Rifle Scopes Advantages of floating center dot vs. solid crosshair reticle

[enichols]

Hi all,
I tried searching for this topic but to no avail. I am looking to upgrade from my trusty Gen 1 Bushnell DMR with G2 reticle, and am seriously considering a Kahles K624i or Minox ZP5 Tac with MR4 reticle. I am very used to a christmas tree with solid crosshair reticle, and love the G2 reticle. I can find the Kahles K624i with SKMR2 reticle used for around $2100, and it seems to have a reticle similar enough to what I am used to that I am tempted to go that route and save a few hundred bucks. On the other hand, what would I gain by going with the 624i SKMR3, or the MR4 reticle in the Minox? What advantages are there to going with the floating center dot?

Thanks and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

 

[quickdraw]

Reticles are like underwear choices. You need to spend a little time wearing them and you'll easily feel what you are comfortable with. I personally like the way a small dot or x on the center of the reticle and then the open area around it before the solid crosshairs start. It makes it easier for me to know that my point of aim is dead on a small target.

 

[MarinePMI]

Just my thoughts, and they may not directly answer your question but...

I've used both open and dot/solid crosshairs, and to me, the dot gives the eye something to focus on when the shot breaks, ensuring you are looking at the sights and not the target (which allows the cross hairs to drift off target as the shot breaks if not careful). Having a clear center (conversely) allows you to not obscure the target with the reticle, when the target is small.

Neither is better or worse, but each have their own pros/cons and require focus on different (but equally important) fundamentals. Case in point: I've noticed when shooting with an EBR-2C reticle, and then transitioning to a TRMR3 reticle, I caught myself looking at the target instead of the cross hairs. My shots were crap until I realized what I was doing, and then all of a sudden (after reminding myself to look for that "snap shot in my mind's eye" of the crosshairs sitting on the target as the shot broke; i.e. look at the cross hairs not the target) I started punching spinal shots on PD's, versus just tearing out a side or ripping an arm or leg off. I had gotten lazy with my fundamentals, because the EBR-2C has an open center. It doesn't make the EBR-2C bad, because I like not obscuring the target. That being said, it has made me realize you can easily develop bad habits with that reticle. The downside to TRMR 3 and SKMR 3 is both are very busy reticles, that require some practice to use correctly and under stress.

Not sure if that answers your specific question, but figured I'd toss it out there for you and others to chew on...

 

[Temper]

Just allows you to see more. If you're shooting small targets, the break up in the reticle around the center dot affords you more vision, as well if you're shooting bullseyes, centering up a circle in a circle is easier for me. I could place my reticle(mil-c) on a 1" Shoot-N-C pasty at 500, that was much harder to do with my H2CMR.

 

[Dthomas3523]

I agree with being able to see more. I sometimes use the dot to focus on, but most of the time I treat it like an open center. Most of the time I’m holding some sort of wind, so that doesn’t matter much anyway.

Where I see a difference is precision/marksman .22 matches where being able to see more off the small targets matters.

In the end, it depends on what your use for the gun is and what your eye “likes.”

No matter how precise or good a reticle is, if it doesn’t “feel” right when you look at, you’ll hate it.

 

[phillip61]

once you go "dot" you'll never go back.