Originally Posted by
darkker
1) It's only a "trend" if you are a Merrican shooter, they are and have been widely adapted in Europe. Our market is the one late to the dance.
2) This is a double edged sword. If you want to accurately gauge how far off the mark your shot was, then at a magnification other than what the SFP was calibrated for; it is also subject to your complaint of less desirable. Nothing is perfect, but this is a dishonest example since it applies to both.
3) This confuses me, unless you have an unbelieveably cheap scope, you Never lose part of the reticle in the FFP with magnification. IF and you better be sure they tell you this, IF your scope is actually a 5-24X then you could scale it. The trouble is that many scopes are never that precise, like Leupy, they never exactly match, nor is the mag ring exact enough for you to linearly do that. If you like guessing and approximating, then it is close. If you don't want to tinker, guess, and approximate then get a FFP.
Also lets be honest about what the OP wants. Since he is just starting out, a variable with a top end in the stated 24X range; that will be a supremely expensive scope, if you actually want optics with any form of clarity.
A guy who wants to learn and get past 100 yards is great, but I can't in good conscience tell him to go drop $1-3,000 on a scope. When you children first get their driving license, do you go buy them a $70,000 car?
Significant instances where FFP has the advantage in a variable-power scope:
--Quick adjustments for wind or lead. Especially if you are chasing a fast mover like coyotes or prarie dogs. You can hold or dial without looking at power and deciding how to math it out for actual difference. Your scope is always correct.
--Multiple targets at multiple ranges. Whether against the clock at a match, or multiple critters and likely scattering. You can adjust by sound of clicks or hold regardless of your magnification. You also have instant feedback on how far off your shot was, without having to look at the magnification and do your math to decide how far off the mark you were.
Significant instances where SFP has the advantage in a variable-power scope:
--Shooting at very high magnification with very small targets. While a FFP reticle can also work well here, as you pointed out the low mag size is less than desirable. But this is more of a fixed bullseye shooting situation.
FFP is more expensive to build correctly or accurately. As many of you already know, a fixed-power scope makes the whole FFP/SFP a moot point.
Functionally, SFP has no widespread advantages. If as you stated you can't be bothered to waste time dialing a correction, you REALLY can't be bothered to then look at your magnification ring, do the quick mental memory of how close to stated your scopes magnification is, then quickly decide how far off your SFP reticle is from reality and correct. You are bordering on trying to have it both ways in your argument.
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