Horus reticle, Good, Bad, Ugly

szeitner

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Joined
Dec 19, 2011
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174
Location
Miles City, Montana
I've been shooting thru a Horus for some time now, but read very little on it other than from the SOF community. Who shoots it, who doesn't , why do you like it, or why don't you. Do you shoot the H-425, H-25, H-59? A Horus scope, Bushnell, NightForce, Schmidt and Bender, Leupold ? Just curious....
 
I've been shooting thru a Horus for some time now, but read very little on it other than from the SOF community. Who shoots it, who doesn't , why do you like it, or why don't you. Do you shoot the H-425, H-25, H-59? A Horus scope, Bushnell, NightForce, Schmidt and Bender, Leupold ? Just curious....

I use them, I have a HAWK on my 300wsm which is my primary rifle, just got a bushnell with the H59 have not updated my thread yet, nor zeroed the optic. I personally love them and sold my other mil/mil optic to get another horus. The H59 is a big upgrade over the Hawk as the lines are much thinner.
 
I use a Bushnell 3.5-21x50 with a Horus reticle for ballistic testing. A Horus reticle is essential for the type of testing I do. I would not use a Horus reticle for hunting, however. I think it's too large and busy, and makes it difficult to spot hits in anything but dry, dusty terrain.

I like the concept, though. Another reticle that is mil-based, has useful holdoff marks and obscures less of the target is the Swarovski BRX/BRH. I plan to use a Z5 3-18x44 with the BRH reticle this deer season.
 
That's why I'm testing each reticle pattern, to provide some input to Horus. That is exactly what I would like to hear. I do use mine much more for hunting than I do target shooting. I have a Hawk with the H-425 reticle, and have shot a lot thru the Bushnell HDMR with the H-59. There are some changes to the reticles that have been already implemented, such as thinner lines, and the offering of different recticles so you don't get the grid taking up the entire area of the lens on your target.
 
Not only do I use a Horus reticle, I use it on a Horus Vision riflescope. I own a Horus Falcon which in my opinion is a superior rifle scope. Designed to be used with a Horus reticle, the elevation and windage turrets are capped. This sets some traditionalist knob twisters off into a dither I've discovered.

I use the H-37 reticle on my 300WM. It is my primary weapon system and I use it for long range, 800m-1600m, shooting. I shoot target, steel, and large animal. I use 190gr - 215gr Berger hybrids and VLDs as well as 208gr AMAXs and 220gr Sierra MK.

What I like about using a Horus reticle is that once I establish a zero for a particular ammunition and record it in my ballistic computer, then all I have to do thereafter is confirm zero and hold. The H-37 is very convenient to use when I change to another load. Just apply the dope in the ballistic computer, fire a trueing round, and then use the holds provided.

Prior to using the H-37 I evaluated the H-58 / 59 on several 7.62 (.308) and .300WM systems. In order to use these systems 'at range' required an inclined rail. I decided to go with a flat picatinny rail and utilize Burris Signature Zee rings with the 0.010 inserts. I calculated if a ring spacing of 9 slots (3.54 inches) is used then a gain of 19.3 MOA is achieved. The H-37 reticle provides an internal 4 mil offset (13.7 MOA). My gain in the scope is 33 MOA or 9.5 mil. Using this set up I will (should) never have to touch a turret unless rezeroing again.

I 'grew up' on regular Mildot reticles and mil systems in the Army. Using one was second nature. When I first looked into a scope with the H-58 I thought "OMG, how can you see a **** thing thru all this crap" After training on and using the Horus reticle system, I now never see the reticle unless I am actually looking at it. The reticle is glass etched, fine but not so fine as to get lost in visually challenging foregrounds and backgrounds. My system is illuminated and can be used with night vision systems.
It's a great system and I'll never use a regular mildot reticle on my systems again.

The only Horus reticle that I have to 'think' with is the TReMoR system, but that is because I have only used it twice. I can see a definite advantage to the reticle system with the calculated wind and mover holds on the reticle itself. But like using all Horus reticles you have to use them to become proficient with them. To me, this is not an issue.

