F T/R Competition FFP limiting me?

[Golfnut721]

I am completely new to f class. Just shot my first FTR match Saturday. Well only got to shoot at 300 before the rain came and sent us home. Thought I did pretty good. For never shooting past 100 yards. But I’m just wondering if I am limiting myself with the FFP scope. I’m using an Atholn Argos 8-34 and while I know it’s not an ideal scope it’s what I could afford at this time. I’ve always used a SFP scope so it was a little weird see that reticle so big. So am I better off replacing that or working on something else.

 

[memilanuk]

It depends... are you comfortable holding off using the reticle? Most FFP scopes have 0.1 mil clicks, which are a fuzz over 1/3 moa. Most commonly used SFP target scopes have 1/8 moa clicks for a reason. When you're looking at the target face, are you able to hold 1 line (edge of X), 2 lines (edge of 10), 3 lines (edge of 9 ring)? How about 1.5 lines? 1.25? One side of a given line or the other?

Sooner or later, you're going to want to be able to hold - or click - that fine as you try to adjust for changing conditions. Both in terms of windage, and elevation.

 

[Rocketvapor]

I'm also new to F-Class.
Using the same scope, 8-34X56, but in MOA.
The 1/4 clicks are limiting if you click but not if you hold off in windage.
1/8 would have been better as I find myself right between 11 and a quarter and 11 and a half in elevation @ 600 form a 100 zero.
One of these days that is gonna matter

 

[FatBoy]

The thickness of the reticle may be limiting your POA. For example, on one of my prone rifles I use a fixed 24x scope with a 1/8 MOA target dot. I can put it in the X on the target and still see the tails of the actual X. A 1/3 MOA (.1 mil reticle) will obscure some of your aiming point. You can overcome this by shooting with corners. Use one corner of the intersection of your center reticle and adjust the knobs accordingly. (Essentially holding off but erector cell adjusted to correct). You then need to remember to use this section of the reticle each time.

Mil adjustments will be fine for now. Honestly, it's faster to hold off anyway. When and if you get hooked and want to up your game, then start looking for a deducted scope.

I would say you may be at a slight disadvantage because you're going to have to remember your reticle hold where other probably won't, but it's not a big deal, especially when you're just cutting your teeth.

 

[memilanuk]

Regarding mil adjustment scopes... just don't do like one fellow did last year @ FCNC.

He'd apparently never shot to 1k before, and asked the guy on the relay before him how much elevation he had on. '27' was the answer he got. So he dialed on '27'... and after about 15 shots of not hitting the 6' x 6' paper, the ROs made him stop.

Later they realized that he had a scope that adjusted in milliradians, not MOA. Luckily Raton has some fairly tall cliffs above the regular impact area...

 

[Rocketvapor]

too bad they don't make scopes with two elevation dials.
One in mils, the other in MOA.

27 on one for 1000, 27 on the other for a mile

 

[Vodoun daVinci]

I do not compete but shoot 6.5 CM at distance for thrills and small groups in all conditions. Last year was my first year shooting and I started reloading. Going into this season of evaluating hand loads for accuracy I'm shooting .7 MOA consistently out to 600 yards with factory Hornady 147 gr. ELD-M in a Savage 10 FCP-SR 24" barrel in a MDT LSS-XL Gen2 chassis and an Athlon Argos BTR 10-40X56.

I have shot a couple times out to 1000 yards and was pretty happy. I find that thinner reticles and 1/8th MOA clicks to be the trick for me.

First time I shot at 1000 yards the guy hosting the deal was all over me flitting and suggesting and helping me while I dialed the data into Strelok Pro and set up my scope and guessed at wind. As I settled down behind the gun he told me it was not likely for a newbie to get any hits on a 10" steel plate at 1000 yards on my first try and to not let it upset me. His Wife was spotting.

10 hits out of ten all well to the center of the plate. Still shooting sub MOA out to 1000 yards my first year out. I credit the optics. Pick yer scope well. And yer ballistics app.

VooDoo

 

[XTR]

I'm not familiar with the reticle in the scopes mentioned above, but in general thinner is better in target shooting. Mils are a bit of a PITA on a target that is laid out in ½ MOA circles, (Half a ring is ¼ MOA, full ring is ½ MOA) but you can get past that. Most F class shooters hold off after dialing something for an initial condition. We use the rings as references to hold off. The only reason that it will limit you is if it's too thick and covers too much of the target.

 

[ZiaHunter]

For F Class especially at 1,000 yards best to have a SFP scope with a fine reticle with 1/8 MOA clicks. Most of not all of the folks I compete with are using 1/8 MOA adjustments with the NF Competition being the predominate scope. I prefer very fine cross hairs and not the floating dot since I get better hold offs. When firing sighters I set the magnification to where it subtends correctly and use the reticle to make adjustments . With the exception of my F/O rifles , I prefer FFP scopes in mils.

 

[_Raining]

My scores with my 5-25x are similar to my scores with a 10-50x so it may not be a big deal for you. But also note that I have bad eyes and am not very good at shooting so it may be one of those things where you notice it more the better you are.

 

[Herstal 12]

I made master mid range with a SWFA 20 X scope. As for ffp, mil, moa , makes no dif, thin reticule line helps but not necessary. If you can’t figure out the wind it doesn’t matter what scope you got.
Cheers

 

[smoothy8500]

Looking at the reticle specs, the lines are usually .03-.05 mil thick. That's 1-1/2" to 2" thick at 1000yds. I think my Leupy 16X thin duplex is covering about the same.

 

[Dstoenner]

I started shooting F-Class with a Sightron SIII 8-32X56 MOA reticle. I really like the floating dot but thought I needed 1/8 MOA clicks instead of the 1/4 MOA of the S3. I found a NXS 8-32X56 with MOAR-T reticle and 1/8 MOA clicks. This has an isolated + in the middle. It is fine but I have found the MOAR-T to be useless. If I had it to do all over I would have the NXS in 1/4 clicks (I found I hardly ever use 1/8 clicks because wind is way to fickle to even think you can get 1/8 resolution at 1000 yards) and the NP-2DD reticle. The dot just floats out there and the horizontal bars guide you to it.

My strategy, FWIW, is to use my sighters to get to the 10 ring with a given wind/mirage. Then use the target face to hold off if I see things changing.

David