Illuminated reticle

[Alan Waters]

How many use a scope with illuminated reticle. Do you find it truly useful?

[Sisco]

I do. Only because it is a 1x6 power. At 1x the lighted recticle makes a passable red dot. Actually it is also useful against dark backgrounds where you can lose the cross hairs.

[EugeneStoner]

1 hour ago, Sisco said:

I do. Only because it is a 1x6 power. At 1x the lighted recticle makes a passable red dot. Actually it is also useful against dark backgrounds where you can lose the cross hairs.

Yes, and I have pretty much the same response as Sisco.  In addition to serving as a passable red dot alternative at 1x w/the illumination on a scope with an etched reticle will also still be usable/useful for many use cases if the battery dies or the fancy electronics otherwise fail.  I have a Primary Arms 1-6x ACSS Gen 3 scope on one of my .308 rifles and one of the imprtant reasons I bought it is because it has an illuminated reticle and 1x magnification option for close-quarter/fast shooting type application especially hunting in heavy cover.

[98Z5V]

Illuminated reticles are very useful for shooting at night - if the illum will turn down far enough.  I love them. 

Edited December 16, 2018 by 98Z5V

[Ravenworks]

I bought a Strike Eagle when they first came out,it has it's uses.

[Sisco]

1 hour ago, EugeneStoner said:

Yes, and I have pretty much the same response as Sisco.  In addition to serving as a passable red dot alternative at 1x w/the illumination on a scope with an etched reticle will also still be usable/useful for many use cases if the battery dies or the fancy electronics otherwise fail.  I have a Primary Arms 1-6x ACSS Gen 3 scope on one of my .308 rifles and one of the imprtant reasons I bought it is because it has an illuminated reticle and 1x magnification option for close-quarter/fast shooting type application especially hunting in heavy cover.

Ihave the Gen 2 model.

[EugeneStoner]

7 minutes ago, Sisco said:

Ihave the Gen 2 model.

Nice! I really like mine.  BTW Alan this video provides some good info on the particular illuminated scope Sisco and I are talking about.

 

[jtallen83]

I run a couple Bushnell 1x6.5x, only use the illumination sparingly at dusk or full on when trying to use them for a red dot on 1x. I have both of these;

Mounted up a PA 1x8x for my grandson today. looks good in the basement. Weather provided it will get zeroed this week.

[edgecrusher]

2 hours ago, 98Z5V said:

Illuminated reticles are very useful for shooting at night - if the illum will turn down far enough.  I love them. 

This. It should always be turned down to barely there at night. During the day if it can be a 1x  you can use it as a red dot.

[Matt.Cross]

2 hours ago, 98Z5V said:

Illuminated reticles are very useful for shooting at night - if the illum will turn down far enough.  I love them. 

Ditto. They are also useful at higher brightness in lower light situations.

[sketch]

ditto on low light.. we ( 308ar desert shooters) did a pistol / rifle course during mid to late in the day and my rifle shots at 200? * were blurred as my reticle blured the target.. to much light. cranked it down and hit the next 2 of 4 shots. less is more! but a good option if you need it! 

[Alan Waters]

Watched the video. Found this one also. 

 

[EugeneStoner]

19 hours ago, Alan Waters said:

Watched the video. Found this one also. 

 

Thanks for sharing, I missed this one somehow and it's really good. 

Edited December 18, 2018 by EugeneStoner

[98Z5V]

You guys needs to come out to a Fall Shoot.  I kid you not.

We shoot, nightly, at 450 yards.  Last Fall Shoot we shot to 845 yards and a little more.  I have new surveyed positions now, to 1002 yards, and it's not stopping there.

What they did in that video above - we just did, last October.  @Matt.Cross and I are gonna do it again in March '19, and come up with more stuff to do, at new ranges.

2 years ago, we had a brand new shooter center-punch the target at 660 yards.  Hell, several new shooters did it.

[98Z5V]

This pic was 33:07 in that vid.  Which is great.  We were shooting some angled shots at the last Spring Shoot, 2018.

Spring Shoot '18:

There's lot of vids online about all kinds of this stuff.  We get out and do it.  Get out to one of the shoots.  The Spring Shoots are much smaller, and are the "proving grounds" for all the stuff to try during the Fall Shoots - which are the MUCH larger gatherings. 

