Will Nightforce Ever Offer A Hunter-Friendly Reticle Again?

[Cynoscion]

What point are you trying to make?

I think what he is getting at is that the Trijicon Tenmile HX is the answer to the riflescope you and a lot of folks are looking for. The 3-18x44 FFP model is the perfect riflescope for me. It is tough, reliable, has a very usable reticle at all distances and magnifications (I thought it was too busy at first but my eyes hardly notice the tree anymore) and the illumination is perfect for me at the lowest green setting although I rarely have to use it.
I sold off all of my Nightforce optics after using Tenmiles. For whatever reason, my eyes never could see their reticles in low light conditions against rocky/shale backgrounds.

 

[Smokinyotes]

I have 2 SHV 3-10x42 with the MOAR reticle Center illumination. 1 SHV 4.5-14x56 and a hand full of NXS 5.5-20x50. They all have the MOAR reticle. For all my hunting guns I shoot 5 shot groups from 300 to 600 yards and measure the drop in moa. Have a drop chart for each gun.

My 257 wby is zeroed at 300 yards. I hold 2 moa at 400, 4 moa at 500, and 6 moa at 600. Easy to remember and works great for hunting. I’m not sure what’s not to like about this reticle.

 

[SDHNTR]

Can someone articulate the downsides of the MOAR 30 as a hunting reticle for me? I've hunted with it exclusively for the past 5+ seasons and don't see a problem. I'm guessing this is a case of "I don't know what I don't know." It has a clear aim point, it has subtensions for wind, what am I missing? I would delete the the elevation subtensions above the crosshairs if I could, simply because I don't use them, but otherwise I find it pretty usable. Thoughts?

View attachment 940769

Main complaint is that in FFP scopes it’s too hard to see until about 8X.

Only the center cross should be lit up.

There is no need for 20 moa of wind hold. And certainly no need for 30 moa holdover. 10 moa would suffice and make the reticle a lot easier to see at lower power.

 

[Chris in TN]

So here's a concept of how I see the 'ideal' hunting reticle. Understand that this is a MSPaint level rendition and might need a bit of tweaking and cleaning up, but this is what I'd like to see:



I think the concept would work well for 99% of hunting usage, and would be thick enough to be useful in FFP in low light at low powers. Uncluttered enough to not be overwhelming. Sufficient for any wind I'm actually going to shoot in. Enough elevation holdover for any 'quick' shot I'm going to actually take.

I could be wrong.

 

[SDHNTR]

That's a big reason I'm still hooked on the NXS 2.5-10. It checks a lot of boxes for a 20 oz package. I have 3 of them.

It’s the best overall hunting scope NF offers. Perhaps because MOAR works better in SFP, and 10x is acceptable in SFP.

 

[Chris in TN]

And certainly no need for 30 moa holdover. 10 moa would suffice and make the reticle a lot easier to see at lower power.

I generally agree but will concede - and this is apples to oranges - that I do have a .22lr that runs out of elevation and I'll often hold 20+MOA with the reticle to get out past 300 yards. But again, that's a .22lr, not a big game rifle.

 

[Dobeman887]

I buy nothing but simple Duplex reticles- I almost always go with Leupold for this reason.

 

[Nine Banger]

So here's a concept of how I see the 'ideal' hunting reticle. Understand that this is a MSPaint level rendition and might need a bit of tweaking and cleaning up, but this is what I'd like to see:

View attachment 941214

I think the concept would work well for 99% of hunting usage, and would be thick enough to be useful in FFP in low light at low powers. Uncluttered enough to not be overwhelming. Sufficient for any wind I'm actually going to shoot in. Enough elevation holdover for any 'quick' shot I'm going to actually take.

I could be wrong.

Works for me but I feel like I'd rather have the "hold under" bracket omitted and just do that in my head if I'm taking a close shot.