Best reticles

[Dave0317]

Let’s talk rifle scope reticles. They get mentioned pretty often in threads on scopes, but I couldn’t find a thread that specifically deep dives into this topic.
Obviously there is some personal preference that comes into this, but, what are the best reticles available that enable precise shooting in field conditions at various ranges?

Christmas tree plus:
I think most of us are not fans of the Horus type reticles that literally have an entire grid of dots and tic tac toe boxes below the cross hair. It’s not just a Christmas tree, it’s like a pile of branches down there.

Middle ground:
The Maven SHR Mil is not what I would call a Call a Christmas tree at all. Has some reference lines below the crosshairs, but not a full Mil-scale down there.
Similar with the Trijicon Precision Hunter. It has a reticle with MOA hashes and then just a few dots extending to the left and right angles below the crosshairs to help with reference points and holding for wind. Unfortunately it looks like they only made it in MOA or this one may be my favorite.

Zero clutter:
Then there is the minimal classic Mil dot, plenty of reference points, least amount of clutter, but takes some familiarity to use for holds; wind calls combined with holds have to float in space a bit, and require a good eye to line up. Though, plenty of guys used this exact reticle to qualify out to 1000 yards and crush terrorists for decades. So it definitely works. I’d put the SWFA Mil Quad and Trij Mil Square in this category as well.


So, what have y’all found to be the pros and cons of different reticles? What do you prefer for hunting and is that different than what you would want when you shoot something like NRL or PRS?

 

[atmat]

Best hunting reticles on scopes I’d actually use are SHR Mil, P3L, and mil quad.

 

[Reburn]

THLR in the minox hands down the best functional reticle. It took some time to understand how to use it though.

 

[atmat]

THLR in the minox hands down the best functional reticle. It took some time to understand how to use it though.

It’s just such a large scope.

 

[Reburn]

It’s just such a large scope.

True its a donk.
However he did ask about best reticle.

 

[wind gypsy]

SHR is my favorite. Don't know that I'd change much if I could. The horizontal 5 and 10 mil hashes on the elevation could go and I'd be happy but they dont bother me either.

 

[Barnwood4321]

I like a center floating dot and some reasonable markings on vertical and horizontal for windage and elevation if I need to use it. I prefer to dial for elevation though.

Vortex's HSR5i is perfect for my preferences but I like Maven SHR-W. like everyone else, I sure wish Leupold would put some usable reticles in their VX5 series. I loves the cds ZL system just wish they had a similar reticle to those two.

I missed the biggest buck of my life using the wrong elevation markings on a Bushnell Forge with the Deploy MOA. The centers way to crowded and fast shots in low light, I sailed one right over his back. That's why I prefer less crowded centers or floating dots.

Has anyone used a Leupy windplex? Seems like it would fit the bill but looks so bulky on their site.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Lately for hunting the THLR on my ZP5s and SHR-MIL on my RS1.2s have made me a more effective killer. MIL Quad on SWFAs have worked excellent as well.

Switching from “always” dialing for elevation and holding “inches” or dialing for wind and using a well designed reticle has been a game changer for varmint and big game hunting.

 

[Macintosh]

You have to ask best for what. If I lived in wyoming and did nothing but hunt in wyoming and neighboring states, my reticle choice might be different than it is if I lived in...just for instance...Vermont, and hunted in wyoming every couple years.

My personal "best" hunting reticle for western hunting is a S&B P3 which is simply a pretty standard mil-dot, although I might prefer the P4 but havent used it (p4 has 1/2mil marks rather than 1-mil marks). I still think this reticle could be better for hunting if it was a little bolder, but there just isnt that much out there in this category and it was the best avalable that I could find as of a couple years ago when I purchased that scope.

