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Resources Reticle Choices for field target

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cavedweller

cavedweller

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Dec 5, 2018
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Ok ok, been piddling around with different scopes on different HFT platforms for a long while now; I need a reality check from the wisdom gallery.
To date my five favorite scopes are:
in order of “my“ happiness:

#1) Sightron S3 10-50x60FT, SFP, MOA-H reticle, HFT x2, HFT specific

#2) Athlon Helos BTR Gen 2, 6-24x56 FFP
APRS6 reticle MRAD 1/10 mil EFT specific .25 rig

#3) Athlon Helos BTR Gen 2, 4-20x50 FFP
APRS6 reticle MRAD 1/10 mil

#4) Element Titan 3-18x50 FFP
APR2D reticle FFP MRAD 1/10 mil

#5) Sightron S-tac 4-20x50 FFP, MRAD, MH4 reticle 1/10 mil (Hft pistols specific)

I’m torn by choosing #1 and #3 as my primary and permanent HFT scopes because #1 ranges the best but the reticle requires i guesstimate some holdovers because it lacks sufficient numbering markers Between zero and 1. This affects my 21-29 yards and 31-39 yard Shots.
I really like the Element Titan too because it spreads the numbers out 270 degrees on my wheel. #5, the s-tacs are fairly compact but also lack some useful holdover markings.
Athlons like the Element have Christmas tree reticles thus more holdover details.

See photo.

Thoughts ?
IMG_8958.jpeg


IMG_8967.jpeg
 
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cavedweller said:
Ok ok, been piddling around with different scopes on different HFT platforms for a long while now; I need a reality check from the wisdom gallery.
To date my five favorite scopes are:
in order of “my“ happiness:

#1) Sightron S3 10-50x60FT, SFP, MOA-H reticle, HFT x2, HFT specific

#2) Athlon Helos BTR Gen 2, 6-24x56 FFP
APRS6 reticle MRAD 1/10 mil EFT specific .25 rig

#3) Athlon Helos BTR Gen 2, 4-20x50 FFP
APRS6 reticle MRAD 1/10 mil

#4) Element Titan 3-18x50 FFP
APR2D reticle FFP MRAD 1/10 mil

#5) Sightron S-tac 4-20x50 FFP, MRAD, MH4 reticle 1/10 mil (Hft pistols specific)

I’m torn by choosing #1 and #3 as my primary and permanent HFT scopes because #1 ranges the best but the reticle requires i guesstimate some holdovers because it lacks sufficient numbering markers Between zero and 1. This affects my 21-29 yards and 31-39 yard Shots.
I really like the Element Titan too because it spreads the numbers out 270 degrees on my wheel. #5, the s-tacs are fairly compact but also lack some useful holdover markings.
Athlons like the Element have Christmas tree reticles thus more holdover details.

See photo.

Thoughts ?
View attachment 532532

View attachment 532530
Click to expand...
I should add that I do have a higher KZ success score with the S3’s but I’ve also been practicing more with them.
 
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@cavedweller are you sure you’re not over thinking this? At 25 yards, one division on the Sightron SIII at 16x = 1.5 MOA which is equivalent to .39 inch and 1.5 MOA at 39yds is .61 inch. A good shooter should be able to discern 1/2 division (.75 MOA) [or even 1/4 division (.38 MOA)] on that reticle. That means you can hold a POI of between .19 and .30 inches at 25 and 39 yards. If you are shooting AAFTA Field Target and the MD is following the rules, the smallest KZ at 25 yards is 1/2 inch and the smallest KZ at 39 yards is 7/8 inch, meaning you should be able to hold a POI that is less than half the size of the KZ. When you add the POI accuracy of your rifle and the POI accuracy of yourself in an FT position to these numbers, the result should be that you are able to hold within the KZ.
The AAFTA rules were setup long ago when scopes, rifles, and us shooters probably weren’t as accurate as we are now, and the distance limits are based on what seemed achievable at that time. Course Troyer levels have increased because we are better shooters but the limits have remained the same.
If you had finer demarcations on the scope, do you believe that you could sit still enough to accurately hold to that smaller MOA? I cannot! I also usually find that I am thinking about wind holds that cause me to move left and right to account for pellet drift, so I’m not on center of the reticle where the marks are anyways.
Shooting in the woods where I do most of my shooting means my emphasis is on good glass that is bright with a fine reticle that stands out against the background and also sometimes a lighted reticle. Snappy ranging using parallax is important for close targets, and then using bracketing with the windage demarcations on the reticle on known object sizes (the concrete block or the diameter of the KZ) for targets past 40 yards. I find that the SIII fits my needs perfectly. There are other scopes that may also work equally well, but I don’t usually think of the reticle demarcations as much as clarity, brightness, and parallax ranging when selecting a scope.
 
