depth is reassuring when encountered during research — it is not the hook that initiates the purchase.

**Trusts demonstrated results over specifications.** A consistent hit on a distant steel plate under field conditions is more persuasive than a validation methodology breakdown. Peer recommendation from someone they know and trust — a hunting partner, a range regular — is the highest-conversion input for this ICP. Online, a credible community member's straightforward account of ScopeDOPE fixing a specific problem they had carries more weight than any product page.

**Values self-sufficiency and independence.** This is not a trivial psychographic observation for this ICP. Independence and self-reliance are load-bearing values, particularly for the hunting and ranching subsegment. A fully offline tool that requires no account, no subscription, and no cell signal aligns with this worldview at a values level, not just a practical one. Framing ScopeDOPE's offline-first design as a reflection of that independence — rather than just a technical capability — resonates with this audience.

**Field conditions as the primary context.** For a meaningful portion of this ICP, the rifle goes to the field — different elevation, different temperature, different humidity than the home range. The mismatch between where they shoot for practice and where they need the rifle to work is a persistent, experienced pain point. Tools that require a cell signal or a Kestrel fail at this moment. ScopeDOPE does not.

**Irregular shooting cadence.** Some in this ICP shoot long-range only a few times per year. Between sessions, equipment may change, ammo lots may turn over, and memories fade. Tools that require frequent engagement to maintain accuracy degrade in value rapidly for this shooter. ScopeDOPE's session archiving means the data from a session two years ago is still available and still useful today.

---

## 5. Current Ballistic Workflow

**Workflow A — Manual DOPE card (most common)**
1. Shoot at known distances (100, 200, 300, 400, 500, sometimes 600 yards)
2. Record actual impacts and click adjustments in a range notebook
3. Transcribe to a laminated DOPE card or tape to the stock
4. At the range or in the field, read the card and dial accordingly

*Gap:* No atmospheric correction between sessions — the card is calibrated to the conditions at the home range, not wherever the rifle is used next. Lot changes mean manual re-verification with no systematic guidance. No interpolation for distances between confirmed data points.

**Workflow B — Calculator + card**
1. Input load data into Hornady 4DOF or JBM Ballistics
2. Generate a printed drop table from the calculator
3. Verify at the range; annotate margin corrections by hand
4. Update the card manually when conditions change significantly or ammo lots turn over

*Gap:* The calculator does not know their specific rifle, barrel, or lot. Corrections are hand-applied and disconnected from the tool that generated the baseline. No live atmospheric adjustment unless they own a dedicated weather meter.

**Workflow C — Kestrel weather meter + separate calculator**
Less common, but present at the mid and serious tier. A Kestrel 3500 or 5000 (weather meter without ballistic solver) paired with JBM or Hornady 4DOF. The Kestrel provides live atmospheric readings; the calculator generates a table; the shooter applies manual corrections.

*Gap:* Two tools doing separate jobs with no integration between them. The corrections from the range session are still hand-applied to a table that doesn't know their rifle.

---

## 6. Pain Points

**Field conditions differ from the home range — sometimes severely.** A shooter who confirmed their DOPE at a range at 4,500 ft shows up in elk country at 9,000 ft. Air pressure, temperature, and humidity are all different. Their DOPE card is wrong and they know it. Without a Kestrel or a cell signal, there is no clean way to correct for conditions in the field. ScopeDOPE with a WeatherFlow Tactical provides live atmospheric correction at the shooting position, fully offline.

**The first shot in the field is the only shot that matters.** For the field-shooting subset of this ICP — whether on a steel plate at 800 yards or in the field with a bolt-action — there is often no opportunity to confirm zero and adjust before the critical shot. First-round probability is the metric that matters above all others. A DOPE solution anchored in confirmed impacts rather than a theoretical prediction produces a meaningfully better starting point. This is the most emotionally resonant pain point for the hunting subsegment.

