Illuminated reticle question

[maj]

This seems like a stupid question as I type it out, but I can't find the answer anywhere so ...

If you turn off the illumination on an illuminated scope, what does the reticle look like? The only illuminated scopes I have are of the "dot" variety (Leupold Firedot, etc.) and I know the dot just disappears, leaving the standard duplex reticle. But for something more complex like, say the Zeiss ZMOAi-1 reticle, if I turn off the illumination, would the reticle just look like the non-illuminated ZMOA-1 version?

 

[Gone4Days]

There are exceptions but most illumated reticles simply illuminate the entire reticle. All lines including windage and elevation holds. Basically every black line turns red.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

With the illumination off it’s always going to look like the base reticle as that’s usually etched or sometimes wire. What gets illuminated just depends on how much of the reticle the manufacturer applies illumination mask too.

 

[maj]

Thank you both-- "black lines turn red" and "going to look like base reticle" was exactly what I wanted to confirm. Very helpful.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

It’s not as simple as black lines turn red. In a lot of illuminated reticles, yes, but not all. Most good holder/tree reticles won’t illuminate the entire tree because that much lume will wash out the target in low light when you need an illuminated reticle most on a hunting rifle. Even the same reticle in different scopes may illuminate differently too. Horus reticles like the H59 and Tremor 3 across NF, S&B and Leupold all illuminate different points. Just depends on how the mask is applied.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

My trijicon tenmile just lights up the whole reticle in red or green. My shv 3-10 I used to have just lit up the center of the reticle.

 

[Honyock]

With Zeiss Conquest V4, the reticle looks like a normal non-illuminated reticle when the illumination is turned off.

 

[Mtngadabout]

My Leupold Fire Dot gets finer without illumination - while the Zeiss Conquest stays the same size.

 

[ghostrider272]

My Kahles/Swarovski/Zeiss/Leica all look the same when the illumination is off. Sometimes I can see the center dot on the reticle. Most times, not. All of my illuminated scopes do not have any ballistic reticles.