A reticle like the THLR in concept is great, ie at lowest magnification it appears very simple, and only as you zoom in do more elements of the reticle become visible. I would love to be able to play with designing a reticle like this and get a better intuitive feel for what is possible, but my gut says that a reticle like this relies to some large extent on having a very wide range of magnification (say 5x or greater just as an example). My gut says I would prefer something even simpler than the existing THLR, but having never had a chance to look through one, let alone use one, that is a question. I think a reticle using this concept (ie reticle elements that can be used at higher magnification TOTALLY DISAPPEAR at low magnification, with the low-mag reticle appearing simple and exceptionally bold) could easily be developed, but there really doesnt seem to be much call for it with tree-style reticles making up the vast majority of what I see, and even some of the "best" reticles having reticle features that are downright asinine (hold marks for wind and elevation out to insane amounts that no person will ever use, at the expense of more-useable low-magnification visibility). I find these tree reticles to be universally terrible for hunting, some people use them and say they are fine but I own several, have owned others, and I think they are a liability far more so than an asset, at least for any hunting I've ever done.

 

[wapitibob]

Simple cross hair with windage hash is all I need.

 

[General RE LEE]

Zeiss #68 SFP

For fun, I shoot off the reticle vs dialing all the time. Reticle values are 1 MOA at full power in my Conquest V4 4-16. I set magnification to 8x and all my values are 2 MOA. I like this reticle for hunting and the center cross is illuminated.

 

[Jgormond3]

Steiners SCR is hard to beat. Gives me some holds but not too cluttered.

 

[MtnW]

German 4A

 

[Dave0317]

SHR is my favorite. Don't know that I'd change much if I could. The horizontal 5 and 10 mil hashes on the elevation could go and I'd be happy but they dont bother me either.

I agree on those lower hash marks. Too spread apart to be all that useful for holds, or at least seems to be to me, and too wide to give a real good reference point for wind. Would much prefer a few regular Mil hashes down there, in the event I do want to hold up to a distance, and then maybe dial past a certain point.

 

[Dave0317]

You have to ask best for what. If I lived in wyoming and did nothing but hunt in wyoming and neighboring states, my reticle choice might be different than it is if I lived in...just for instance...Vermont, and hunted in wyoming every couple years.

I guess I should have put some detail in there, just figured, western/mountain hunting site, Long Range sub-forum…should get us close enough.

I guess I’d say my preferences, for my personal use case, and maybe close to the uses of the typical Rokslider getting serious about long range:

1. Primarily for hunting, and effective and helpful out past typical ranges that a duplex reticle is sufficient. Probably from 10 yards to 500-600 yards for many of us. With practice days out to 1000. So some capability of in-reticle windage hold is almost mandatory, and vertical Mil markings are probably desired for at least some vertical reference if you decide to hold and not dial for certain shots.

2. Secondary useage potential for something like NRL Hunter or similar formats of competition.

 

[Macintosh]

SHR mil would be my preference then, simply based on scopes that are available to do that.

 

[Seak_angler]

Nightforce MOAR, SWFA milquad

 

[Nightstandx]

I have the first one on a V6 and think it is best for hunting, since it is not so busy as the second one. The second one would be more suited for target shooting In my opinion. Also, keep in mind the Zeiss scope is 2nd focal plane, which means you will have to have the scope magnification on max to effectively use the hash marks.

 

[N2TRKYS]

Regular duplex is best, but I can deal with the SWFA mil reticle. As long as it crosses in the center. I can’t stand a reticle that’s open at the center. Crosshairs should actually cross.

 

[General RE LEE]

I have the first one on a V6 and think it is best for hunting, since it is not so busy as the second one. The second one would be more suited for target shooting In my opinion. Also, keep in mind the Zeiss scope is 2nd focal plane, which means you will have to have the scope magnification on max to effectively use the hash marks.

On SFP, I zoom to 1/2 power which doubles the values. On my Zeiss V4 4-16, I zoom to 8x and my 1 MOA becomes a 2 MOA. Awesome use of the magnification cause I have a much better FOV.