**Lot changes are managed by feel or re-verification from scratch.** When this shooter's ammo lot changes, they typically return to the range, shoot a group at 200 yards, and estimate from the shift. ScopeDOPE's lot-level architecture carries actual velocity, BC, and temperature sensitivity data per lot — the app knows what changed and adjusts the solution accordingly, without requiring a full re-verification session.

**Range sessions are infrequent — data degrades.** Some in this ICP shoot long-range only two or three times a year. Between sessions, their range notebook is their only record. ScopeDOPE's archived `.dope` session files mean every confirmed impact from every session is available instantly the next time they pick up the rifle, regardless of how much time has passed.

**No interpolation between confirmed distances.** Their card has verified data at 300 and 500 yards. A 420-yard target is not on the card. The card cannot answer that question. ScopeDOPE interpolates using confirmed data as anchor points plus physics fill — producing a correction at 420 yards that is the best available estimate from their actual rifle, not a linear guess between two data points.

**Transcription errors on the DOPE card.** The hand-written card was transcribed from a calculator or a range notebook. Each transcription step introduces error potential. In bright sun, the card is unreadable. After a rain, the card is gone. A ScopeDOPE-printed sticker is zero-error relative to the app, waterproof, and readable in any light.

---

## 7. Buying Triggers

**A miss in the field or at the range that triggers a recalibration.** The emotional weight of this trigger is highest for the field-shooting subsegment — a missed opportunity at a once-in-a-year shot is a powerful and persistent motivator. For range shooters, a blown steel at a known distance at a new venue or new elevation creates the same demand. This trigger often produces a same-day search for a better tool.

**Elevation or atmospheric change at a new location.** Preparing for a hunt or range session at significantly different conditions than the home range — different state, different altitude, seasonal temperature shift — creates immediate demand for a tool that can apply atmospheric corrections without a Kestrel and without cell signal. This trigger is often pre-trip and produces research well before the event.

**Lot change — especially before a significant outing.** Switching ammunition lots before a high-stakes session prompts a re-verification workflow. ScopeDOPE provides structure for this: enter the new lot's data, record the re-verification session, and carry the updated solution forward.

**Peer recommendation at a range or in an online community.** A hunting partner or range regular who uses ScopeDOPE and describes it in concrete terms — "it knows the conditions at 9,000 feet, not my home range at 4,500" — is the highest-conversion trigger for this ICP. Online recommendations in r/longrange or AccurateShooter carry similar weight when they are specific and non-promotional.

**Desire to upgrade from a manual DOPE card.** The shooter who has been using a hand-written card for years and is dissatisfied with its limitations is a ready-to-convert buyer. App Store search ("long range shooting app," "ballistic calculator with weather sensor") is a common discovery path for this trigger.

---

## 8. Objections and Counters

**"I only shoot long-range a few times a year. Is this worth it?"**
ScopeDOPE's value compounds over time precisely because it keeps your session data between outings. Every confirmed impact you entered two years ago is still there and still anchoring your firing solution. The less frequently you shoot, the more valuable an accurate starting point becomes — because you can't afford range time to re-zero from scratch every outing. The app is most useful to infrequent shooters, not least.

**"I already use Hornady 4DOF / JBM and it's good enough."**
Those tools give you what the manufacturer says the bullet should do, from a theoretical barrel, under standard conditions. ScopeDOPE gives you that prediction corrected for what your specific rifle, barrel, and ammo lot actually do — anchored in confirmed impacts from your actual range sessions. The two outputs will agree at distances you've confirmed. They diverge at distances you haven't. ScopeDOPE's answer at an unconfirmed distance is better.

**"The Kestrel 5700 Elite is what the serious long-range community uses."**
The Kestrel is excellent hardware. ScopeDOPE is the tool for shooters who are serious about their data but don't want to carry a $560 dedicated device everywhere they take the rifle. A complete ScopeDOPE setup — app, WeatherFlow Tactical weather sensor, Niimbot printer — costs around $225. It runs on the phone already in your pocket. And ScopeDOPE builds its firing solution from your confirmed impacts — not just from theory.