I find that most folks who have not used a Horus reticle are reluctant to use them because they don't want to step outside their comfort zones. A regular mildot scope is relatively easy to learn and use, is uncluttered, and works well enough. But they take time to put into battery when using holds for wind or holding 'in space'. Follow up shots are difficult as well as there is not a means of accurately obtaining a corrective hold in the reticle itself. Dial ups take time and require taking your eye out of the scope to focus on the turret. This is never an issue with a Horus reticle. Everything is right there for you to use. It only takes a few hours of training and repetition. That means range time.. never a problem! :D

I highly recommend both the Horus Vision riflescopes, particularly the steel tubed Horus Falcon, and Horus reticles for any shooter who is intent on improving his 'game'. Invest the time and you will never look back... only 'downrange'!

Hope this helped...

Animo et Fide "Courage and Faith"

DocB
 
I have a Hawk with the H-425 reticle, and Horus just sent up a 5-20x50 Falcon with the H-59 pattern, and a 4-16x50 Raptor with the H-25 reticle. The Falcon will go on my Rem 700 22-250 and the Raptor will go on another rifle as soon as I get another set of 30mm rings from LaRue.
 
What kind of shooting are you doing? Paper targets, competition, hunting, etc.? At what range?


I shoot primarily in the hunting aspect, generally in the 300-600 yard range, but depending on game and rifle, and caliber choice, I would shoot much further. I do some targets, I have access to a 1000 yard range about a mile up the hill, and a friend has a range setup with towable targets that I can shoot in excess of 1 mile.

I do a lot of prairie dog shooting at longer ranges, coyotes, you name it. That is with a 22-250 with the Falcon and the H-59 reticle. I also use this gun for antelope and deer as long as I can get a decent head or neck shot.

I have a Savage 110 30-06 that I use for deer and elk. I would have no issues at all at taking an elk or deer at the 800 yd range, and could shoot further, just don't feel that there is enough energy at much longer distances to make a humane kill. IF I owned a 300WM or something along those lines, I would feel much more comfortable taking the longer shots on game. My longest shot last year was a 405 yd head shot on a mule deer.
 
Do you usually have a spotter or do you spot your own shots? Are you having any difficulty spotting shots at long range (>500 yds) with Horus reticles?

Recently I've been shooting mostly at about 900 yds and find that the reticle can completely obscure the impact unless there is a dust cloud. I have spotter (sometimes two) watching through a conventional scope with no reticle. Granted, sometimes they can't see the impacts either. I miss more impacts than they do, though.
 
Do you usually have a spotter or do you spot your own shots? Are you having any difficulty spotting shots at long range (>500 yds) with Horus reticles?

Recently I've been shooting mostly at about 900 yds and find that the reticle can completely obscure the impact unless there is a dust cloud. I have spotter (sometimes two) watching through a conventional scope with no reticle. Granted, sometimes they can't see the impacts either. I miss more impacts than they do, though.


I hunt Montana...it's always dusty , lol.....

On occasion I have a spotter when I'm shooting extreme long range, but there are mounds at the 1000yd range that make it easy. Are you shooting a Horus? One nice thing about a Horus, is that if you do see the dust, you can compensate back right off the grid on the scope.

After shooting as long as I have, I can also look for the golden bb at times if the sun is right...
 
In talking with one of the guys at Horus the other night, he mentioned they were going to thin the lines down on a few reticle patterns to it wasn't too cluttered. I'll ask him again, and see what they're doing and get back to you, send me a pm with an email and I'll try to get some answers.
 
Love the HV system, but only have 2 Predators now one of which is on this Picuda 22 that I can reference 600 yds. with. In fact mom just nailed a coffee can at 600 yds. last week using this setup 140 MOA 70 reticle/70 turret (maximized with shimmed Burris Sig. Zee's)--



The other Pred. will be going on an XP-100 17 VHA that's in the works now as a prairie dogger.

IMO, what i'd like to see is a HV reticle in a couple cheaper low-power and higher-power optics that some may use on a low-recoiler like say a 3-9X Nikon ProStaff or maybe the 6-18 Nikon Buckmasters or something similar. Maybe a shorter reticle pattern that goes down to 50 MOA or so--2nd FP. At least then some may get exposed to the HV system without having to put up big bucks before they know what all the hoopla's about.

As a dyed-in-the-wool long-range coyote shooter i'd also like to see the 1-8X Blackbird come back too. Think that'd make for a great 600-800ish predator scope on a lighter carrying rifle--especially an AR platform.

I think they use the same factory that Hakko uses, as my 6-24x Hakko looks a lot like the Predator.
 
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