Help me choose a scope reticle for target work?

Nortonics · April 28, 2006, 11:04 PM

Down to a final decision on the scope that I anticipate mounting on my first ever centerfire rifle and would like to read your suggestions as to what reticle to choose.

The rifle (Savage 12BVSS in .243 Win) will be used 90% of the time for target work - from 100 yds and to a lesser extent 600 yds. The other 10% of the time it'll be used for periodic varminting of prairie dogs out to say 300 yds. +/-

The scope I've chosen to get (God, please don't make me rethink this one again

) is a Nikon Monarch UCC Long Range Riflescope, model 6.5-20x44 AO.

As such, I've got 6 possible reticles to choose from, of which 3 are the likely choice as follows:

- Fine Crosshair
- Fine Crosshair with Dot
- Nikoplex

Here's a diagram showing these 3 (and others):

Which of the three listed above would you choose for the purposes I've described?

P95Carry · April 28, 2006, 11:32 PM

From your three - Nikoplex would be my choice, tho with different distances you might shoot at, the mildot would appeal too.

I mention Nikoplex because I find this pattern automatically draws my eye in to center, better than fine crosshair alone. The heavier element seems to help me zero in on actual fine central crosshairs. The cross-hair dot I personally do not like. Maybe I feel it has too much MOA error potential.

So - duplex for me every time.

Bob R · April 29, 2006, 12:39 AM

Of the 3, I would choose the NikoPlex. As was mentioned, your eye will be drawn to the fine part.

I am not a fan of the fine crosshair type of reticles, I really prefer mildot so I can get a rough range. That is no where near possible with the fine reticle.

The fine with the target dot may be a problem when shooting those 9" prairie dogs at 300 yds. I am not sure how much of the PD the dot would obscure, but it could be too much.

The scope you chose is just fine for the types of shooting you will be doing.

have fun

bob

esldude · April 29, 2006, 12:40 AM

Most target shooters use a dot reticule.
But I agree it can allow more MOA error. More than duplex actually.

My preference is the fine cross hair. Have two of them in the regular Monarch 6.5-20x. Gives you the finest possible aiming point.

Center part of the Nikoplex is 2 moa wide at your eye. The fine cross hair is 1 moa wide at your eye. A 1/4 moa dot at 20x will be 5 moa at your eye. I would go Nikoplex over dot reticule if you don't go with FCH. I don't see any of the other reticule choices as suitable for your stated use.

Nortonics · April 29, 2006, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by esldude

Center part of the Nikoplex is 2 moa wide at your eye. The fine cross hair is 1 moa wide at your eye.

Is that right?! How the heck have you come to figure that out? I would have thought the inner part of the Nicoplex was the same thin size as the Fine Crosshair reticle as that's how it appears in Nikon's documentation, but I must admit I haven't actually looked through both and compared.

UPDATE:

Dang if you aren't absolutely correct esldude. Since you made mention of this I went back to the Nikon manual and closely looked at the subtension specifications between these two reticles. It's clearly evidant that the width of those hairs are twice as wide on the Nikoplex compared to the Fine Crosshair.

It's that exact type of overlooked info I was hoping to resolve with my untrained eye with your guys help. Thanks much for that enlightening education on such a small but important part of the equation.

dfaugh · April 29, 2006, 09:43 AM

Well, I'll be the contrarian here--I prefer mildot, because of the range estimation capabilities. There's a learning curve and its best to have a "cheat sheet" but I find estimating ranges beyond about 200 yrds to be difficult and the mildot will help. It also lets you "see" holdover for longer shots.

View Poll Results: Which reticle would you choose?
Fine Crosshair	6	54.55%
Fine Crosshair with Dot	2	18.18%
Nikoplex	3	27.27%
Voters: 11. You may not vote on this poll

April 28, 2006, 11:04 PM	#1
Nortonics Member Join Date: March 8, 2005 Location: Murderapolis Posts: 311	Help me choose a scope reticle for target work? Down to a final decision on the scope that I anticipate mounting on my first ever centerfire rifle and would like to read your suggestions as to what reticle to choose. The rifle (Savage 12BVSS in .243 Win) will be used 90% of the time for target work - from 100 yds and to a lesser extent 600 yds. The other 10% of the time it'll be used for periodic varminting of prairie dogs out to say 300 yds. +/- The scope I've chosen to get (God, please don't make me rethink this one again ) is a Nikon Monarch UCC Long Range Riflescope, model 6.5-20x44 AO. As such, I've got 6 possible reticles to choose from, of which 3 are the likely choice as follows: - Fine Crosshair - Fine Crosshair with Dot - Nikoplex Here's a diagram showing these 3 (and others): Which of the three listed above would you choose for the purposes I've described? __________________ We know where one cow with mad-cow-disease is located among the millions of cows in America, but we haven't got a clue as to where millions of illegal immigrants and terrorists are located. Maybe we should put the Department of Agriculture in charge of immigration. Tom.

April 28, 2006, 11:32 PM	#2
P95Carry Moderator Emeritus Join Date: January 3, 2003 Location: South PA, and a bit West of center! Posts: 16,342	From your three - Nikoplex would be my choice, tho with different distances you might shoot at, the mildot would appeal too. I mention Nikoplex because I find this pattern automatically draws my eye in to center, better than fine crosshair alone. The heavier element seems to help me zero in on actual fine central crosshairs. The cross-hair dot I personally do not like. Maybe I feel it has too much MOA error potential. So - duplex for me every time. __________________ Chris - P95 Guns don't kill people - people kill people. NRA Certified Instructor & NRA Life Member. Rohrbaugh interest/ownership? - Rohrbaugh Forum Rohrbaugh R9 FAQ Site ______________________________

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April 29, 2006, 12:39 AM	#3
Bob R Member Join Date: December 26, 2002 Location: The Dry Side of WA Posts: 691	Of the 3, I would choose the NikoPlex. As was mentioned, your eye will be drawn to the fine part. I am not a fan of the fine crosshair type of reticles, I really prefer mildot so I can get a rough range. That is no where near possible with the fine reticle. The fine with the target dot may be a problem when shooting those 9" prairie dogs at 300 yds. I am not sure how much of the PD the dot would obscure, but it could be too much. The scope you chose is just fine for the types of shooting you will be doing. have fun bob

April 29, 2006, 12:40 AM	#4
esldude Member Join Date: February 28, 2003 Posts: 290	Most target shooters use a dot reticule. But I agree it can allow more MOA error. More than duplex actually. My preference is the fine cross hair. Have two of them in the regular Monarch 6.5-20x. Gives you the finest possible aiming point. Center part of the Nikoplex is 2 moa wide at your eye. The fine cross hair is 1 moa wide at your eye. A 1/4 moa dot at 20x will be 5 moa at your eye. I would go Nikoplex over dot reticule if you don't go with FCH. I don't see any of the other reticule choices as suitable for your stated use.

April 29, 2006, 09:43 AM	#6
dfaugh Member Join Date: December 10, 2004 Posts: 1,995	Well, I'll be the contrarian here--I prefer mildot, because of the range estimation capabilities. There's a learning curve and its best to have a "cheat sheet" but I find estimating ranges beyond about 200 yrds to be difficult and the mildot will help. It also lets you "see" holdover for longer shots.