**"I don't need to print anything."**
Your current DOPE card was written by hand and taped to your stock. It has transcription errors, fades, gets wet, and goes unreadable in direct sun. A ScopeDOPE-printed label is zero-error relative to the app, durable, and readable in any conditions. It replaces the step you're already doing with a version that cannot have a transcription error and doesn't require a laminator.

**"I don't want another subscription."**
ScopeDOPE is a one-time purchase. $44.99. Yours forever. No account required, no server dependency, no subscription, no signal required. It works as far into the backcountry as your phone's battery lasts.

**"I shoot at a venue with good cell coverage — I can look things up."**
ScopeDOPE doesn't need a signal because your data is local. Your confirmed sessions, your lot data, your correction curves — all on the device. But also: every time you've had to look something up at the line, you've added a step between you and the shot. ScopeDOPE removes that step.

---

## 9. Discovery Channels

| Channel | Relevance | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| **Reddit r/longrange** | Very high | 200,000+ members; mix of competition and general long-range; strong hunting overlap. Organic recommendations from non-promotional accounts carry real weight. |
| **AccurateShooter.com forum** | High | Broad precision shooting community with strong hunting overlap; technically literate readership; longer-form discussion than Reddit. |
| **YouTube** | High | App walkthroughs, gear review channels, long-range shooting tutorials, hunting preparation content. This ICP researches via YouTube more heavily than the competition segments — fewer trusted peer channels, more reliance on review content. |
| **Instagram** | Medium-high | Range content, field preparation, gear photography with a hunting/outdoors aesthetic. Less competition-focused than NRL22/PRS. Visual demonstration of the offline workflow and printed sticker performs well. |
| **Facebook Groups** | Medium-high | Caliber-specific and range-specific groups; hunting community groups with long-range overlap. More fragmented than NRL22 community groups — no single dominant group. |
| **Google Play / App Store search** | High | "Ballistic calculator," "long range shooting app," "offline ballistic app," "DOPE card app." This ICP has higher organic discovery via search than competition segments, who use peer channels more heavily. |
| **At-range conversation** | High | A range acquaintance demonstrating ScopeDOPE — especially the printed sticker and the live WeatherFlow sensor — is highly effective for this ICP. |

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## 10. The Right Message for This Profile

**Core claim (adapted for plain language):**
> ScopeDOPE builds your firing solution from shots you've actually fired — not averages from someone else's barrel.

**Field conditions framing (no hunting language — see §1):**
> Field conditions are never your home range conditions. ScopeDOPE corrects for the environment where you're standing — not where you zeroed.

**Offline-first / self-sufficiency:**
> No account required. No subscription. No signal required. Full offline operation. Your data, on your device, wherever you take the rifle.

**First-shot emphasis:**
> Your first shot is the only one that counts. ScopeDOPE builds the correction from your confirmed data — not a theoretical prediction.

**Infrequent-shooter framing:**
> Your confirmed impacts from three years ago are still there. ScopeDOPE doesn't forget between range trips.

**Print feature:**
> You already have a DOPE card. ScopeDOPE prints yours directly from your confirmed data. No transcription. No errors. Readable in any light.

**Simplicity of pitch:** This ICP does not require — and will not respond to — the technical architecture depth that the PRS competitor demands. Lead with the concrete problem they've experienced and the concrete result. "Your DOPE, built from your actual rifle, available offline anywhere you take it" is the complete sentence. Let the technical depth be discoverable in the app description and validation documentation for those who want it — it should not be the opening argument.

**Brand voice reminder:** The voice is the same across all ICPs — declarative, dry, specific. Do not become casual or enthusiastic for this segment. Do not use "easy" as an adjective. Do not address hunting directly in any marketing copy. See `SCOPEDOPE_MARKETING_GUIDE.md §4.2` for full banned phrase list and §1.2 for the explicit prohibition on hunting copy.

---

## 11. Competitive Landscape Awareness

**Hornady 4DOF** — Free web tool. The most common baseline tool for this ICP. Zero DOPE management, no session memory, no lot tracking, no printing, no atmospheric correction workflow. Not a retention risk — it is a stepping stone. A shooter who is frustrated with the limitations of 4DOF (no real data, no session persistence, no field correction) is already a motivated ScopeDOPE prospect.

