Rifle Scopes second plane scope for hunting?

[kenner]

Would a second plane scope be a better option for a hunting/paper punching out to 300 yards than a first plane scope.
When I'm hunting , my power range is around 4/5 power, I know that the first plane scope at that low of power , the reticle becomes so small and hard to see, where a second plane scope it stays the same.
The scope I'm looking at is a Nightforce C552 4-16x42 with the mil R reticle.

Thanks
kenner

 

[HenryTheAce]

I enjoy 2nd focal plane scopes for hunting. Shots I take are rarely past 300yds here for me and when I get an animal that far out I have time to dial. I prefer dialing for my holds as well since I don’t do any prs type shooting where saving time is critical.

 

[hlee]

There are tons of opinions on the subject. One thing to remember is that reticles can be tailored to fit a magnification range. The reticle that is in my FFP 5-25 is not well suited to a FFP 1-6. Out to 300, I would be looking at a FFP lpvo; 1-6, 1-8, or 1-10 would all be good. And, they will have reticles designed to work well, within the confines of their magnification range.

1x ACSS

6xACSS

 

[spife7980]

If you dial your elevation first or if you dont change magnification level between shots for hold over corrections the second focal doesnt really have a down side. Especially in a hunting situation.

 

[wade2big]

2nd focal plane is my first choice for a hunting scope as well. I have killed many with FFP scopes as well but illumination is a must on them. When dialing down in power to let light in, the relticles get tiny and can disappear. Illumination fixes that.

 

[Chasing3]

@kenner have you looked at the NF NX8 line in second focal plane? The Mil-CF2 reticle looks nice and better to me then the Mil-R. I would love to see some pictures through a SFP NF NX8 2.5-20 or the 4-32.

 

[308pirate]

There are tons of opinions on the subject. One thing to remember is that reticles can be tailored to fit a magnification range. The reticle that is in my FFP 5-25 is not well suited to a FFP 1-6. Out to 300, I would be looking at a FFP lpvo; 1-6, 1-8, or 1-10 would all be good. And, they will have reticles designed to work well, within the confines of their magnification range.

1x ACSS
View attachment 7445498
6xACSS
View attachment 7445499

Agree

 

[HousePlant]

The only time I'd use a FFP for hunting is if I'm out west using a magnum (300WSM+, so to speak). Otherwise, I'm using a max point blank range zero, pointing the crosshair in the vertical middle of the boiler room, and firing. And if I miss it's for other reasons other than a SFP reticle. Plus, it's an animal. You can mentally gauge where to hold without reticle tick marks on a FFP most of the time. Maybe not with animals smaller than piggies, but bacon and up... yeah.

 

[Ledzep]

I recently went with the Vortex HD LHT 3-15x SFP scope for my hunting rifle. My thinking was that if I'm under 15x, I probably have a close enough shot that I don't really care about wind holds/mil scale, and would rather see the reticle at full thickness. For 200yd or less I don't need to worry about subtensions. For 300-600yd shots, 15x is not bad for the top end, and I can hold wind or whatever as normal.

My experience with 2.5-20x, 3-18x, 1-8x, 1-10x, etc.. FFP scopes is that the reticle is either stupid thick at the top end, or near uselessly thin below 6x. YMMV.

 

[kenner]

I ended up buying a Nightforce Atacr 4-16x50 F2 milr reticle.
I'm loving it.
kenner

 

[MShort]

I ended up buying a Nightforce Atacr 4-16x50 F2 milr reticle.
I'm loving it.
kenner

My newest hunting rifle is a custom 300 WSM and I chose the Atacr 4-16 F1 mil-c and have no regrets.

amazing scope so far!