New Horus reticles v.s. mil dot and BDC reticles

[Litehiker]

I have an older 30 mm tubed Burris Black Diamond 2nd focal plane scope with a Mil Dot reticle that I have used with both a Mil Dot Master slide rule and a laser rangefinder (LRF). The rings are Burris with non-centric plastic sleeves to raise the rear of the scope and lower the front. I got about a 10 MOA vertical adjustment advantage with that setup. Wind hold was ALWAYS a problem of trying to align on the horizontal stadia while holding several mils below it.
My longest shots with that scope were over 800 meters on groundhogs in Pennsylvania with a .300 Win. mag. A-Bolt. 50% was about my success rate.
And yeah, you guessed it, this baby has MOA turrets. Worst of both worlds, 2nd focal plane and MOA adjustments with mil dot reticle. But, as I said, it is an "older" scope, 20 years older.

Recently I've begun shooitng my Rem. actioned .300 Win. mag. HS Precision rifle at 1,000 meters and more but I've availed myself of the new Horus H 59 reticle. Mine is on Bushnell's ERS 3.5 -21 X 50mm 1st focal plane scope. I have found this reticle is FAR better for hold-over with windage because now my Xmas tree shaped reticle can sit ON the target for wind hold. No more estimating windage hold with say, a 3.5 mil hold-over.

My ERS scope rides in a Nightforce 20 MOA Unimount on a 20 MOA LaRue rail and this combo is great for not using up all of my vertical turret adjustmment.

Better yet, if I miss the 1st shot (and see on the reticle where the miss landed) my second shot almost always hits when I move the miss hash marks on the target.

Granted, my Burris mil dot reticle ain't exactly a BDC reticle but I knew my trajectory and my mil holds were taped to the stock, making it the same as a BDC reticle.

My point is (yes, I have one) that when shooting at extreme long ranges (over 800 meters/yards) a TreMor or H 59 type reticle is a lot better than older style reticles, even mil dot reticles. Now Zeiss (I think) is using a similar reticle but with dots instead of hash marks, so as not to infringe on Horus patents. The military knows these reticles are better too and have begun the change. These new reticles also mean far less turret cranking which is a good thing for turret mechanisms and for fast target acquisition.

With my 1Mile ARC 10X LRF/ballistic matched binoculars and this reticle all I have to worry about is wind - which is still a lot to worry about. So maybe Santa will bring me a Horus/Kestrel 4500 weather/ballistic station for a complete firing solution. (Santa? Santa Baby? You there?)

 

[Bravo 4]

My point is (yes, I have one) that when shooting at extreme long ranges (over 800 meters/yards) a TreMor or H 59 type reticle is a lot better than older style reticles, even mil dot reticles.

You said a mouth full...and then you said this. just kidding.

While I'm a mil/mil FFP kind of guy, I don't think that it's a cure all and for everybody and every situation. I have experience with the Horus, but it never stuck and I prefer to turn turrets for elevation corrections at longer ranges (usually dial in a spin drift correction, but hold off for wind).
I have used about every combination there is pertaining to moa, mil, turrets and reticles. Point is; whether holding over or dialing, know how to use your equipment.
Glad you found a system that works for you.

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

I have been very happy with mine as well but it's not everyone's cup of tea that's for sure.

 

[ivo]

The complaint with the Horus(or at least most of them) is that they look too "busy". I have looked through them but never spent any significant time behind one. Having said that, it's tough to argue that having your sight picture "graphed out" in front of you wouldn't make it easier to acquire a point of aim. Years ago I used to just hold over for everything but now dial for elevation and hold over for wind. I guess its just what works for you in the environment where you use it.

 

[Litehiker]

I too was very leery of getting a scope with the H 59 reticle because it looked like it would obscure the sight picture and also be too difficult to learn.

Boy was I wrong. Using this reticle is very easy. Once you have the range and know your ballistics (or have them figured out electronically, like my Bushnell 1 Mile ARC binos do) you need to know your spin drift and wind horizontal hold.

All that windage info/distances can be taped to your stock. My ballistics are in my LRF binos so I only worry about windage.

Yeah, my Bushnell ERS riflescope has both ranging lock and zero lock turrets but I prefer the H 59 reticle for most situations. I DO "zero lock" my rifle at 300 meters. That zero distance also goes into my 1Mile ARC LRF binoculars so it makes the correct vertical hold readout.

Morale of my particular story:
"Prior ranging setup is very important before you go into the field."