Tract scopes

[TradLife406]

Anyone have any experience with these?
Like the looks of the hunt series with the capped windage. And the price is good.
Seems like a Maven. Boutique in house shop. No mark up. But that makes it tough to handle one before buying.

 

[Mike D Texas]

They didn’t fare well in the drop tests here.

That said I bought a Toric UHD on their Black Friday sale to try out.


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[Balderdash]

I would bet that the LOW built models are pretty solid.

Their reticle options never wound my clock, but if they did I'd give one a try.

 

[bojangles808]

One of the models looks very similar (illum knob, mag dial) to the maven and trijicon (toric uhd 2.5-15x44) but the owner who was active on here never sent one in and the one that was tested didn't fair so well so that didn't inspire much confidence.

 

[Mike D Texas]

I would bet that the LOW built models are pretty solid.

Their reticle options never wound my clock, but if they did I'd give one a try.

What’s not to like about this reticle?

 

[ResearchinStuff]

One of their guys used to be/is a member. His posts made it pretty clear that their priorities for a scope didn't match my priorities for a scope.

Pretty sure the handle was JW@TRACT

 

[tumbleweed419]

I have Tract scopes on a couple of my hunting rifles and never had an issue with them. I would have no problem buying another.

 

[zeroforhire]

I have a tract tekoa on my 7mm mag. Great scope so far. I also have their 22 fire on my bolt action trainer. No complaints.

 

[Balderdash]

What’s not to like about this reticle?

View attachment 813246

I'm glad you like it. It's really close to a lot of companies' offerings, so a lot off other folks must, too.

For me, this reticle is more about opportunity cost than it is dislike. To state it another way, it could be so much more than it is for my use, which is mostly big game hunting with flat shooting cartridges such as 7mm and 300 mags. If one wants to use the scope for long range rim fire or maybe long range muzzleloader, the reticle might be a better fit in a few regards. For my purposes, I'll assume that the reticle pictured is what's in their FFP hunter model. If we're talking SFP, which I don't regularly use in scopes for longer shots, it's a different set of issues.

I'll start with the horizontal cross wire: For all around big game hunting, unless you're going to pull off an 800 yd shot in 50 mph FV winds, 9 mils windage is way too much. This comes at a cost of doing something closer to 5 mils from center on the narrow wire so that on low X the heavy outer lines come close enough to center to use as easily visible aim/bracket points.

Next, the verticle wire under center both doesn't have a "tree" and it's likely too thin to use on low X in dimly lit scenarios. As far as lacking a "tree", I know a lot of users prefer the simplicity of a single line with graduated marks, but this particular reticle stays thin down to 10 mils. If one needs 10 mils elevation on any cartridge, there's a pretty good chance you're also going to need to account for some wind. 10 mils down from center without a "tree", it's going to be little more than a guess where the actual wind correction measurement lines up, which, like the horizontal wire, makes having a single thin line with graduations down to 10 mils kind of a waste because it comes at the expense of having a heavier line at say 5 mils that comes close enough to center to also be used to bracket game/be used as an easy to see aim point on low X in dim conditions. For an example look at the Maven Rs1.2 mil. If one needs more than 5 mils elevation, which gets a relatively flat shooting cartridge out quite a ways, you can always dial 5, then work off the reticle.

A lot of folks say "I dial for elevation, so the verticle line under center doesn't matter to me anyway", to which I'd point out that it should then be something heavier that can be used at low X similar to a german #4, such as the THLR or reticles that I don't now recall the name of from Gunwerks and, IIRC, March.

Above center I'd rather have it be clean for spotting shots and seeing game reaction. Some folks have good reasons for using a couple mils over center, but I don't know ofI too many uses in big game hunting for having 9 mils above center. Again, if you want to put any line there, which I'd rather not, stop the thin portion at 5 mils like the Maven RS 1.2 and swfa MQ, and now you have another point to bracket game on low X.

 

[Mike D Texas]

I'm glad you like it. It's really close to a lot of companies' offerings, so a lot off other folks must, too.

For me, this reticle is more about opportunity cost than it is dislike. To state it another way, it could be so much more than it is for my use, which is mostly big game hunting with flat shooting cartridges such as 7mm and 300 mags. If one wants to use the scope for long range rim fire or maybe long range muzzleloader, the reticle might be a better fit in a few regards. For my purposes, I'll assume that the reticle pictured is what's in their FFP hunter model. If we're talking SFP, which I don't regularly use in scopes for longer shots, it's a different set of issues.

I'll start with the horizontal cross wire: For all around big game hunting, unless you're going to pull off an 800 yd shot in 50 mph FV winds, 9 mils windage is way too much. This comes at a cost of doing something closer to 5 mils from center on the narrow wire so that on low X the heavy outer lines come close enough to center to use as easily visible aim/bracket points.

Next, the verticle wire under center both doesn't have a "tree" and it's likely too thin to use on low X in dimly lit scenarios. As far as lacking a "tree", I know a lot of users prefer the simplicity of a single line with graduated marks, but this particular reticle stays thin down to 10 mils. If one needs 10 mils elevation on any cartridge, there's a pretty good chance you're also going to need to account for some wind. 10 mils down from center without a "tree", it's going to be little more than a guess where the actual wind correction measurement lines up, which, like the horizontal wire, makes having a single thin line with graduations down to 10 mils kind of a waste because it comes at the expense of having a heavier line at say 5 mils that comes close enough to center to also be used to bracket game/be used as an easy to see aim point on low X in dim conditions. For an example look at the Maven Rs1.2 mil. If one needs more than 5 mils elevation, which gets a relatively flat shooting cartridge out quite a ways, you can always dial 5, then work off the reticle.

A lot of folks say "I dial for elevation, so the verticle line under center doesn't matter to me anyway", to which I'd point out that it should then be something heavier that can be used at low X similar to a german #4, such as the THLR or reticles that I don't now recall the name of from Gunwerks and, IIRC, March.

Above center I'd rather have it be clean for spotting shots and seeing game reaction. Some folks have good reasons for using a couple mils over center, but I don't know ofI too many uses in big game hunting for having 9 mils above center. Again, if you want to put any line there, which I'd rather not, stop the thin portion at 5 mils like the Maven RS 1.2 and swfa MQ, and now you have another point to bracket game on low X.

Valid points for sure. I actually thought the same on the windage. 5-6 MILs either side should be plenty.

As to tree style reticles, I don’t care for them at all. I can’t think of a single time I have held over using the reticle in a hunting situation.

You bring up another good thing to consider. In what instances would hold under come into play. Clean above the horizontal line would be a good option and provide a clearer sight picture for verifying hits.


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[TradLife406]

One of the models looks very similar (illum knob, mag dial) to the maven and trijicon (toric uhd 2.5-15x44) but the owner who was active on here never sent one in and the one that was tested didn't fair so well so that didn't inspire much confidence.

Good to know.
I went to the ultra cheap route with an Arken for kicks and giggles on the kids Sig Cross. It seems pretty good... Bbbbbuuuuuuttttt with a 140 Berger elite and 42 gr of h4350 it was shooting like 4 moa!
Heading out Tuesday to play with it some more. It shot pretty good with factory ammo and 1-6. Also my buddy had a mark5 on it when he owned the gun and it shot great.
So if it doesn't shoot the factory ammo well the arken is going back. Everything is tight. But maybe the recoil is rattling the reticle around? I did clean the bore really well too. Adjusted the trigger and changed the grip. I did check my jump and it's pretty big to fit the magazine.
Also the turret and zero stop are kinda funky. But hey for $330 if it works for some mid range shooting why not.