Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Scope reticle magnification

Now we're getting somewhere !

A BDC on a SFP scope is typically only “accurate” at max power so I suppose ultimately that’s your answer.

The Reticle on a 2nd FP always stays the same for the shooters eye.

Nice and bold at low power and very precise at high power.

It's the reticle that God and Baby Jesus would use.

Quit sinning, go SFP.

10 years? Haha. At least 20. This is the most antiquated forum on the internet. Pretty sure Fred Flintstone uses it too. The photo and search functions barely work at all. It’s all been brought up ad nauseum. The powers that be obviously don’t care.

To the OP’s question, for me it is 6x. I love my Zeiss 1.5-6x42 as a woods scope because the first focal plane reticle is sized perfectly with heavy side bars and a narrow center that works well at my woods hunting ranges. My western rifle has a Swarovski 2.5-10x42 and that first focal plane reticle is looking pretty large at 10x even though it covers the same amount at all variable settings though I don’t remember using 10x to shoot an animal.

Now to my varmint and rimfire variables… Because the animals and targets are smaller, those rifles get the higher magnification and second focal plane variable scopes. Works well for me.

I have lost the crosshair in a 2.5-8x36 Leupold second focal plane scope at first light on an over cast morning shooting a deer under an evergreen canopy. My back up rifle has a 1.5-5x20 with the heavy duplex for a woods scope and that works well too.

the physical reticle size used is a function of the variable scope erector range magnification. Fixed powers being the easiest. Also the size is determined by the type of reticle. The more information (grids) the more difficult.
these variables are affected mostly by the price range. so the magnification of the reticle will be different for SFP 3 x 9 scope versus 2 x25. the composition of the reticle also comes into play. etching, vs. wire., projected etc.
FFP usually cost more because the erector assembly costs more.
Usually in SFP scopes the reticle has its optical center at the max. magnification power. However the magnification relationship is linear with the adjustment. EX. a 3 x 12 has a range of 12-3=9 powers. 1/2 of this is 4.5 Assume you have a reticle with 2 Moa grids and sighted for 100 yds at highest power now go to 7.5 power. the 2 Moa mark is now 4 moa. and you can verify this by watching the reticle drop below the target as you rotate the power. This causes the lowering of the muzzle so when you do use the grid mark it raises to 4 Moa and shoots high. Obviously this is too much BS for the average hunter. so they just dial in the difference and stay on the highest power, which isn't always good because most scopes have most distortion on the highest power.

FFP just magnifies the reticle to compensate for the magnification increase. You've probably read that a 1000 times, not true actually. the ratio of the reticle size to the target size stays the same. so in relation it does not magnify the image. Its an eye trick

Thank you for the insight and thoughtful reply.

What does that Zeiss FFP reticle look like at 1.5 power and how useful is it ?

What color is the taste of good whiskey?

Now we're cooking !
That was the answer I was looking for . It might be useless information but my inquiring mind wanted to know.

Thank you sir .

Depends

What does a Zeiss FFP reticle look like at 1.5x and how useful is it?
To be honest that is lower on the variable range than I’ll typically use. 2x is what I’ll dial down to when I’m walking in the woods because it gives some magnification along with a huge fov. That Euro reticle is a #8 if I remember and the side, top and bottom heavier outside cross hair sections bracket the center thinner crosshair sections such that just centering between those heavy sections hits the center.

That 1.5-6x42 is on my woods rifle which I think is ideal for a sitting in a stand combination. Last year’s buck was a good example. The scope was set at 3x for a possible close shot. The deer showed up about a hundred yards out and I turned it to 4x. When he went down I turned it to 6x to watch for any movement. I’m sure if I’d had a scope with more than 6x I would have dialed it up and lost fov if I had to shoot again.

In very low light, there is no missing a FFP reticle. It is an optical illusion, but to my eyes in VERY low light, my minds eye fills in the thinner center crosshair section with the thicker outer crosshair diameter. I’ve not seen that stated anywhere and I’m reluctant to write it here, but it happens to my eyes with my FFP scopes.

Nice post. I found the ending quite humorous.

