Illuminated reticle, pluses and minuses?

J

JerryinPA

New member
Well it looks like I'm going to end up buying a new scope for the new rifle. A buddy is probably going to get the old scope I was gonna use...

Illuminated reticles.

Yes, No, Pluses, Minuses?

Are they a good idea for the break of dawn or edge of dusk?

Please educate me?

Thanks in advance,

Jerry.
 
Well, an illuminated recticle can be very good. But, IMHO, just as important is a scope that can resolve in low light. That usually means at least 50mm.

I have an ATN 3x9x55LU. On a recent baited bear hunt, it really helped. Bears often do not come in to the bait until an hour or so before dark. In many cases the longer you wait, the large the bears that come in. With the resolution that the scope provided, I was able to discern more than I was with my naked eye. I stayed on stand past legal shooting time, just to see what would come in. I finally lost resolution about 50 minutes after sunset. Could still see the illuminated cross hairs though. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I am not recommending the ATN, however. I feel that it has some other issues. It is a pain in the neck to zero that scope. It is a matter of ergonomics. The elevation adjustment is deeply recessed, so much that you can not see how many clicks you are moving it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif Also, by design the reticles change position as you change zero. This is something that was common years ago, but most makers have gone away from.

It is supposed to have a bullet drop compensator that uses cams. I have never been able to get it work correctly.

On the plus side, I did take a 300lb black bear and a fallow deer with it.

The large glass does add weight.

I also have a BSA 6x24x40 that is illuminated. Though I didn't purchase it because of that, but rather as an inexpensive 22rf scope, besides, Midway had it on sale.

In both cases, the illumination is adjustable. Be aware that the brighter the image, the more you have to turn up the illumination. There is a trade-off point where the reticle can cause the image to loose resolution. I believe this is because of internal reflections.

For some of the top of the line scopes, eg, the Zeiss Diavari 6x24x56 it can become very expensive $1,899, while the Leupolds are in the $1,000 range. I own several Leupolds and can highly recommend them. However, I have never owned an illuminated Leupold.
 
We just started using our IR Leupolds this year. I really enjoyed them. Especially for the night time hunting. It takes all the guess work out of finding the crosshairs. The only negative I have found on them is that they will sometimes get turned on by accident. Jeff
 
They are also very handy when it's dark and you need to shoot at an oncomming car with its headlights on. But maybe that's a little different of application than most folks are used to. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-006.gif

Edit by moderator: BroncoGlen is currently serving in Iraq where he occasionally needs to shoot at on comming cars!
 
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I love the illuminated reticle scopes. I have a Leupold, a Burris and a Mueller. The Leupold and Burris were in the $500-600 range and the Mueller was less than $200. Mueller is a great scope for the bucks. It sits on my .243 yote rig and has performed flawlessly. The nice part is that you can acquire your target very quickly without searching for the critical crosshair intersection. I usually have the illumimation set very low but that is all you need. Well worth the bucks and once you try one in the field, you'll be hooked. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
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