Reticle hash spacing and power?

[daved20319]

Was reading a review on a scope I have coming, the Sightron STAC 4-20x50 MOA. As the name would imply, this has a MOA reticle, with spacing between hash marks or 2 MOA at max power. At minimum power, that spacing is 10 MOA. But here's the real reason for this post.

A statement was made in the article that if the spacing is 2 MOA at full power, it would be 4 at half that, and 8 at 1/4 of full, i.e. at 20, 10, & 5 respectively, in the case of my scope. Is this correct? It sounds logical, as it's a similar progression with reticle clicks increasing as the range decreases. Forgive me if this seems like common knowledge, I've been using scopes for years, but haven't really delved into how they actually work, I've always relied on either Kentucky windage or some variation of the BDC type reticle. If true, I do realize that there will likely be small variations in actual values due to power markings being slightly off, but if so, this opens up a whole new world of precision in my shooting. Which is a good thing, as this scope is going on what I hope to be my new precision rifle . Later guys, and thanks for adding to my education.

Dave

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[Member 5605]

May have to trust the Mfg on this one.

Or

One of the things you can do is set up a 12" target (or 10") and sit at 100y and count on the reticle marks.

This is one reason many new scopes are coming out FFP so the reticle subtensions don't have to be thought about.

I could do this experiment next time I'm at the range as well and see what my non FFP optics show.

 

[daved20319]

Oh, trust me, I fully intend to check it myself once I get scope in hand. Mfg. says 2 MOA at 20x, 10 at 4x, but I was mostly curious about the in between numbers, especially as I shoot at 10x a lot if I have a scope that includes it. More later.

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

this is why i went to a first focal plane scope with turrets. all of the reticle subtensions are the same no matter the magnification. super fast with way less math involved to make adjustments by only using your reticle.

example:

i was sighting in at a target at 500 yards. i was high right. by keeping my crosshairs where i aimed i used the reticle subtensions to determine how far off the shot was. i could see that i needed to move my reticle 1 MOA down and 1 MOA left. (so 5" down and 5" left)i clicked my turret accordingly and boom. next shot was dead on

my older vortex viper is a second focal plane and the reticle subtensions true at full power which is 16x. vortex says on their SFP scopes that the subtensions double at half of that(8x on my old scope) then double again at half of that(4x)

when you get good at using your reticle subtensions and you know the size of a target but distance is unknown, you actually can calculate an estimated range. its pretty cool.

 

[Stomper]

It's cooler to just slot your target...


My Leupold is FFP with the Impact-60 reticle... 60MOA hold over w/o fiddling with turrets, plus the 20MOA base it's mounted in... 16MOA (32MOA total) L/R windage w/o fiddling with turrets. I can potentially shoot Mt. Rushmore in hurricane force cross-winds from here, regardless of magnification level... before even having to fiddle with turrets.

 

[daved20319]

Yeah, I know, FFP is the new hotness, but I just can't get comfortable with the reticle changing size, and at low power, the darn thing becomes microscopic! I'm also not a fan of busy reticles, the one on the Sightron is nice and quiet, just crosshairs with hashmarks, and a 1/4 MOA floating dot in the middle. As to the MOA vs. MILS, I'm used to thinking in inches, so that's more intuitive for me. All of which comes down to old dog, new tricks, but hey, whatever works!

Speaking of old dogs, hey, @Stomper, what do you use to slot your target, and why does it require a scope ? Later.