Just the same, I'll keep using FFP's and deal with any theological implications.

Still have a few different SFP's and have had good success with them; however, for all around big game use I like a LRHS or "doughnut or diamond of death" style FFP. You get a dot for fast aim at low X and unchanging subtensions for whatever higher X fits a given situation.

Might add this for original posters question

SFP with ballistic reticles are not evenly spaced. the distance or Moa increases as you go down the grid to account for drop. Basically cartridges are slow, medium and fast , and certain groups across a range of calibers will shoot to the same point of impact
as an example the hold over say on the second reticle may work at 200 yds for a variety of cartridges
Scope makers had programs on the internet allowing the input of your cartridge information which would correlate with the hold overs distances on the reticle. by placing the top of the target below the main reticle and the bottom of the target at the first grid one can determine the distance
.on FFP this is much easier and just involves a little math.

My point is that in order to make these measurements the size and magnification of the reticle in both cases is very critical. and is dependent on the range of the magnifications.

with the advent of laser range finders, shooters found it easier to just dial the drop,

Close. SFP scope has a constant reticle magnification of one and a target image of whatever power the magnification ring is set on

I don't know, but does it smell as good as it looks?

In a riflescope there are essentially two points where riflescope makers position the reticle. The first focal plane is located at the front of the erector tube usually somewhere around where the turrets are located. This image comes directly from the objective lens and it's of course inverted and left to right. The image then goes through the erector lenses to reverse them, so you don't have to stad on your head to look through a riflescope, and the zoom lenses or some combination of these lenses and the image is formed at the rear of the erector tube, at the place called the second focal place (or sometimes the rear focal plane). The eyepiece is then used to transmit this image to your eye.

Whichever place you have the reticle located. the purpose is to merge the image of the target with the reticle in the same focal plane. If the reticle is in the first focal plane, the merged image of the target and the reticle will be subjected to whatever occurs in the erector tube. The image will be flipped, and it can be zoomed in and out (change in magnification). Therefore, the FFP reticle will magnify and minimize along with the remainder of the image at the first focal place. If the reticle is in the second focal plane (all SFP scopes and fixed power scopes,) the image of the reticle will be merged with whatever image comes out of the erector tube. But since all the zooming and flipping will have already be done, the reticle in the SFP will be merged with the final image. so to speak and the reticle will not change in size, ever.

There is also the case of dual reticle riflescopes, with one aspect of the reticle being located in the second focal plane and thus unchanging, while the other aspect of the reticle being located in the second focal plane and thus being subject to the zooming effect of the erector tube. These reticles are amazing to use, and they are rare as they are incredibly difficult to assemble.

There are two types of reticles; wire and etched. The wired reticles, sometimes with center dots, are just that, very thin wire in a circle, usually located at the SFP. They used to be hair at some point in the past, hence the term crosshairs. The etched reticles are etched on a piece of glass, which is then located at the FFP or SFP, and in some cases, both locations. These etched reticles can be quite complex and useful at either location.

Great summary thanks.

From a personal point, and doing a lot of long range precision rifle, I like higher range of magnification, either SFP or FFP so I can turn the power down, and get less distortion, at the edges, also helps with mirage more which is a big problem in the west Utah desert.

I agree with that. As my screen name implies, I am a F-class shooter and spend my time at 1000-yard competitions. I use SFP scopes exclusively in that discipline, my current one is the March-X 10-60X56 HM which I use at 50X all the time, regardless of conditions. The Super ED glass is more resistant to the IQ degradation caused by mirage. I shoot all over the country with that setup, always at 50X. I am now waiting for the next iteration of this optic, the March-X 8-80X56 HM with the F-class reticle designed to be used at 40X and 80X.

60-80 that is high power ,

Mine are more like IPSC 3 gun, and movement and barricade long range at 25x, as well as AR 3gun at 1x - IPSC steel at 1000
Zeiss
Nightforce
Vortex

Should add that its multiple target engagement at variable ranges.

I also use the lower powers to increase the depth of field, and dial with both to keep optical center of the scope.

Also notice mirage is less with the Zeiss, and florite lenses