First focal plain vs second focal plain

[Shootin4fun]

But seriously, many if not most FFP scopes have illuminated reticles so loosing them at low mag is easy to overcome.
I have both. I prefer FFP but they are heavier than the same scope in SFP. To me that is a big consideration. I'm torn between the 2 for my next scope purchase. All my rifles have sporter barrels for hunting weight.

 

[6MM06AI]

Iv'e always liked the SFP, but I mostly hunt coyotes to elk. my hunting rifles are mostly zeroed at 250yds so it's point and shoot to 300. Anything longer than that I'll use my range finder and just dial it in. The FFP's that Iv'e looked through at low power would be hard to see in low light, but they were not lighted reticles, the other thing about the FFP is if your shooting groups at a 100 yds on full power the cross hair is too big to see the lines on the target. But what it boils down to is just use what your comfortable with!

 

[dolomite_supafly]

It depends on what I am doing.

My 1-6 is a SFP scope. It has a BDC reticle that is only correct at 6x. But at 1x the BDC, because it doesn't shrink, works like a red dot.

I use the lower powers of my FFP scopes for scanning/observing. When I get ready to shoot I crank it up until the reticle is big enough.

 

[Don A Parsons]

That is the reason why alot of shooters choose FFP opitcs... there is no extra math needed when things are moving fast...

A SFP optic fooled me once, so I upped my game plan and haven't looked back...

I run the simple Tree line retical,,, that way its not to confusing in the eye peace... simple is good in my books,,, that and none of the math crap... Ha..

Cheers from the North

 

[KY_Windage]

Iv'e always liked the SFP, but I mostly hunt coyotes to elk. my hunting rifles are mostly zeroed at 250yds so it's point and shoot to 300. Anything longer than that I'll use my range finder and just dial it in.

Yup, exactly. If it is a long enough shot for me to have to worry about correcting, I am going to RF it, then look at my card (taped to my stock) for the amount of correction needed for that distance. That is the same whether you are shooting FFP or SFP.

Then I reach up and dial what my card said. Takes about 3 seconds. RF'ing and checking the card took 20 - 30 seconds, so the 3 - 5 seconds to dial is not a big deal.

Now I just have to put the + on the heart. I don't have to remember whether i need to be holding 5 or 7 hashmarks over, and trying to count hashmarks down to the right one, and then not losIng the count while preparing to take the shot.

The FFP guy has to keep counting hashmarks to be sure he is on the right one. No thanks.

IF there is more wind than I want to "Kentucky," I merely need to crank my scope up to max power, then my windage hashmarks are correct, and I will use them, rather than dialing windage. If the animal is far enough away that I have to be worrying about how many MOA to hold over him, using the scope at max power is not a problem. Or I can just leave my scope at half of synched power -- if my scope is correct at 22 power, I can just leave it at 11 and know to double whatever my reticle shows, i. e., if I want to hold over 4 moa, I use the 2 moa mark.

I dislike trying to scan for game with my scope on low power with an FFP scope. It creates a little ball of mess right in the middle of my picture. My SFP stays big and spread out, and out of the way. Everybody talks about the difficulty of seeing the FFP reticle at low power, but that doesn't bother me. It is the mess in the middle when I am searching for game at low power than bugs me.

FFP is great for the PRS games but that's it, as far as I'm concerned. HOWEVER, whatever floats your boat.

 

[FEENIX]

Yup, exactly. If it is a long enough shot for me to have to worry about correcting, I am going to RF it, then look at my card (taped to my stock) for the amount of correction needed for that distance. That is the same whether you are shooting FFP or SFP.

Then I reach up and dial what my card said. Takes about 3 seconds. RF'ing and checking the card took 20 - 30 seconds, so the 3 - 5 seconds to dial is not a big deal.

Now I just have to put the + on the heart. I don't have to remember whether i need to be holding 5 or 7 hashmarks over, and trying to count hashmarks down to the right one, and then not losIng the count while preparing to take the shot.

The FFP guy has to keep counting hashmarks to be sure he is on the right one. No thanks.

IF there is more wind than I want to "Kentucky," I merely need to crank my scope up to max power, then my windage hashmarks are correct, and I will use them, rather than dialing windage. If the animal is far enough away that I have to be worrying about how many MOA to hold over him, using the scope at max power is not a problem. Or I can just leave my scope at half of synched power -- if my scope is correct at 22 power, I can just leave it at 11 and know to double whatever my reticle shows, i. e., if I want to hold over 4 moa, I use the 2 moa mark.

I dislike trying to scan for game with my scope on low power with an FFP scope. It creates a little ball of mess right in the middle of my picture. My SFP stays big and spread out, and out of the way. Everybody talks about the difficulty of seeing the FFP reticle at low power, but that doesn't bother me. It is the mess in the middle when I am searching for game at low power than bugs me.

FFP is great for the PRS games but that's it, as far as I'm concerned. HOWEVER, whatever floats your boat.

As you noted, SFP or FFP I have still carry a cheat sheet or look into my ballistic apps.

I ranged a coyote at 525 yards, used the 3rd reticle (527 yards).

