Ok, next question: What are your views on illuminated reticles?

On the one hand they should extend twilight shooting, on the other hand I don�t trust electronic gadgets as they�re just one more thing that can break.

Murphy and all that...

Opinions gents?

I love um try shooting a hyena in the moonlight, or a black bear against a spruce forest in SE alaska at midnight in may. Have several of them & mostly the batteries last 3-4 years. tried the new firefly from bushnell but don't care to much for it. Shinning a light to activate it and then it only lasts about 20 minutes. So first you spook the game with the flashlight and then the reticule is dead when it comes back.

As long as the reticle is still visible without illumination, I have no problem with them. Of course, it is unlikely your PH will let you take a shot at a Cape buffalo at dusk, but an illuminated reticle could be handy while shooting cats over a bait.

George

cewe,

I'm a big fan of the Schmidt & Bender Flash Dot. It's not cheap, but IMO it's the best there is. The Flash Dot provides a small red dot, right at the intersection of the crosshairs, and has eleven brightness settings.

Its reticle functions normally when the light switch is turned off--so, worst case, if the electronics malfunction or your battery dies, you still have a regular scope.

I have one in 1.25-4x20mm that I used on my .375 H&H Mag. to take a leopard in Tanzania. I haven't used the illumination feature on any of the several other animals I've taken with that combo, but it sure came in handy on the cat.

He came to the bait at dusk. Even with a bright moon, he was profiled in solid black against a dark gray sky.

Under these conditions, the crosshairs were practically invisible. But the illuminated reticle, set at the lowest setting (1 out of 11) was perfect. All I had to do was put the red dot on the leopard's shoulder and press the trigger.

David C: Thanks for those thoughts, that�s the kind of stuff I never think of.

AR is a well of information.

Cewe,



My Zeiss Varipoint VM 2.5-10x50 has an illuminated reticle. I've found that I can aquire the target quicker with it on than, without such a reticle, as if the tiny red dot draws my eye to the target. And it doesn't matter if the battery should eventually die out while hunting, because the red dot will then simpley be a black one. And thus function just like any other scope. There is no change in impact between the light on and off by the way, since it's the same dot anyway.



Turning the light on an off with this particular model is an easy "flick of the switch". And the last setting is preserved, so you return to it automatically next time you turn it on. In other words, if you're sitting in your leopard blind, it won't come on at a too high setting, if you last turned it off while on a low one. It shuts itself off to conserve batterys too after a few hours. Thus far, I'm still using the same battery since I bought it last spring. And it's been on a lot! I have noticed that some scopes illuminated dots/crosshairs can be too bright, but this probably depends on how much you pay... The Zeiss Varipoint can be turned down so low that you can barely make out the dot in a completely windowless, dark room. With absolutly no glare! And then in bright sunshine, it can be turned high enough to work perfectly under such conditions too. Again with no glare. The setting knob doesn't have "notches/clicks" for 1-11 or whatever, but is smooth, allowing you to set it on exactly the brightness you wish, even if it's only a change of 1/10 of a millimeter.



I can understand the hesitation towards "old fashioned" illuminated reticles which were too bright, not bright enough, didn't have a dot/cross hair when it was turned off etc. But, with the "new generation" made in the last couple of years by high quality producers, these problems just don't exist. So Murphy can come along as much as he wants, and it won't make a differance, since if anything goes wrong with the illumiination (which is highly unlikely), the scope will be just like any other standard scope.



Scopes that depend on sunlight to "re-charge" and stuff like that, I'd be more wary about... As always, you get what you pay for.



Erik

Have to say they are the Cat's Meow, used Leupold VX111 with Illuminated reticle on my hunt in July. Night hunting for Leopard. It made a difference, a simple twist turns it on, it put a small red crosshair right on target.
Bob

Bobga: Which Leupold did you use?

ErikD: I read abut some "affordable" but I can�t afford the headache! I�m partial to Leupolds myself, even though the optics on quality European scopes is a bit better.