Ernie
SPONSOR
Video links are at the bottom of the post.
No editing whatsoever has been done.
Over time I have evolved in my preference in scope reticles.
Even at that, I am talking about in this thread my favorite reticle for field shooting, tactical matches, and hunting.
If it is bench shooting and or pd's, then I have some different preferences (not going to mention that preference in this thread).
I went outside and took a quick pic.
Finally this reticle is available.
I have been pushing optic companies for about a 7 years to do something like this and now it is available, or within the month or less it will be available in 3 different brands of scopes (Leupold VX-3's and Mark 4, and NF NXS 3.5-15 in FFP only).
At the beginning it is only available with the S&B 4-16 PM II, but it will also be available in the 5-25 PM II (and I think the 3-12) as well in less than a month.
FYI- Holland's already has an all MIL reticle in the three brands of scopes mentioned.
Here is a pic of the Holland ART (Advanced Reticle Technology) MOA reticle:
There is a number of MOA reticles on the market in both second focal plane and first focal plane.
But with the exception of one company that I know of (Vortex, and maybe one more, but it only lists it every 10 MOA) all of them just have lines, dashes or dots (The MOA is NOT internally listed).
Most of the Ballistic reticle are the same, just lines.
I have watched a good number of shooters/hunters have missed their target or game because they lost count of the line/dot/dash and put it one the wrong one.
For guys that always use the main cross-hair, I have seen rotational errors or non-rotational errors (Forgot to turn the turrets).
Here is some reasons I really like this system best.
This particular scope is in First Focal Plane (FFP).
I don't have to worry about turning the scope up or having it at the right magnification for the reticle to have the proper subtension.
With a confirmed drop chart, all you have to do is shoot by the numbers. No more guess work or holdovers.
There is a line every 1.5 Minute-of-Angle (MOA), and the MOA is listed (etched glass reticle) every three MOA. All the way to 30 MOA.
You will notice that on each side of the vertical cross-hair the horizontal lines are different lengths.
The short ones are 2 MOA, and the long ones are 4 MOA with a line to show where 2 MOA is. Very rarely would you ever have to hold more than 4 MOA for wind (I have dialed a lot more than that before, but not the norm).
There are three ways you can use this reticle:
1st, simply use the reticle, and never touch a turret.
This is super fast for a tactical match or even in hunting.
If you know the distance and the wind, it is simply shooting by the numbers.
Having that reticle on a animal is very easy to use and quick.
No fiddling with your turrets wasting precious time and taking away your attention from the task at hand.
It is easy and quick to half 1.5 MOA, and even 1/4 it while looking through it.
2nd, reticle+dialing.
Here you will never dial more than 1.25 MOA. In this case you have the time to be completely precise.
Lets say you need 11.0 MOA for the distance you are shooting.
The line between the 9 & 12 MOA lines is half way between the two or 1.5 MOA different (10.5 MOA!).
You need 11.0 MOA, so you can just use your reticle, and separate it into 1/3's, and hold in the right place as mentioned in the first scenario.
Or you can hold on to the 10.5 MOA line and dial .5 MOA/1/2MOA or 2 clicks on most scope turrets.
In this scenario, you are always have your target on a line with no hold-offs.
3rd, just dial and use the turrets like you would with a dot plex reticle.
WIND:
You can also hold off for the wind using the reticle or you can dial-Here again you have the ability to do it two different ways.
Another great thing about this reticle is the ability to make quick shot correction when needed from either the main crosshair or other parts of the reticle.
Let say you are shooting at a piece of steel of unknown size at 450 yards. You did your best to dope the conditions but your shot was low and right.
With a Plex or dot reticle you don't have a way to accurately measure it, but with the ART Reticle, you can easily measure the correction you need to make for the next one to be a center hit.
Same with getting a gun zeroed, that has a new or different scope on it.
Think of your reticle as a yardstick that you can put up on the target and get the correct measurement.
Your reticle is like a yardstick and will have on the bull in a couple of shots.
Another asset using this reticle is that you don't have to worry about variance in turrets adjustments, since you are using a fixed system.
Above the main cross-hair the vertical line goes into even finer adjustments (1 MOA). Production will even have some finer enhancements.
This can be used for even finer corrections when using your scope to spot for someone else or making your own corrections.
It can also be used for reticle ranging. The finer the measurement the more accurate you can be in reticle ranging.
This is the reticle I used for doing initial drop confirmation out to 1K last week.
I used the reticle/dial combo to be precise. I didn't have my R/L (windage) turret zeroed and I was shooting to the right from the get go.
Also, I found out after the fact that my action screw was more loose than it should be. I re-tightened it and reconfirmed my 100 yard zero.
Should I have checked those things before-hand? YES! I make mistakes too like everyone else
Once I got to 1000 yards, I went back and then just ran the reticle from 200 yards out to 600 yards with no turrets whatsoever.
Here is the range with no zoom:
With zoom:
Specialty Pistol I was shooting: 6.5 Leopard (Pink Panther) Rem. XP-100 built by Mac's Gunworks, scope S&B PM II with ART Reticle from Holland's Shooting Supply.
I then write the correction on my drop chart after I make the shot, then go home and adjust MV and sometimes BC (multiple BC's/ degrading BC's until my drop chart matches my actual drops.
If you want to see the actual shooting, then here is the YouTube links.
It is not entertaining, but what I actually did.
I was by myself, so at times I couldn't see where I missed since the recoils moves me off of the target.
I could get back on the FOV to have a good idea most of the time though.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4kxcdGNI50]Drops #1 - YouTube[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAB-3X3THJY&feature=related]Drops #2 - YouTube[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JBX5x-pC-Y&NR=1]Drops #3 - YouTube[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7xtW8d4I2o&feature=related]Drops #4 - YouTube[/ame]
No editing whatsoever has been done.
