Would some of you illuminated reticle users enlighten us as to why you prefer ill. reticles?

I personally feel they are not needed at all in a hunting scope. I've never not been able to see the reticle in any scope unless it was past legal hours with a target fine plex. I can see the reticles in all of the scopes I own well past shooting hours and can see them well in moon light.

I find that any illumination inside a scope harms more than it helps. Some ill scopes are harder to see through in low light when the ret is on.

Not to mention the added weight and functional parts that may fail.

I'm not knocking anyone that owns them in the least bit, they just aren't for me and I'm curious why a good many folks like them so much.

Thanks,

Reloader

I'm kind of curious about these too. Given the drawbacks you enumerated they must have some advantages. Or no?

I have a couple only. They have helped me in two scenarios. First whenever I aim at something black especially in less than perfect light. Second on running shots. The ones I have work just like a normal scope when turned off. They do not add diddly for weight. I have never experience reticle blindness as described by Reloader. All That said, only about a tenth of my scopes are illuminated.

The scope will work with out them, right?
So how come it pisses me off so much when the battery is dead?

There is pobably a place for illuminated reticles in locations where you can hunt in very low light conditions - e.g. Continental Europe. For North American hunting, where legal hours normally only extend 1 hour past sunset, the need seems less obvious.

On the down side for illuminated reticles, is that they have to be designed properly to work well. It would be easy to believe that if a lit reticle is a good thing, then more light must be better... Nothing could be further from the truth. For use in low light situations, it is paramount the reticle illumination does not "overshine" your target, something which is very possible. That immediately rules out a good proportion of the cheaper scopes thus equipped...

On top of that, illuminated reticles add a lot of uncertainties to an otherwise pretty rugged instrument - e.g. in the form of batteries and electronics. You'll also have additional toys to fumble with when the game finally shows up... Illuminated reticles will NOT turn a scope from a daylight-only into a night vision scope, they may add 10-15 minutes of shooting time, though. All this at considerable expense.

Are they worth it?? We all seem ready to go with the latest fad, and it is probably fair that there are certain advantages under certain conditions. All in all, an illuminated reticle is rarely an essential option, and choosing the right scope with the right (conventional) reticle will go a long way on its own.

- mike

Mike is largely correct. The place for an illuminated ret is on a top quality scope being used in a high seat after dark.

I have been to central Europe now a few times for wild boar. The S&B scope was good enough to resolve the image of deer after midnight in December. However, the reticule would have been completely lost if it was not illuminated. I didn't get to shoot a boar at night, but could have if one had turned up.

I have seen these reticules on cheaper scopes. Frankly, they are utterly pointless on a scope without sufficient quality of glass to allow you to see the target in the first place.

For some of my rifles all the hunting is done at might time, do I need the red dot, oooohhh yeeeeaaah.

Without it I would not be able to make the shots I do.

Best regards Chris

Might be good for a varmint rig.

The only one I own is a Trijicon ACOG that sits on my AR. It's lit by tritium and it's non adjustable. As a matter of fact you can't even turn it off. It works great for it's designed purpose.

Terry

I just purchased my first illuminated Reticle this week and never felt the need for one before.....However, one of my very favorite hunting sports is Coyote hunting and my favorite place to hunt them is in Texas........We do a lot of Night hunting in Texas and on my last trip our there, a few weeks ago, I had some trouble seeing the center crosshair and getting it on the coyote...Often the Coyote was moving and sometimes they would be in semi brush where the crosshair blended in so well it was difficult to see. One of my friends had an illuminated reticle and after looking thru his scope at night, I felt it was a BIG help for night hunting...If you do any hunting at night, I think you will find it very helpful.....

Got one on my Coyote rig & another on a target rig. I really like it for night hunting Yotes, the other gun it's just there.

There may not often be a need for Illuminated Reticules but it sure helps setting up fast for a precise shot.
Imo, very important on many typs of game.
ozhunter

You guys are much better hunters than me...checking your watch as to when legal hunting hours end.

I get stuck in these crazy stands I build, hunting whitetails, and I finally quit when I can't see the reticle against the animals hide.

The illuminated reticle always helps me in that regard.

I've never had a battery poop-out on me in the field. But then again, I check the oil in my car frequently, replace the filters on my A/C yearly, and rotate my tires.

Maybe I should leave the stand early for a beer...

Garrett

THe illuminated reticles come in really handy when hunting bear over bait. Usually heavy brush, already shadowy and dark even during the day, Once it starts getting dark, then aiming against a black target like a bear. It is also handy when shooting agains the dark side of a moose in heavy cover or low light. I have also found them handy when hunting predators at night here in alaska. For those of you that have never been here in the winter, its pretty much ALWAYS dark in the winter and a lighted reticle comes in handy. I also like the holo sight for low light shooting too.

quote:

Originally posted by mho:
There is pobably a place for illuminated reticles in locations where you can hunt in very low light conditions - e.g. Continental Europe. For North American hunting, where legal hours normally only extend 1 hour past sunset, the need seems less obvious.

absolutely right!
That´s the same reason why we need 50mm or maybe 56mm scopes: Hunting pigs during night with nearly no light and there you need also an illuminated reticle: I guess I have used it 95% on pigs but only 5% on roes in the past....

Klaus