About to get one of these with the MOAR reticle. Which is more useful on this scope, side focus or the illuminated reticle?

I think I’d prefer the side focus. (It is discontinued, but I have located one). I don’t have illumination on any other hunting scopes and don’t feel like I’m missing anything when hunting in the woods. However, most of them have less busy reticles than the MOAR.

What say you?

I have two with illumination and one with the parallax adjustment. I bought the side focus one specifically for a 22, if not for that I’d stick with the illumination.

I've owned multiple of them both ways. I'd take lit for big game hands down. For a rimfire or air rifle maybe not. I don't see parallax correction as a necessity for field shots at big game with a scope that tops out at 10x or so.

With the MOAR you want lit. It’s pretty thin in low light.

I'd agree with this assessment. If it's for big game and conditions might be dim, the lit MOAR is the way to go.

That being stated, I can pass along that while the MOAR in the SHV 3-10 does look thin and like it wouldn't stand out enough, I've never had an instance in which I couldn't use it without being lit. I'd say the same about other NF's I have and have used.

I think it depends on the conditions where you hunt. In western Washington, I'd take illumination over side focus every time.


Okie John

I have both the SHV 3-10 with the Plex with parallax adjustment and illuminated MOAR. I thought the MOAR might be too thin based on reviews, but I don't find it bad at all. Completely usable for hunting and the illumination makes it that much better. Planning on using it this year without worry.

Appreciate the feedback. I wish I could find one local to look through to get a better feel for the reticle. I hunt some woods where it gets dark early, and some clear-cuts that are pretty wide open. Looking at pics, I thought it looked heavy enough that losing it early wouldn’t be much of an issue for me, even without illumination, thus my opinion on side focus being more beneficial. Most of the feedback seems to disagree with that.

I've owned both. I'll take the illum in a heartbeat. Rarely found myself using the parallax knob, yet I regularly use the illumination.

I have both. Feel there is equal value to both depending on the situation. With that said I’ve never been hunting and wished I had one over the other. If you are close to Southeastern Ohio you are welcome to try mine out.