**Applied Ballistics Mobile** — $19.99/year subscription (reduced Dec 2024 from $29.99). Calculator architecture — additive corrections. No DOPE management at the session level. Some presence at the higher-investment end of this ICP. The subscription model is an objection point for the self-sufficiency psychographic. ScopeDOPE's one-time purchase and offline-first design are direct differentiators.

**Kestrel 5700 Elite** — Present at the upper end of this ICP among shooters with competition aspirations. The ~$225 complete ScopeDOPE system versus $560 for the Kestrel alone is a factual comparison that resonates with this segment's spending mindset — serious about data, deliberate about equipment cost.

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## 12. Kestrel Displacement Tier

Per `SCOPEDOPE_COMPETITIVE_ANALYSIS.md §7`:

- **Tier 1:** First-time long-range shooters who have never considered a dedicated ballistic device. ScopeDOPE is the starting point — accessible, offline, no commitment beyond $44.99.

- **Tier 2:** Shooters who are aware of the Kestrel, respect it, and have made a deliberate choice to put that $560 toward rifle, optic, or ammo instead. ScopeDOPE is the tool that gives them a systematic DOPE workflow without deferring it indefinitely.

A small but real subset maps to **Tier 3** — they own a Kestrel 3500 or 5000 for wind reading but have no ballistic integration. ScopeDOPE is additive to their existing habit without requiring them to change it.

---

## 13. References

| Document | Relevant Sections |
|---|---|
| `SCOPEDOPE_MARKETING_GUIDE.md` | §1.2 (the problem), §2.4 (secondary demographics), §3.2 (brand voice), **§4.2 (hard rules — do not write about hunting directly; this is a firm constraint for this ICP)**, §6.1–6.3 (system argument) |
| `SCOPEDOPE_COMPETITIVE_ANALYSIS.md` | §2.1 (DOPE-Blend™), §2.3 (price), §2.4 (no accounts/offline), §2.5 (session portability), §7 (displacement tiers) |
| `MARKETING_ENGINE.md` | §4 (messaging by audience — plain-language framing for technically-minded shooters) |

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## Document Control

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| **Document owner** | `jschwefel@coldboreballisticsllc.com` |
| **Classification** | Highly Confidential (04_-_Highly_Confidential/) |
| **Location** | `OneDrive/ScopeDOPE/04_-_Highly_Confidential/Marketing_Guide/ICP/ICP_LONG_RANGE_SHOOTER.md` |
| **Cross-references** | `SCOPEDOPE_MARKETING_GUIDE.md`; `SCOPEDOPE_COMPETITIVE_ANALYSIS.md`; `MARKETING_ENGINE.md`; `PERSONA_OVERVIEW.md` |
| **Created** | 2026-06-08 |
| **Last updated** | 2026-06-09 |
| **Next full review due** | 2027-06-08 |

---

## Revision Control Block

| Rev | Date | Changed By | Reviewed By | Approved By | Summary |
|-----|------|------------|-------------|-------------|---------|
| DRAFT | 2026-06-08 | jschwefel | — | — | Initial draft |
| DRAFT 2 | 2026-06-08 | jschwefel | — | — | Revised: hunting subsegment reframed as primary driver, not exception; §1 explicit brand rule note added; self-sufficiency psychographic elevated; field-conditions and offline framing expanded throughout; §11 competitive landscape added; TOC updated; AB Mobile Dec 2024 price noted |
| DRAFT 3 | 2026-06-09 | Claude (Opus 4.8) | — | — | Fixed "DOPE-blend"→"DOPE-Blend™" per BRAND_LEGAL_LANGUAGE_GUIDE; applied ™ to first use of ScopeDOPE/Cold Bore Ballistics. Updated stale MARKETING_ENGINE §4 cross-ref (hunter-adjacent messaging section was removed from that doc; repointed to the audience section). |