[98Z5V]

@Matt.Cross

[Matt.Cross]

I've learned something new from every shoot both Spring and Fall, and we incorporate new challenges into every shoot. 

Get off your duffs and come to a shoot, you're guaranteed to learn something new or do something you've previously never experienced.

[shepp]

On 12/16/2018 at 3:48 PM, Alan Waters said:

How many use a scope with illuminated reticle. Do you find it truly useful?

Yes I have one on the primary arms mounted on my ARAK 7.62x39 I’ve shot with it the last two years on the night shoot on low and it’s the cats pajamas 

[Slevin182]

On LPVOs I would say definitely useful. On higher-powered optics, can't really say. My first nice scope was a Leupold Mark 6 3-18x44, w/ illuminated TMR. It'll be crucial if I find myself shooting in a low-light situation or against a really dark target, but I haven't NEEDED it so far. It is nice to have, but you're going to pay for it. I'm about to buy a Mark 5 3.6-18x44 w/ Tremor 3 and can't decide between illuminated and non. The illuminated is hundreds of dollars more.

[98Z5V]

12 hours ago, Slevin182 said:

It'll be crucial if I find myself shooting in a low-light situation or against a really dark target, but I haven't NEEDED it so far.

Just went through this over the weekend, with the night shoots to 450 yards.  Not "low-light" shoots - night shoots, when it's DARK.  Not only is an illum reticle almost mandatory (unless you're shooting in a full moon, no cloud cover, and the moon is behind you), the amount of illum on the lowest setting is very, very important for night shooting.  If your "Number 1" is bright as hell, and you can't turn it down from there, then it's worthless for shooting at night. I had a scope that I had to turn to (between) 2 and 3 for shooting that distance, at midnight. I tried both...   It worked wonderfully for that.

Edited March 19, 2019 by 98Z5V

[Slevin182]

4 hours ago, 98Z5V said:

Just went through this over the weekend, with the night shoots to 450 yards.  Not "low-light" shoots - night shoots, when it's DARK.  Not only is an illum reticle almost mandatory (unless you're shooting in a full moon, no cloud cover, and the moon is behind you), the amount of illum on the lowest setting is very, very important for night shooting.  If your "Number 1" is bright as hell, and you can't turn it down from there, then it's worthless for shooting at night. I had a scope that I had to turn to (between) 2 and 3 for shooting that distance, at midnight. I tried both...   It worked wonderfully for that.

Are you talking about using an illuminated reticle behind a clip-on NV unit, or just the scope by itself?

[Matt.Cross]

24 minutes ago, Slevin182 said:

Are you talking about using an illuminated reticle behind a clip-on NV unit, or just the scope by itself?

Just a scope by itself with a lit reticle, no specialty equipment.

[98Z5V]

Here's an example - tough to do this at night without an illum reticle, but the amountof illum it can dial is important.

 

Not much to look at, but much to hear.  There a longer vid like this somewhere here, with us ripping up the 450 target just like this. This was the 200 yard steel, before we broke it.

[Slevin182]

11 hours ago, Matt.Cross said:

Just a scope by itself with a lit reticle, no specialty equipment. 

Thanks for the clarification.

 

6 hours ago, 98Z5V said:

Not much to look at, but much to hear.  There a longer vid like this somewhere here, with us ripping up the 450 target just like this. This was the 200 yard steel, before we broke it.

Pretty cool, man. Where abouts are you at? Any resource for finding ranges that do night shoots? Haven't had much luck finding any in the Northeast.

 

I'm getting closer and closer to upgrading what I have on order to the illuminated. Might as well already spending some serious cash.

[98Z5V]

1 minute ago, Slevin182 said:

Pretty cool, man. Where abouts are you at? Any resource for finding ranges that do night shoots? Haven't had much luck finding any in the Northeast.

 

I'm getting closer and closer to upgrading what I have on order to the illuminated. Might as well already spending some serious cash.

In the Desert Southwest.  I do this out on open land, 12 miles from my house, whenever I want to. No kidding.  It's a freedom that can't be imagined, but it's pretty cool.

Make sure you check out the illum on the new scope first - try to find a local place that's got one in stock, and just check it out.  If it's hard to see on 1 or 2 in a shop, it should do the trick at night, and not be too bright.  If you can't even see setting 1, in a shop, it'll certainly get it done.