(Scope: 4-20 Burris Veracity, picture is from Strelok Pro apps)

Sent a 175 Matrix VLD propelled at 2993 FPS out of the muzzle off my .270 AI and the result is below ...

Cheers!

 

[ButterBean]

If you are using this for hunting an FFP on low power will serve you no purpose as until you power past 8x you'll not be able (on most reticles) to see the details on the reticle

SFP the reticle size does not vary with power changes
[/QUO

I'm a FFP shooter and have been for years and other than the obvious here is why i personally prefer FFP for hunting, In low light situations i dial the magnification all the way down and the retical follows accordingly, Now I can aim using only the heavy vertical and horizontal Crosshair subtensions ( Basically making it a German #4 ) IMO you cant miss as long as I your my part, this is not an idea as I have done this more than a few times

 

[floyd kittrell]

I have both , the FFP is 7-35 ATACR MOA on a new rebuild that I am searching for loads and will not get to hunt with this year . My other 2 hunting rigs have SFP 5-25 ATACR MOA . The reason I bought the FFP was due to not having to dial to top magnification to range off the scope , which is something I have just started doing . I normally set my scopes at or around 8 power an hour or so before dark for optimum light gathering and am just to old to try to remember or too lazy to learn and keep up with the math to shoot the reticle at different power setting which supposedly you do not have to be concerned with . I learned this exact lesson in December hunting in Oklahoma when I under shot a coyote at 540 yds , I should have dialed but did not and had the scope already set at 8 power , it will be a learning curve and as others have said , if I do not like the FFP , i'll sell it and go back to SFP exclusively . I'm at novice at shooting of the MOA reticle, so if I miss said anything please correct me , I like constructive correction it is how we learn.

 

[Horse1]

For those who've made the switch from SFP to FFP, how long did it take for you to feel comfortable and proficient with the change/view? I have a reasonable understanding of sub tensions and make use of them both @ calibrated powers as well as doubling or halfing as available and as necessary given a scope's capabilities.

 

[ButterBean]

For those who've made the switch from SFP to FFP, how long did it take for you to feel comfortable and proficient with the change/view? I have a reasonable understanding of sub tensions and make use of them both @ calibrated powers as well as doubling or halfing as available and as necessary given a scope's capabilities.

Not Long

 

[FTRshooter]

I thought the lowest, and highest power are accurate. Is that correct? while the in between powers are not accurate.

No, that is not correct.

In an SFP, a reticle with subtension marks will have these marks represent something at specific magnifications. Well, to be exact they represent something specific at ALL magnifications, it's just that the relation changes for all magnification and it's difficult to remember them all.

So, I will speak about my SFP scope that I use for competition. This March-X 5-50X56 has an MTR-5 reticle with hash marks on the horizontal and bottom vertical lines that represent 4MOA @ 5X, 2MOA @ 10X, 1MOA @ 20X, 0.5MOA at 40X and 0.4MOA at 50X.

Of course, intermediate magnifications make the subtensions on the reticle mean intermediate values, such as 1.33MOA @ 15X.

So I, being an older geezer, usually stick with one magnification, 40X, so that the reticle has a consistent meaning.

 

[KY_Windage]

I have both , the FFP is 7-35 ATACR MOA on a new rebuild that I am searching for loads and will not get to hunt with this year . My other 2 hunting rigs have SFP 5-25 ATACR MOA . The reason I bought the FFP was due to not having to dial to top magnification to range off the scope . . .

I learned this exact lesson in December hunting in Oklahoma when I under shot a coyote at 540 yds , I should have dialed but did not and had the scope already set at 8 power , it will be a learning curve and as others have said , if I do not like the FFP , i'll sell it and go back to SFP exclusively . I'm at novice at shooting of the MOA reticle, so if I miss said anything please correct me , I like constructive correction it is how we learn.

You're doing fine but I would say the "lesson" to learn on your 540-yard shot was to always dial your elevation. With those wonderful turrets on ATACR's it takes only a couple of seconds, then I don't have to keep checking to see if I am using the right hashmark (and it is so easy to use the wrong one when you are rushed or excited..

For me to take a 500-yard shot with my 204 requires 7 MOA up, and my 7mm-08 requires 11 MOA up. There is no way I'm NOT going to dial those.

And that's esp. true when I'm shooting in wind. I almost never dial wind because it is almost always too variable. But trying to hold 7 or 11 MOA up, and a variable 3, 4, 5 etc. of left for the wind, even with Christmas-tree reticle, is a prescription for disaster for me.

Now, the advantage the FFP has is that you can dial the elevation and have your windage hashmarks correct no matter what power you are on. I will certainly give you that, but I just do not find that an advantage often enough to put up with the "mess in the middle" when I am scanning at low power, which I often do a lot of. And I say that as someone who spends many hours every year shooting varmints in the wind, often a lot of wind.

 

[FEENIX]

Not Long

Ditto!

 

[MOOSE39465]

I bought a scope with FFP and never could get use to it. Reticle size constantly changing size and at higher powers the reticle was to thick so I went back to SFP. I try not to get a big powered scope so I'm not trying to shoot 300 yards with a 30 powered scope.