ftr build starting with the scope. why did you pick your particular scope???

[mark the kiwi]

hi all. newbie. 2nd post after intro. im starting my ftr build from the scope. mainly because there are so many different aspects involved. so maybe here i can get people to quickly say which scope they picked and why for ftr that would be great. im getting all muddled up with how much zoom you need for 1000yd, reticle type, moa versus mil versus mrad versus plain cross hair, 1/4 adjustment v 1/8, first focal v 2nd focal, mmmm have i missed anything? im sure you all know what i mean. but i also wanna know why you chose your particular scope. and just a quick run down, i like the sound of savage and sightron to do my build. if im doing anything wrong here let me know. cheers, cant wait to participate! hay that rhymes! sorry its nearly midnight sunday here n i like straight whiskey ;)

[lal357]

i went with a sightron s3 10x50x60 lrir moa2 recticle for me it was weight i was worried about being over the weight limit for f t/r it was a toss up between a nightforce 12x42 power and the model i have now. there are 2 things i wish i had thought about before i bought it first is the paralex adjustment knob is a bit touchy and mine is a older model that has 1/4 click adjustments 1/8th is prefered. i'm going to conact sightron here shortly to see if/what they charge to change it to thier newer 1/8" click knobs if it is possible i will have it done most of my shooting is done at 300 yards on mr-63 targets which have a 10 ring of about 2.84" so 1 click would move my cross hairs 3/4" which has put me on the 10/x line each way before and cost me point (2nd,3rd placing). as far as moa ver milodt recticle its a personal choice for me i can go either way since for the most part you wont use them (i've used hold over about 4 times for wind when shooting 600/1000 yard matches.
1st vers 2nd focal plane is an arguement that has and will go on for ever target shooting at a known distance 2nd fp if prefer since i dont want the crosshairs to grow when i zoom in. and as far as power goes get as high as you can you can and will dial down when mirage gets bad but it is nice to be able to set my scope on 50 power while everyone elseis sitting at 24,32 or 42 power on those magcal days when everthing is perfect . i think that about covered it from my standpoint others might have different views in the end you want to get the clearest optics you can it doesnt do you anygood to zoom in to 50 power and not be able to see clearly.

[mark the kiwi]

Thats the iluminated reticle?hows that working out for ya? As for the 1/4 v 1/8 i figured 1/8 would be better but other say it doesnt need to be that small n your forever turning the dial. Same for magnification. They say you dont need that much as you get mirage so dont bother with other 20! My theory on both those is you may as well have it even if you dont end up using it! Hadnt thought about the weight side of it tho but from what i hear the sightrons are pretty good. As for first or 2nd focal plane, wouldnt you want first even tho the retcile does enlarge so the the dots or dashes on the reticle end up the right size for adjustments? But then if also looked at plain cross hairs n thought they would be better since less clutered. This is why im starting the build with a scope. Seems to be the hardest choice!:o) cheers for reply. Got a pic of yiu weapon?

[lal357]

i love the illuminate dot on a black backround i turn it on for contrast off when i shoot the shot-n-see sighter target as for the 1st focal plane think off this your at 600 yrds and turn the power up now the x is only 3" at 600 by turning the power up on a first focal plane scope the cross hair can and will cover the whole x/10 ring up and maybe some of the 9 ring making it harder to shot it center with the 2nd focal plane the target get bigger but the crosshair stays the same letting you see the center better.
mirage can be a ***** i try and practice when it is the worse here to get use to it .it also will tell you how the wind is down there wave going straight up no/wind just heat , big wave going left to right light wind going left to right small waves wind is moving faster. its true i dont use my scope on 50 all the time but when i can i do use it .

heres a pic of me shooting @ A.I.M in blakely,ga.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b104/lal357/blakelygafclass1-5-13_zpsaef46dd7.jpg (http://s18.photobucket.com/user/lal357/media/blakelygafclass1-5-13_zpsaef46dd7.jpg.html)
heres another with my son the rifle on the left is my tigershark 223 f t/r right is my 308 f t/r its a lrpv with a 30" shelin select match barrel

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b104/lal357/fclassteammatch016.jpg (http://s18.photobucket.com/user/lal357/media/fclassteammatch016.jpg.html)

[lal357]

i have since went with a sinclair gen 3 f class bipod

[lal357]

you will find out its addictive me,my son and wife all shoot fclass and i have biult 4 rifles for me and one i gave to a friend of mine who moved to new mexico.

[shooterfclass]

I'm just getting into fclass also, the only advice on scopes I can give you is buy a reputable brand with repeatability in the turrets. And don't buy a scope and realize later it only has 40 or leas moa. I would recommend a minimum of 60 - 70 and even with that you my still need a 20 moa rail which I would suggest anyway. As far as power I would want at least 16, the target pit crew will pull target at each shot and mark the hole and you won't have any problem seing it with a decent scope. I have a Night force 5-25x56 on my fclass open (130moa) and a Sightron SIII 6-24x50 on my ftr class (100 moa). The Nightforce is very nice and I've never shot 1000 yet but honestly I doubt I'll spend that much money again. The Sightron SIII is very capable and a heck of a deal IMHO

[shooterfclass]

If you haven't seen pit work at 1000 yards this is what its like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67iaCwzLBK0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[mark the kiwi]

you will find out its addictive me,my son and wife all shoot fclass and i have biult 4 rifles for me and one i gave to a friend of mine who moved to new mexico.


ah cool so you will know everything i need!;) ok the ffp v sfp im getting a better idea but if i get a sfp then you may as well have a plain thin crosshair with a dot since the dashes wont be accurate especially when your changing distance?