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cavedweller said:
Ok ok, been piddling around with different scopes on different HFT platforms for a long while now; I need a reality check from the wisdom gallery.
To date my five favorite scopes are:
in order of “my“ happiness:

#1) Sightron S3 10-50x60FT, SFP, MOA-H reticle, HFT x2, HFT specific

#2) Athlon Helos BTR Gen 2, 6-24x56 FFP
APRS6 reticle MRAD 1/10 mil EFT specific .25 rig

#3) Athlon Helos BTR Gen 2, 4-20x50 FFP
APRS6 reticle MRAD 1/10 mil

#4) Element Titan 3-18x50 FFP
APR2D reticle FFP MRAD 1/10 mil

#5) Sightron S-tac 4-20x50 FFP, MRAD, MH4 reticle 1/10 mil (Hft pistols specific)

I’m torn by choosing #1 and #3 as my primary and permanent HFT scopes because #1 ranges the best but the reticle requires i guesstimate some holdovers because it lacks sufficient numbering markers Between zero and 1.

Thoughts ?
Click to expand...
I also really like that Helos 4-20 reticle for FT. Reticle is very easy to see and plenty of holdover points.

Sqwirl57 said:
I'm a huge fan of the reticle on the Delta

View attachment 532547
Click to expand...
That reticle is very thin. I really wanted to like that scope but I found it very hard to find the reticle.
 
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Cloud9AG said:
@cavedweller are you sure you’re not over thinking this? At 25 yards, one division on the Sightron SIII at 16x = 1.5 MOA which is equivalent to .39 inch and 1.5 MOA at 39yds is .61 inch. A good shooter should be able to discern 1/2 division (.75 MOA) [or even 1/4 division (.38 MOA)] on that reticle. That means you can hold a POI of between .19 and .30 inches at 25 and 39 yards. If you are shooting AAFTA Field Target and the MD is following the rules, the smallest KZ at 25 yards is 1/2 inch and the smallest KZ at 39 yards is 7/8 inch, meaning you should be able to hold a POI that is less than half the size of the KZ. When you add the POI accuracy of your rifle and the POI accuracy of yourself in an FT position to these numbers, the result should be that you are able to hold within the KZ.
The AAFTA rules were setup long ago when scopes, rifles, and us shooters probably weren’t as accurate as we are now, and the distance limits are based on what seemed achievable at that time. Course Troyer levels have increased because we are better shooters but the limits have remained the same.
If you had finer demarcations on the scope, do you believe that you could sit still enough to accurately hold to that smaller MOA? I cannot! I also usually find that I am thinking about wind holds that cause me to move left and right to account for pellet drift, so I’m not on center of the reticle where the marks are anyways.
Shooting in the woods where I do most of my shooting means my emphasis is on good glass that is bright with a fine reticle that stands out against the background and also sometimes a lighted reticle. Snappy ranging using parallax is important for close targets, and then using bracketing with the windage demarcations on the reticle on known object sizes (the concrete block or the diameter of the KZ) for targets past 40 yards. I find that the SIII fits my needs perfectly. There are other scopes that may also work equally well, but I don’t usually think of the reticle demarcations as much as clarity, brightness, and parallax ranging when selecting a scope.
Click to expand...
I guess this is the exact kind of information I’m looking for -
when I’m practicing I set out close in targets with KZ’s as small as 1/4” with the idea of aim small miss small or better to miss tiny frustrating KZ’s at home so when away the KZ’s seem ginormous. It does help me to settle in before pulling the trigger.

IMG_8586.jpeg
 
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cavedweller said:
I guess this is the exact kind of information I’m looking for -
when I’m practicing I set out close in targets with KZ’s as small as 1/4” with the idea of aim small miss small or better to miss tiny frustrating KZ’s at home so when away the KZ’s seem ginormous. It does help me to settle in before pulling the trigger.
Click to expand...
This morning Rod and I were talking about faceplate designs and we agreed there should be a faceplate of a middle finger with a tiny little killzone. Just for fun.
 
