Illuminated Reticles- does anyone have any "field experience" or recommendations? thanks/ Chaz

If they don’t have the capability of adjusting brightness and being switched completely off they can be far less than desirable. Also, on some of the lower end brands(cheap)they can create “light shows†in your FOV that are very distracting.

I would not buy one without first taking a look through it to see if the advertising matched what I was seeing.

If you shoot in low light conditions, they are the "cats-meow."

If you have a large objective and quality optics which reduce light loss, then under extreme twilight conditions you can hit the target.

It was funny one winter night not too long ago when I was at the range, it began to darken at about 4:00pm (1600) approached. I clicked on the reticle and continued to shoot. 20 minutes later I looked up having finished the string, the lights were on in the shooting bay, and I was the only one left, as everyone else had gone home. At this point the target at 200 yards was barely visible with the naked eye.

Interestingly, the most useful brightness settings under these conditions are the minimum ones.



Photo courtesy USO...

to me having the reticule illuminated is to bright, what i really like is the old micro dot that had a 1 minute red dot. I'm not to keen on the firefly because I just don't like shinning a flashlight into the scope to illuminate it during prime hunting time.

Illuminated reticles are a real plus under some circumstances i.e. very low light or dark animals in dense bush.

Take into account the power source and extra batteries needed and choose a reticle that can be used if you have illumination problems.

Spend some time practicing with your settings before going hunting. Almost everyone I know has had initial problems with the reticle being too bright. Your best setting is the one that does not overpower your target and that is rarely at the top end of the power setting selector. It is the same as adjusting the magnification setting when your target appears. Not good! I have a couple illuminated reticle scopes and I'm not sure they have a practical hunting application. If I were starting over and wanted a good low light scope, I would buy a good European scope in 8x56 with a bold reticle. Just my humble opinion!

gents/ as always, I appreciate opions from "in the field". Thanks for the info. My sometimes hunting partner was in Alaska hunting blackies 2 years ago at twilight & couldnt see his cross hairs on the bear, so had to pass up the only shot he got on the trip. Advice about the setting on the reticle makes good sense/ chaz