[mark the kiwi]

If you haven't seen pit work at 1000 yards this is what its like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67iaCwzLBK0&feature=youtube_gdata_player



ha thanks for that! i hadnt checked it out but the first thing i thought was terrifying! but the range im joining went electronic 2 months ago so it will be a little easier ;) as for your scope advice, yeah most say a 20moa rail but il def make sure the scope has plenty of adjustment also. who would have thought it would be so difficult! you also use 24 n 25 zoom. have you looked through them at 1000 yards? do most shooters use this size or are they upgrading to the higher mags now that they are better quality?

[lal357]

Oh I'm far from an expert just been shooting it for bout 5 years .pits are nice but I have shot some 600 matches where they don't have pits and you must rely on your spotter or do what I do and sit your spotting scope next to your mat and look for yourself .a spotter is better since he can watch your vapor trail when me and my son shoot we will spot for each other as a team.
The 20 moa bases are a nice fix for 1000 yard shooting just check and make sure you can still shoot at 100 yards encase you shoot and across the course match I shoot at one place where you start at 100 then work your way out 100,200,300,400 then they pull a chip out for the last one anywhere from 500-1000 yards .
I use the hash marks for wind changes I set my scope up for prevailing winds then if it changes I use the hash arks but t each there own I don't like easing with my turrets every shot.

Sent from my HP 7 using Tapatalk

[shooterfclass]

I've only shot 1 fclass style comp so far @ 1000. I used My Sightron, I could not see numbers or rings through the mirage, possibly with less mirage but I'm not sure. It would be nice to see rings in target but its not necessary be a use the pit crew also places markers outside of target ring that depending where they put them it is a code for what ring your in. I have heard someone say that they could see rings on a 36x weaver, not sure I believe them. I would like to look through one, Im sure the glass on my Sightron is better. The weaver is a nice price but I'm not sure I would like that much power because more magnification induces more bouncing of cosshair if your not perfectly steadty, I would want to try it first and it wouldn't be good for anything else but target shooting.

[mark the kiwi]

Awesome info cheers :o) i was looking on the sightron website last night at the x50 zooms but the finecross hair with hashmarks had only 1/4 adjustments and the thickercross here with dots had 1/8 but the 2nd one looked like it would block half the target out but at that distance i think i need 1/8! This is so complicated!fun tho :o)

[mark the kiwi]

So far, i 99% on sfp, moa-moa, 1/8, 32 or above mag. Id like a thin reticle with dashes only on th horizontal for manual windage but cant seem to find 1. Im guessing with practice il know exactly the clicks i need for elevation when changing distance so verticle marks are not needed. What i did notice with sightrons at 50x is that they had only 50 moa adjustments n people have said you need more than that otherwise you wont get all the elevation changes even with a 20moa rail. Im like this with everything i buy.il go through all the evidence n pick exactly the one thats perfect for me. Sometimes works,sometimes doesnt ;)

[lal357]

i use a 20moa base and have no problem shooting out to 1000yrds with no problem using 155gr amax chrono'd at 2925 fps 10' from muzzle.

[lal357]

for just wind hash marks you might want to look into night force scope they have one like that

[mark the kiwi]

No kidding?! I havnt looked hard enough. Il check it out cheers.:o)

[mark the kiwi]

Thoughts on the march mtr 2 reticle?

[lal357]

if i could afford a march i would have one but for what i would end up paying for 1 march 8-80 power scope i could get 2 sightron 10-50-60's . i'm looking into getting my turrets changed out on my s3 from 1/4 to 1/8 click i'm going to try and call thier custom shop in the morning .....man i got way to many upgrades going on at one time just ordered parts to biuld another upper for my ar-15, got to start work on my next stock for my 6.5 creedmoor (mod.110), send the scope thats on the creedmoor to get custom dot installed , and nail down what scope i want on my 308 dbm savage that i'm planning to use in tactical matches.

[mark the kiwi]

if i could afford a march i would have one but for what i would end up paying for 1 march 8-80 power scope i could get 2 sightron 10-50-60's . i'm looking into getting my turrets changed out on my s3 from 1/4 to 1/8 click i'm going to try and call thier custom shop in the morning .....man i got way to many upgrades going on at one time just ordered parts to biuld another upper for my ar-15, got to start work on my next stock for my 6.5 creedmoor (mod.110), send the scope thats on the creedmoor to get custom dot installed , and nail down what scope i want on my 308 dbm savage that i'm planning to use in tactical matches.


i wanna live in the usa! you guys have some serious weapons! googled ar15. found some cool picks but wanna see a guy that went to far?
http://www.theoutdoorstrader.com/threads/156331-dpms-ar-15-AWESOME!-TRICKED-OUT!!!-Won-t-break-up!!!

as for march, yeah way put of my price but i like the reticle. went through about 100 to find that one. send some pics! ya guns n upgrades!
il hopefully get my f class intro this wknd. its a long process here on oz.