Over time I have evolved in my preference in scope reticles.
Even at that, I am talking about in this thread my favorite reticle for field shooting, tactical matches, and hunting.
If it is bench shooting and or pd's, then I have some different preferences (not going to mention that preference in this thread).
I went outside and took a quick pic.
Finally this reticle is available.
I have been pushing optic companies for about a 7 years to do something like this and now it is available, or within the month or less it will be available in 3 different brands of scopes (Leupold VX-3's and Mark 4, and NF NXS 3.5-15 in FFP only).
At the beginning it is only available with the S&B 4-16 PM II, but it will also be available in the 5-25 PM II (and I think the 3-12) as well in less than a month.
FYI- Holland's already has an all MIL reticle in the three brands of scopes mentioned.
Here is a pic of the Holland ART (Advanced Reticle Technology) MOA reticle:
There is a number of MOA reticles on the market in both second focal plane and first focal plane.
But with the exception of one company that I know of (Vortex, and maybe one more, but it only lists it every 10 MOA) all of them just have lines, dashes or dots (The MOA is NOT internally listed).
Most of the Ballistic reticle are the same, just lines.
I have watched a good number of shooters/hunters have missed their target or game because they lost count of the line/dot/dash and put it one the wrong one.
For guys that always use the main cross-hair, I have seen rotational errors or non-rotational errors (Forgot to turn the turrets).
Here is some reasons I really like this system best.
This particular scope is in First Focal Plane (FFP).
I don't have to worry about turning the scope up or having it at the right magnification for the reticle to have the proper subtension.
With a confirmed drop chart, all you have to do is shoot by the numbers. No more guess work or holdovers.
There is a line every 1.5 Minute-of-Angle (MOA), and the MOA is listed (etched glass reticle) every three MOA. All the way to 30 MOA.
You will notice that on each side of the vertical cross-hair the horizontal lines are different lengths.
The short ones are 2 MOA, and the long ones are 4 MOA with a line to show where 2 MOA is. Very rarely would you ever have to hold more than 4 MOA for wind (I have dialed a lot more than that before, but not the norm).
There are three ways you can use this reticle:
1st, simply use the reticle, and never touch a turret.
This is super fast for a tactical match or even in hunting.
If you know the distance and the wind, it is simply shooting by the numbers.
Having that reticle on a animal is very easy to use and quick.
No fiddling with your turrets wasting precious time and taking away your attention from the task at hand.
It is easy and quick to half 1.5 MOA, and even 1/4 it while looking through it.
2nd, reticle+dialing.
Here you will never dial more than 1.25 MOA. In this case you have the time to be completely precise.
Lets say you need 11.0 MOA for the distance you are shooting.
The line between the 9 & 12 MOA lines is half way between the two or 1.5 MOA different (10.5 MOA!).
You need 11.0 MOA, so you can just use your reticle, and separate it into 1/3's, and hold in the right place as mentioned in the first scenario.
Or you can hold on to the 10.5 MOA line and dial .5 MOA/1/2MOA or 2 clicks on most scope turrets.
In this scenario, you are always have your target on a line with no hold-offs.
3rd, just dial and use the turrets like you would with a dot plex reticle.
WIND:
You can also hold off for the wind using the reticle or you can dial-Here again you have the ability to do it two different ways.
Another great thing about this reticle is the ability to make quick shot correction when needed from either the main crosshair or other parts of the reticle.
Let say you are shooting at a piece of steel of unknown size at 450 yards. You did your best to dope the conditions but your shot was low and right.
With a Plex or dot reticle you don't have a way to accurately measure it, but with the ART Reticle, you can easily measure the correction you need to make for the next one to be a center hit.
Same with getting a gun zeroed, that has a new or different scope on it.
Think of your reticle as a yardstick that you can put up on the target and get the correct measurement.
Your reticle is like a yardstick and will have on the bull in a couple of shots.
Another asset using this reticle is that you don't have to worry about variance in turrets adjustments, since you are using a fixed system.
Above the main cross-hair the vertical line goes into even finer adjustments (1 MOA). Production will even have some finer enhancements.
This can be used for even finer corrections when using your scope to spot for someone else or making your own corrections.
It can also be used for reticle ranging. The finer the measurement the more accurate you can be in reticle ranging.
This is the reticle I used for doing initial drop confirmation out to 1K last week.
I used the reticle/dial combo to be precise. I didn't have my R/L (windage) turret zeroed and I was shooting to the right from the get go.
Also, I found out after the fact that my action screw was more loose than it should be. I re-tightened it and reconfirmed my 100 yard zero.
Should I have checked those things before-hand? YES! I make mistakes too like everyone else
Once I got to 1000 yards, I went back and then just ran the reticle from 200 yards out to 600 yards with no turrets whatsoever.
Here is the range with no zoom:
With zoom:
Specialty Pistol I was shooting: 6.5 Leopard (Pink Panther) Rem. XP-100 built by Mac's Gunworks, scope S&B PM II with ART Reticle from Holland's Shooting Supply.
I then write the correction on my drop chart after I make the shot, then go home and adjust MV and sometimes BC (multiple BC's/ degrading BC's until my drop chart matches my actual drops.
If you want to see the actual shooting, then here is the YouTube links.
It is not entertaining, but what I actually did.
I was by myself, so at times I couldn't see where I missed since the recoils moves me off of the target.
I could get back on the FOV to have a good idea most of the time though.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4kxcdGNI50]Drops #1 - YouTube[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAB-3X3THJY&feature=related]Drops #2 - YouTube[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JBX5x-pC-Y&NR=1]Drops #3 - YouTube[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7xtW8d4I2o&feature=related]Drops #4 - YouTube[/ame]
