Is first focal plane worth it?

[Luke45]

I have never owned a FFP scope before and am toying with the idea for Long range because of easier
Wind drift hold at any magnification. Anyone have experience with these? Tryin to decide if it worth the extra $$$$(looking at vortex pst ffp)

[whiteknuckle]

Absolutely!

[missed]

I was going to go ffp on my new scopes but I didn't like how big the reticle got at the high magnification.

[Westcliffe01]

I have 2 of them. Both primarily coyote rigs. 4-16x50 FFP on the 243 AI. 6-24x50 FFP going on the 6.5x284. Frankly, I wish Vortex made an intermediate magnification since it is hard to use 24x since the exit pupil is so small. On the other hand, I could do with a little more than 16x. The 20x top end of the Nightforce scopes probably has a very good reasoning behind it. For now, I get more use out of my 4-16.

The 4-16, at 4x you can't see the subtentions, but at the range one would use 4x one probably wouldn't need hold over anyway. From 6x and up the subtentions are visible and at 9x and above ( what is "normally" used for a shot), one can very clearly see the subtentions.

I personally really like having reference marks that I KNOW are repeatable regardless of magnification to either hold for wind or use to estimate lead on running coyotes. I think without reference marks, learning how to lead correctly could be a very long undertaking. It is also good to know that in an "emergency" (isn't that how it always is with a coyote ?) I can hold for elevation and wind correction if I have no time to make any adjustments on my scope. I usually adjust the scope to 6-7x magnification to approximate the magnification of my binoculars.

[Luke45]

Those are the two scopes I'm looking at for my 243. I have a hslr vortex on my 6.5x284 (second focal plane) but I don't like the 1/2 minute clicks an not having consistant Moa lines at any power. I'm leaning towards the 4x16. Westcliffe any big benefit of going to the 6x24 over a 4x16?

[Westcliffe01]

I actually got my 6-24 for a lot less than the 4-16. But unless you will be working at long range all of the time, you may get more utility out of the 4-16. The ELR people (1000+ yard shots) don't like the reticle thickness at max power, but I don't think I need to split hairs over 2" coverage at 1000 yards. There is no shot like that where I live, at least for now..

You have to decide what the "typical" shot is that you take to decide whether 6x is acceptable at the bottom end and then deal with a self imposed limit at about 20x unless you have a LOT of time to get your eye into just the right position for 24x. For me 20x is a nice improvement over 16x under some circumstances. If you do go with the 6-24 for coyotes, I suggest a secondary system for close in shots (scope mounted red dot sight or similar).

[Luke45]

Great, thanks for the info on the 24X, i didnt realize they could be so hard to use in a hunting situation since ive never owned a scope higher than 16X.i'm leaning more toward the 4x16 now since its primarily going to be a hunting gun. I live in Wyoming so there are long shots! and for the close range work i keep a trusty single shot 20 gauge with #4 buck next to me for when the sneak in(ive hip shot a few at less than 10 yards when they get sneaky)

[yorketransport]

Depending on the use, the FFP can be worth it.

For a while I had 2 Leupold Mk 4 scopes, one 6.5-20x50 FFP TMR, a 6.5-20x50 SFP TMR, The FFP works great for "field" shooting where I was trying to spot and hits and dial corrections. A SFP reticle still would have been just as fast if I just held off instead of dialing the difference. The SFP was better for precise target work because at max power the reticle was noticeably finer. I ended up replacing one of them with a SFP Sightron SIII 8-32x56 and the other with a FFP Mk 4 8.2-25x50. The FFP sits on a hunting/field gun and the SFP sits on a target gun.

If you need to be able to range a target or hold over quickly at any power , the FFP is probably right for you. If you are just going to use a rangefinder and dial in corrections, I'd save the money and go SFP.

Andrew

[geargrinder]

FFP can be a hinderance at long range. If you have a small target, the reticle can obscure it. FFP is only useful when using the reticle for ranging and hold-overs.

SFP is a little tougher to use for hold-overs, but the reticle doesn't "grow" at higher magnification. If you are going to be clicking your windage and elevation, yorketransport is correct, save your money and get a good SFP.

[yobuck]

clicking or dialing (your choice of description) would unquestionably be the most precise time permitting.
time permitting is the key however when hunting. for follow up shots due to the essence of time holdovers
would be the most practicle way to go. especially if one has the habit of looking into the reticle while turning the knob.
mistakes can happen when dialing even with experienced shooters under pressure. ive watched it happen and had the
shooter argue that it didnt. next shot of coarse can confirm what happened. problem is that could be the last shot.
dialing to the hit is a quick way to do it if you insist on dialing. with any kind of reticle with reference marks like mildots
the hit can be transfered to the target based on where it hit. who cares what the spacings are.
just transfer where it hit to the target and shoot. as for moving animals we just dont shoot if its moving due to the posibility
of a poor hit. a coyote would be a different situation. but even with those the speed its moving plus the distance involved
makes it a crapshoot at best. shoot and theres some chance whereas if you dont theres none.
there is yet another option that works very well.
that would be a custom reticle.
up untill about maybe 10 years ago premier who now makes high end scopes specialized in custom reticles.
they were also a service and repair facility for leupold scopes. they only worked on leupolds and only
installed custom reticles in leupolds. realize that untill the 80s there were no knobs on leupold scopes.
they just didnt offer them and neither did others makers of that type scope. so the option was a custom reticle with dot
spacings set for any distance you preferred. windage dots or fine crosshairs could be installed also.
i still have them in 4 of my scopes and wouldnt even consider removing them. you can still dial
if you wish assuming you have knobs. but if your pressed for time hold your 500 dot or whatever and shoot.
although premier no longer offers this service there would be others that do. lee dots in alabama does custom
reticles also for example.

[Alleycat72]

My reticle on my FFP doesn't grow on any power. It's always the same size relative to the target.

[geargrinder]

My reticle on my FFP doesn't grow on any power. It's always the same size relative to the target.

OK, fine. Using your frame of reference, SFP recticles cover less as magnification increases.