FFP for stalking and Precision advice

[ashcroft]

Hi all

Hoping to draw on first hand experience from anyone who uses FFP scopes

Hoping to find a reticle and scope that is not too fine on low power for stalking low light (5 or less) and can also use to MIL range/holdover etc for using on longer range precision  stuff like PRL type shooting

Will be my first venture to FFP so equally useful to know any that are unsuitable on experiences you've had

 

Thanks 

 

 

[John MH]

My advice if worried about being able to see the ret on a FFP scope at low mag would be to get one with an illuminated ret where only the centre + is illuminated. For PRS type shooting using low mag is often a better option if in an unstable position.

[Scotch_egg]

Keep shooting what you got. 
 

you can shoot very well. It’s not the scope that held you back. 

 

[John MH]

14 minutes ago, Scotch_egg said:

Keep shooting what you got. 
 

you can shoot very well. It’s not the scope that held you back. 

 

Good point, take a look through someone else FFP scope before switching. For wind holds a SPF scope is usually ok if holding left or right hand edge and you can usually see a splash for referencing your left or right hold. Problem only really occurs for elevation holds when shooting multiple targets at different ranges when you don't want to or don't have time to dial in. You might get away with holding top, centre or bottom of target if they are reasonably close together say (250, 300, 350) but that depends on how big the target is and how flat your bullet shoots. If shooting two targets at say 200 & 400 yards with no time to dial then a SFP scope may cause problems but they do usually have a zoom setting where they are mil for mil or moa for moa, that may be in the scope literature (manual) or you may have to do a test/trial to figure it out for yourself.

[ashcroft]

Thanks for the feedback appreciated. 

Compromises whichever way you go i suppose, unless a dedicated rifle for each 

[CameronWilson]

My advice would be to avoid anything with a large magnification range (go for 3-9x or 4-16x for instance, rather than 4.5-27x etc.), because the reticle designers have to make the reticle chunky enough to be visible at the low mags, that by the time you increase the magnification it's like looking through a chessboard (the IOR Recon 4-28x50 is a perfect example of this). If the designers prioritise a fine reticle at full mag, then you end up with a reticle that is too fine to see at lower mags. The Schmidt & Bender P4FL is a well balanced design, only the floating centre crosshair illuminates, and at 3x it's like looking through a red dot sight like an EOTech or similar. Also Vortex's EBR reticles scale well, but they fully illuminate the entire Christmas tree, which can be a bit distracting in low light.

 

[VarmLR]

I'd stick with a sfp for stalking.  FFP can have very fine rets and even if illuminated the hash or mildots are still very fine at low mags which is where many shots will be taken.   I had a Delta Titanium 2.5-15 which was a better stalking alternative, lighter and better in lower light.  The only time I'd consider using one of my FFP scopes when stalking might be for some of my valley stalking or hill stalking where distances can go out to 400 yds on the rare occasion.   Even then, I generally use Strelok Pro to help, or my drop charts from load dev (laminated and kept in top pocket) so just have to estimate windage. 

[lapua]

A 3-20x50 pm2 with a p4lf will do everything very well, from woodland, long range killing, park culling and prs type comps. Will work well beyond the time its sensible to shoot and work well with all types of add on too.

[SikaJames]

Hi Ashcroft,

I have Swaro PV 2.5-10x56, which does everything in the woods & fields that I need.  In fact, I always use FFP for all my field use, even for 22LR & air rifle. 

Having an illuminated dot , or small cross, could be considered to help, for when on low mag;  but TBH, that's never actually felt essential to me.

For load dev, a slightly higher mag might be nice, but not if I have to loose , say,  4x  bottom end mag.   Perhaps 3-18x would be ideal.

 

I find using SFP is plain confusing, with hash-marks changing size on the target.  I've even converted my F-Open rifles to a March FF scope, which is probably 'unconventional thinking', but I'm very happy with it.

 

James 

 

[Richiew]

Plus one for what lapua said .

 I use ultra short pm2 5-20 x50 for the 22 lr , 17 hmr and the 223 . 
The hmr and 223 have a very close zero so that is on a spuhr quick release mount. The other one is permanently on a 22 anschutz for bunny control and zeroed at 45 yards so is also spot on at 25 . I have a copy of the p4 fine ret with my drops marked on sellotaped to the front flip up cover. Mostly used in the 10 to 14 magnification range even on the close targets. 

Finally there’s a 3-27x56 on the 308 target rifle. Great to spot holes in the target at 300 yards for load development. Before the above I would use a 6-24 x56 hawke , very good but second focal and don’t think it had a zero stop . Very happy using FFP for everything from bunnies and fox to longrange 700 yards with great results and some use upto 1000 yards. 
 

[Calum Desert Tech]

I Use FFP For everything, highly reccommend making the switch if you haven't yet.

Schimdt & Bender or Zero Compromise are my recommendations.

 

 

[JDT]

I myself was in the market for a ‘hybrid use’ scope like this to sit on a 22” 6.5 Creedmoor in a PSE E-tac stock ‘jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none’ rifle for both stalking and range work.

I think I’m going to go for this with the L-Ballistic ret:

https://leica-camera.com/en-GB/sport-optics/scopes/prs

Nice markings for holding on the range but without ‘Christmas tree’ clutter for stalking. Seemed the best quality for my budget (along with a suitable reticle). I’ve yet to purchase though as I want to look through one first.

[jcampbellsmith]

Whatever scope you go with, try and have a serious look through it before you buy. I've used SFP scopes for over 50 years and have currently settled on Swarovski Z6/Z6i for stalking with BHR reticles. 

For the MOA Challenge that I shot last year, I was using a SFP March scope with a MOA reticle. 

Oddly, I find myself using FFP on both .22s. A Mil scope for PRS 22 and a Zeiss scope for .22 long range (FCSB). 

It's horses for courses I think and changing scopes is slightly easier than changing rifles.

Regards

JCS