Would a G3 reticle hold a newish field shooter back ...?

[Dobermann]

Hi folks,

I'd been saving for either an ATACR or ZCO, but due to unexpected life circumstances, these are now out of my reach for the forseeable future, so will have to settle for something less. (And no, "saving for longer" is not really an issue now.)

I have the option to purchase a "new old stock" Bushnell XRS II for a very decent price - about $500 less than the currently listed 'street' price in the US. For comparison sake, it will come in at about 2/3rds the cost of a Delta Stryker or SWFA 5-20, or about 1/3 the cost of an ATACR (I'm not in the US.)

I've been following the Thinking out loud, a reticle for the OEM crew thread, as well as recent reticle design trends, so I'm aware of the shifts to centre dots, .2 Mil hash marks, and dots for trees, rather than solid lines.

However, I'm wondering if the G3 reticle on the XRS would really hold me back that much, as a new field shooter?

[Edited to add: most of the matches here are to 700, and I have shot that distance in training so far.]

While not new to shooting, I'm new to competition, and keen to get into field style shoots that Frank has been talking about recently (I'm drawn more to the "find it, range it, engage it", and then go for a bit of a hike, approach, than the "three steps and plonk down bag" approach.)

For context, I'm hoping this discussion doesn't evolve into a 'just get an X' brand scope instead.

My primary interest in scopes is reliability, and then reticle.

While I know some folks say "choose the reticle that works best for you, and then choose the scope", I'm wary of a few manufacturers who have had tracking, RTZ, zero retention, etc, issues - hence my original interest in NF and ZCO.

I've heard good things about the Elite Tactical line for reliability, and was interested to see the Bushnells in Mark and Frank's testing almost all showing 99-100% results (I think that might get missed in the results table, as they are spread across many different Bushnell models.)

Sooo ... while I'm aware of the recent shifts in reticle design, I'm wondering about whether I'd really notice any issues using the G3, with it's center cross, .5 Mil hash marks, and solid line tree ... would it really impede shooting that much?

I know the main overall issues with learning and performance are going to be more about fundamentals, manipulation, reading wind, and so on ...

But excluding those as variables, and acknowledging that I can't make the jump to the NF or ZCO, would a G3 reticle really hold a fella back from learning?

 

[slowworm]

In a word - No. It will not hold you back.

Reticule design, like differences between the G3 and the Vortex Razor GEN II with the EBR-7C is all playing around the edges. Yes, the G3 is a bit fatter and doesn't have a dot, but that is not going to hold you back one bit, especially if you are just starting out in competition.

FWIW, I have both and shoot both regularly, though not in competition. I do not feel the G3 holds me back at all.

 

[dgheriani]

It won't hold you back, especially as a newer shooter. All reticles are some kind of compromise between how "open" they are and having defined holds. What you prefer is generally highly personal. Funny enough, the Bushnell Tactical Elites are kinda either end of the spectrum with the G3 being quite open and basic and the H59 being pretty "busy".

The XRS2 is a great optic (I have 2, one with a H59 and one with a G3) , especially at the kind of deals they go for now. They track perfectly, have nice glass and are tough, durable optics (as are all the scopes in the Elite Tactical line). Personally, I prefer the H59 to the G3 but that's more due to familiarity than anything else. Ideally I'd have a reticle that was somewhere in the middle of the 2 (think G3 but with a centre dot and .25 horizontal subtensions) but such is life.

 

[Entropicitis]

I wish it had 2 tenths graduations but I remind myself that many top pros make a G3 reticle work. Bushnell is coming out with new scopes soon, I bet they have an updated reticle.

 

[beetroot]

In a word - No. It will not hold you back.

Reticule design, like differences between the G3 and the Vortex Razor GEN II with the EBR-7C is all playing around the edges. Yes, the G3 is a bit fatter and doesn't have a dot, but that is not going to hold you back one bit, especially if you are just starting out in competition.

FWIW, I have both and shoot both regularly, though not in competition. I do not feel the G3 holds me back at all.

How fat is the G3 reticle?
The subtensions I could find showed it at .03mil which is the same as the EBR-7c.
Personally I like a slightly thicker reticle for a field shooting rifle, as I'll be using the reticle between 8x and 15x the majority of the time anyway.

 

[lash]

The answer is no. Simple as that. Especially for field matches, I think it is ideal. Personally, I think that all of this focus on .2 graduations is overkill unless your shooting barricade benchrest, or PRS as some call it. Unless perhaps you are shooting true ELR.