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I prefer .2 mil reticles for holds, especially the more windy it is, but the problem is I can't guess the wind well enough to take full advantage of that, and well in FT I'm so used to how far off center to aim from way way back when I used a plane crosshair or dot reticle. I often revert back to the old way if I'm feeling lazy by not consulting the app for how far to hold off.

But for long range centerfire steel matches which were shot laying down with bipod and squeeze bag I found .2's superior for more exact holds. I doubt I'd done as well as I did otherwise.

APRS6 gets my vote but you know how it is - I am a bit biased.
 
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cavedweller said:
Ok ok, been piddling around with different scopes on different HFT platforms for a long while now; I need a reality check from the wisdom gallery.
To date my five favorite scopes are:
in order of “my“ happiness:

#1) Sightron S3 10-50x60FT, SFP, MOA-H reticle, HFT x2, HFT specific

#2) Athlon Helos BTR Gen 2, 6-24x56 FFP
APRS6 reticle MRAD 1/10 mil EFT specific .25 rig

#3) Athlon Helos BTR Gen 2, 4-20x50 FFP
APRS6 reticle MRAD 1/10 mil

#4) Element Titan 3-18x50 FFP
APR2D reticle FFP MRAD 1/10 mil

#5) Sightron S-tac 4-20x50 FFP, MRAD, MH4 reticle 1/10 mil (Hft pistols specific)

I’m torn by choosing #1 and #3 as my primary and permanent HFT scopes because #1 ranges the best but the reticle requires i guesstimate some holdovers because it lacks sufficient numbering markers Between zero and 1. This affects my 21-29 yards and 31-39 yard Shots.
I really like the Element Titan too because it spreads the numbers out 270 degrees on my wheel. #5, the s-tacs are fairly compact but also lack some useful holdover markings.
Athlons like the Element have Christmas tree reticles thus more holdover details.

See photo.

Thoughts ?
View attachment 532532

View attachment 532530
Click to expand...

I have #1 and #5 on your list but I use the Athlon Heras 6-24x56 SPR with the APRS9 reticle for my main HFT rifle. I wish I could get the Sightron SIII with the Athlon recticle, I do like the .2 markings for < 15 yards and > 40 yard shots. Plus, I like pronouncing "Heras". ;)
 
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Motorhead said:
ATHLON 16x Mil-dot in .2 mil hash .... SUPERB !!!

View attachment 532697
Click to expand...
I’m getting ready to move this exact scope and reticle configuration to my TM1000 and see how it goes.
I have to spend a lot of time looking through glass at a reticle before i start to "get" what the reticle is telling... slow brain/eye thing.

My TM1000 Ser#005, that you tuned is soooo accurate that i use it as my bench standard for trying out various scopes to prevent breaking down more than one gun and constantly redoing dope. My TM1000, even shrouded, is too loud to pop off repeatedly in the back yard; so i shoot it from inside on the bench to outside at my known distance targets. That's how i create these graph charts, see below pic.

IMG_8959.jpeg
 
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Keith Rush said:
Take a look at the Falcon X50 MOA200 reticle. For Hunter class, this reticle is awesome! I Iove mine.



View attachment 533387

View attachment 533385
Click to expand...
The scaling between fixed MOA positions is still too wide and no better than a 1/2 mil reticle. as is say a precise .7 hold, guesstimate whats a .5 hold, then . a .75 hold and hold a tad less .... been there & done that for years and it's kinda difficult.
Scaling with .2 Mil eliminates that kinda close guess work.
 
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Solo1 said:
I’m currently using a helos 4-20 and think im sticking with that or possibly the helos 6-24x56 as they seem to work best for me for the money. Can’t see investing in scopes like you have but of course if you can afford it?
Click to expand...
Are we having fun yet?

IMG_8997.jpeg
 
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Motorhead said:
The scaling between fixed MOA positions is still too wide and no better than a 1/2 mil reticle. as is say a precise .7 hold, guesstimate whats a .5 hold, then . a .75 hold and hold a tad less .... been there & done that for years and it's kinda difficult.
Scaling with .2 Mil eliminates that kinda close guess work.
Click to expand...
@Motorhead - excellent information
 
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