Using the Reticle

[29aholic]

Has anyone here ever shot a whole course just using their reticle?
Maybe not in competition but at the local range even?
It seems with all of the new embellished reticles out there like Leupold's TSMOA, the Horus, etc. if you played with it you might could shoot the course without ever touching the knobs.

[Jeff M]

Why?

[opticspecialist]

Has anyone here ever shot a whole course just using their reticle?
Maybe not in competition but at the local range even?
It seems with all of the new embellished reticles out there like Leupold's TSMOA, the Horus, etc. if you played with it you might could shoot the course without ever touching the knobs.

I know people who shoot horus and don't touch knobs. i don't know that i'd recommend it.

[Extortion]

I dial elevation and hold windage.  I tried doing the horus reticle thing and hated it.

[Jeff M]

I'm just wondering why someone would even want to do that unless the stage called for it.

I mean, there's not enough elevation in the reticle to cover an entire match.  You're going to have targets as close as 200 yards (and in some cases much closer,  but 100 would be tour lowest dope), and then targets out to 1200.  There's no way you can hold over that much.

So again - why would you even want to attempt this?  I don't understand the logic.  Honest. ?

[XC700116]

Depends on the whole package. If the rifle is a flat shooter, it makes it much easier (my 6x47 is only at about 8.6mils at 1200). I have a buddy that can absolutely rock a cof on tight time constraints running a gas gun and a Bushy with a tremor2 reticle, but he's got a LOT of time on that setup.

That said, it's something I work on to add to my toolbox for when it's needed, but not something I regularly do in competition either.

As a side note, it's also something I REALLY wish I would have worked on sooner. I had a t5xi go to shit on me during a match last year, it would hold zero fine, but whenever you dialed past 1 mil things went bad in a hurry and not consistently. I turned it back to zero and started shooting off the reticle and started making some hits again. Had I practiced it before hand I most likely wouldn't have left as many points on the table as I did.

[29aholic]

Why?
Why have a reticle that can do it and not utilize at least somewhat.

For instance my TS29X reticle has 29moa built into the reticle. The load I am running currently when I run it through JBM puts me at 30.1 moa from a 100yd zero to 1000yds. That is in a 6.5x20 MK4. The TS reticle in a 4.5x15 MK4 has 32moa built in. SO, in theory if I was to aim a tad high with my reticle I would not have to touch the knobs for elevation to 1000. OR, I could (depending on the course) shoot everything out to say 950 without dialing then dial in 1 or 2 moa to go further. The further benefit would be the use of the windage dot array in the reticle. The array widens as the hold over increases. If you dial for elevation and hold for wind, at longer ranges your wind dots are going to be at the bottom of your reticle which could put them below the target even.

Again, I am not saying it is something you would want to completely rely on, but it is possibly an option especially on stages where you are going from one distance to another on the same stage and time is a factor.

Just a thought to provoke conversation.

[Jeff M]

Why not utilize it?

I used to have a supercharged convertible.  It made over 440HP at the tire, and would do 0-60 in quite a small amount of time.  The top speed was also somewhere above 124mph.

Does that mean I drove it as fast as I could from red light to red light?  Or got on the highway and drove 150mph?

Just because something *can* do something doesn't mean you SHOULD do the thing.  If you attempted to hold over 30moa, what kind of windage would you have left?  I'm betting not much, since it would get cut off by the sides of the view as you zoom in.  In fact, if your reticle is anything like the one in my gen2 Razor, as you zoom in, you eventually begin to cut both elevation AND windage out of view.

The best way to utilize your equipment is the way that gets you the most points.  I've seen lots of crazy stuff, from Jim See wedging a bipod between his grip and his bottom metal to get a more stable position on barricades, to guys using 36" bipod on the front and a ladder rung for rear support.  I've seen people stand on props they had to drag from shooting position to shooting position.

Dont do it because you can, do it because it will get you points.  Just get the points.  Whatever the thing is, do the thing.

[MONEY]

I shoot off the reticle in entire matches and in others I dial coordinates. It all depends on the situation.

Tremor 3 with the vector based wind dots, h59 with the simple grid, or intelligently using something like a David Tubb reticle or a Nightforce Velocity 1000 and understanding the day to day limitations is viable in competitions  but it takes someone with acumen, versatility, and little bit of calm under pressure.  Most will do whatever others are doing and that works great.

I personally believe in being very versatile, very vast when it is needed, and precise as possible when the constraints allow.

Also I know the new Tubb Reticles go to at least 1300 yds which outruns most PRS contraints. Is it ideal for everything? Nope. Is it awesome for a lot of stuff. Yes. You sure as shit can dial advanced reticles just like other 9/10 guys on the line.

I've drawn a few reticles in photoshop that I plan to have etched in custom optics but I need to come into some more money. It is a process and takes $$$$$. The oil field is rough atm though.

[29aholic]

I should have mentioned previously. This is probably a lot more viable with a SFP scope.

[Kirk.PRM]

I like to dial my elevation and hold windage then will use the reticle to make faster corrections at distance. Closer shots, say 100-400 I will straight hold over with reticle.


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[kmose73]

I should have mentioned previously. This is probably a lot more viable with a SFP scope.

Are you saying it would work better w/ 2nd focal plane? Because I would absolutely (and respectfully) disagree w/ you on that. I would say it would be nearly impossible without first focal plane unless you are on max magnification which doesn't work real well in mirage.


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[29aholic]

I should have mentioned previously. This is probably a lot more viable with a SFP scope.

Are you saying it would work better w/ 2nd focal plane? Because I would absolutely (and respectfully) disagree w/ you on that. I would say it would be nearly impossible without first focal plane unless you are on max magnification which doesn't work real well in mirage.


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I still get confused by focal planes. My scope the reticle does not change with the power. I believe the increments are set to be on max power, which could be an issue with mirage.

[kmose73]

Gotcha, so you have SFP and you are correct that would be an issue if using the reticle on anything other than max power. That said the same goes for wind holds if you are dialing elevation and holding wind.


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[Alpine]

I have used the reticles in my scopes for hold overs in matches that have very strict time limits.  It works pretty well under time constraints.  However, I usually dial elevation and hold wind.  The only time I dial wind is on a moving target.

I have also been in matches that require targets to be ranged, and often those targets are in locations where it is difficult and unreliable to use a laser range finder, so I use my reticle to range targets if they are of a known size.  Obviously, the longer distance targets are harder to get accurate range data as errors incease as distance is increased.

Also, be aware that unless you have a high quality scope, with minimal edge to edge distortion, that the further you move from the center of your optical view as an aiming point, the more errors are induced by distortion and parallax, thus causing missed shots.