Another new FFP “hunting” scope that missed the mark

260madman

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Tract‘s new 2.5-15 reticle is the same crap as everyone else who releases a scope for long range hunting. We don’t need 10 Mils each direction of center for wind holds and we don’t need 9 Mils to hold under, very very few people are going to use the upper part of reticle to range. JTFC! Keep the bottom open to spot misses? Yeah I get that. And how thick is this reticle? No breakdown on the site for that.

C’mon guys. You asked what we wanted and then already had this. Kind of late on your end IMO. It’s akin to Burris reps saying the SCR2 reticle is great for hunting. Um, no. I don’t hunt wide open places. They are more like 10 yards to 700 yards surrounded by trees and adjacent property and I don’t want a thin reticle because I’m not a mag whore and want to see what the game does and where it goes. Our opinions are in the thread that Tract started.

Yes I’m ranting and have a migraine already (the first of many for today) so I’ll bow out for a while and come back with a clearer mind hopefully.
 

woods89

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Preach it!

What gets animals killed is fast, good enough shots with the ability to put a second shot downrange quickly in varying terrain, mostly inside 400 yards. And nobody, with a few exceptions, designs a reticle for that.
 

JGRaider

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Hunting optics never get me into a frenzy, or ruin my day, or occupy much more than a few minutes daily. Bottom line is some will love it, some hate it like the OP, and some won't care. Nothing new.
 

JFK

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Yeah I was awaiting these scopes release and was really hoping for something different. At 14” long, 28oz’s they are just too big/heavy. The MOA and MIL reticle isn’t horrible but I’m just not sure who is taking shots on game with these massive holds. Not me. Ultimately though it’s the size and weight. They already make a 3-15 1” scope that they could have put this reticle into and had a big improvement as the size/weight of that scope is in line with the competition. Putting a mil or MOA reticle in there 2-10 is what I was hoping for.
 
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260madman

260madman

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Hunting optics never get me into a frenzy, or ruin my day, or occupy much more than a few minutes daily. Bottom line is some will love it, some hate it like the OP, and some won't care. Nothing new.
Leica?
 
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Specs look fine, and if it’s reliable the weight is basically par, but that reticle is definitely disappointing.
 
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Hard to judge without looking through one, but the reticle does seem to be a bit of let down.

They should've took inspiration from the discontinued Bushnell LRHS/LRTS 3-12. Low pro turret. Nice overall size. Great reticles usable throughout the X range.

At 28 ounces, I'd just as soon carry an NF around.
 

amassi

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Is there a reticle diagram that someone can post-up? Hard to say whether or not the reticle is thin or thick without knowing........the thickness. A 0.06 mil thick reticle will be easily doable on low power. A 0.025 mil thick reticle will be completely unusable until about 8x.
Just this so far
175508a5203c72d201b2e1b62e7febae.jpg


Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk
 

Wrench

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To me in timber....that would suck. I agree that the functionality of the GH2 reticle is everything I need and nothing I don't.

Lack of bold posts reduces quick acquisition. Too much fine clutter annoys me in busy backgrounds.
 
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Tract did ask, but they never came back to the thread to say a thing, despite several questions being asked and many suggestions, so I doubt they are listening. But, I hope I am wrong. I also hope they donate a few scopes to go through Forms testing, but I am not holding my breath.
 
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I see a lot of reticles that look similar to this. Perhaps a lot of people like them? It could be usable for certain situations when hunting, and would do OK as a SFP, but it seems generic and not well suited as a hunting oriented FFP in a higher X range variable optic.

I agree that bold posts are nice. As mentioned, how many hunters need 9 mil of wind and 10 of hold over that doesn't have anything to reference for wind? Being that it is marketed as a hunting scope designed to dial on, they could've went with less on both horizontal and vertical and then filled in the difference with thicker lines. It'd still have references on the vertical to facilitate quick, non dialing shots in the mid ranges and plenty on the horizontal for wind when dialing, but it'd also have enough bold to show up well in thick timber on lower X. Something closer to the MQ or the S&B P3 would a better fit, IME.

I like doughnut FFP reticles because I like to preserve the ability to make quick shots at close game in thicker cover, but I understand that many don't care for them.
 
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Preach it!

What gets animals killed is fast, good enough shots with the ability to put a second shot downrange quickly in varying terrain, mostly inside 400 yards. And nobody, with a few exceptions, designs a reticle for that.


The SWFA 1-6 HD might be your huckleberry. I have one on a 375 h&h. It's a doughnut of death style reticle. Usually run it at 2x, which makes the circle like a peep sight. Awesome for close up shots at moving game in heavy cover. Turn it to 6x and the circle goes away so you have the bare MQ to make long shots. It's a reliable dialer as well, and it has 10 mil per rev. Wish SWFA would come out with a very similar 2-12 or 2-10 HD.
 

prm

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That 1-6 is a cool scope. I considered it a 1-2.5 and 6x scope. The stuff in between was a little odd with the circle growing. But at the ends it was very nice.
 
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The SWFA 1-6 HD might be your huckleberry. I have one on a 375 h&h. It's a doughnut of death style reticle. Usually run it at 2x, which makes the circle like a peep sight. Awesome for close up shots at moving game in heavy cover. Turn it to 6x and the circle goes away so you have the bare MQ to make long shots. It's a reliable dialer as well, and it has 10 mil per rev. Wish SWFA would come out with a very similar 2-12 or 2-10 HD.
That’s an interesting reticle and something I’d be willing to buy if it I needed an optic for an AR. Given that it already weighs more than the 3-9x42, I imagine a 2-12x42 in similar configuration would lead to people complaining about weight and cost. Would it sell at 26+oz and over $1200?
 

prm

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Not what I would choose as a hunting reticle. Reticles for hunting are a pet peeve of mine at the moment. Hence the thread on just that. This is probably a good scope though.
 
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That’s an interesting reticle and something I’d be willing to buy if it I needed an optic for an AR. Given that it already weighs more than the 3-9x42, I imagine a 2-12x42 in similar configuration would lead to people complaining about weight and cost. Would it sell at 26+oz and over $1200?


I'm sure you're right on in your assessment of weight and cost. I've learned the hard way that you're not going to find much for illuminated, reliable dialers in that X and size range for less money or less weight. I sacrificed to the weight gods in the past and haven't always been happy with the results. At this stage of my life I'm willing to suck it up and carry the extra weight. As far as cost, I consider all of the SWFA scopes high value, but, IME and to my eyes, their HD line up is in a league of its own as far as the rugged and precise functionality and glass you get for the price. In reality, I could use their 3-9 HD or even their 6x for the vast majority of my big game hunting and shooting and not feel too slighted. I do like more features for certain applications, but I can't honestly say that I really need more than those 2 models to be successful.

The Athlon Helos BTR Gen 2 2-12 is close to what I was hoping for from SWFA. And sure, I could just buy the Athlon, but I'm just not into consciously supporting Chi Com if there's a possibilty to avoid it.
 
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That 1-6 is a cool scope. I considered it a 1-2.5 and 6x scope. The stuff in between was a little odd with the circle growing. But at the ends it was very nice.

Yes, we've joked that they might as well just call it a 1.5 or 6 instead of a 1-6. With the two useful X's at the book ends of the adjustment range, it's quick and easy to use as is.
 

Overdrive

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Way to busy of a reticle for me, so it would be a hard pass. To many reticles are way to busy nowadays. I'll stick with what has worked for me the last 12 years.
 
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