Reticles, Focal plane, purposes.

kmw1954

kmw1954

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Title is for lack of something better.

As I referred to before I am about to start my second season shooting an informal rifle league and have finished working up a new load for the new rifle. While doing this I find myself struggling at times to consistently produce good groups. Now I am fairly certain it is not the rifle or the ammunition, but mostly the operator. Or maybe this new scope.

To refresh, we shoot at 100/200/300yd targets that many have sub MOA X rings. Some are nothing more than a black Dot.
Last year I shot with an Athlon Argos BTR GENII 8-34X56 FFP with MRAD settings. I thought I did well with it my first year. This year I am using an Athlon Helos BTR GENII 6-24X56 FFP MOA.

So it has been suggested that a SFP would be more appropriate for what I am trying to do because the reticle is not going to grow as I increase magnification and obscure some of the tiny targets. The reticle on the Helos has a + center that becomes quite large at full mag.. Was also suggested that a Dot center may be better.

Now I have been perusing through some of the better target scopes and see many are SFP and they do not feature a Christmas Tree reticle.

I purchased the Helos thinking it would be an upgrade and help me along but maybe it wasn't the best choice for what I am trying to do. Now don't get me wrong, I think this is a wonderful scope and has great features for the money and would most probably make a great PRS or hunting glass.
 
Games like benchrest and F-class, where the focus is on shooting itty bitty groups at constant, known distances use SFP optics with MOA adjustments, typically 1/8moa per click, and stripped down reticles.

Hit or miss games at varying distances like PRS use FFP’s with graduated reticles, commonly in MRAD with 1/10mrad adjustments.

That said, “open dot” centers can be popular in any game, obscuring less of the target, but still offering macro reference and a focused aiming point.

In different posts, you’ve mentioned shooting at targets as small as 1/2moa at 300yrds, as well as talking about targets with scoring rings. You’ve been pretty clear this is a benchrest game, and it does seem the CoF involve shooting only a single range per stage, and you haven’t mentioned time limits, so I’m thinking this is much more of a fixed position, known distance, small group game, but scored rather than measured. In that case, an SFP with a fine reticle and/or fine crosshair with center dot and 1/8moa adjustment turrets is likely the best option for you.
 
Once again your intuition is right on track.

Yes there is just a single stage per week at a known distance shooting from a single position, no timed. My mentor is shooting a 6 Dasher with a NF Comp 1/8moa and I can see a huge difference it target acquisition. Unfortunately that optic is a bit out of my budget line at this time.

Not sure if you are familiar with the 2 scopes I have, the Argos and the Helos. neither of which are optimum for this game but would one be more advantageous over the other for what I am trying to do? Thinking with the 34X magnification I can dial it back to decrease the reticle size yet still maintain the 24X.
 
kmw1954 said:
Thinking with the 34X magnification I can dial it back to decrease the reticle size yet still maintain the 24X.
Click to expand...

Since these are both FFP’s, the reticle will cover the same amount of target, no matter what magnification.

That’s the trick of SFP’s, the reticle stays the same size relative to our FOV, regardless of magnification, so as we zoom in, the target gets bigger and the reticle does not, so the reticle gets smaller compared to the target as we zoom in. Comparatively, the reticle in FFP’s will grow and shrink with the target, so it stays the same size relative to the target, no matter what. The FFP reticle just “looks” larger as we zoom, because we zoomed in on it, the same as we zoomed in onto the target.
 
When I was shooting paper like f class I really liked the nf benchrest with np2d reticle. But I don’t think I’d be at a disadvantage using a PRS style reticle. I’d probably pick a point on the reticle like the tip of the 1 mil right hash and dial out the mil to use that as the aiming point.
 
find the finest point in the reticle your eye can focus on. or even better, empty space between two points. that's why i really like reticles that have a gap at the half mil mark instead of a hash. it's easy for your eye to center the target in the gap and the reticle isn't covering it.
 
As for target shooting, ffp and busy reticles are not that helpful.
Take a look a Sightron 8-32x56 with a cross hair/target dot. The prices are very reasonable, the scopes have excellent tracking and very good glass.
I’ve personally shot sightrons from short range to mid range to long range with absolutely zero problems.
Lifetime warranty excellent CS, talk to Lance at Buchanan accuracy ( I’ll try and find a link for you)
https://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/happy-new-year.4082952/
 
Last edited:
South Prairie Jim said:
As for target shooting, ffp and busy reticles are not that helpful.
Take a look a Sightron 8-32x56 with a cross hair/target dot. The prices are very reasonable, the scopes have excellent tracking and very good glass.
I’ve personally shot sightrons from short range to mid range to long range with absolutely zero problems.
Lifetime warranty excellent CS, talk to Lance at Buchanan accuracy ( I’ll try and find a link for you)
https://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/happy-new-year.4082952/
Click to expand...

As a member but not a frequent member of that forum I have seen him being highly recommended. But yes, so I am learning the difference in requirements in glass for the differing disciplines of shooting.

Though this is not a good time to be spending on this as I have about blown all my happy bucks from my PT job on reloading supplies and a few other shooting tools for the upcoming league. Not sure what the resale value of my Athlon Helos might be to offset the costs.
 
More of a practical rifleman here but you are running A LOT of magnification on mid level glass. Bet there is a lot of tight eye box, glare, and blurry resolution going on with what you are running.
 
Im gonna second Jims recommendations of the Sightron with target dot or fine X. My dads go an S3 10-40 and its optically better than any of what ive got except possibly my Meopta, and for your game it would definitely beat it just because of the very fine reticle and high power.
 
Appreciate all the feedback and insight. As funds are restricted ATM due to work hours cutback I believe for the time being I am going to swap out scopes and go back to the one I used well last year. The reticle is a bit finer which should help for now.
 
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