The reticle is an optical device necessary for aiming and shooting, designed to point the weapon at the target accurately. It can also be used to track the territory and determine the exact distance to objects (if their dimensions are known). Reticles are either in the form of a metal stencil (in the simplest case, these are two overlapping wires) or glass with a pattern applied directly to it. The reticle is installed either in the first (located in the middle of the sight, the view is inverted in it) or in the second (located in the eyepiece area, the display is direct) of the focal plane of the sight. To point the weapon at the desired target, you need to connect the image of the target with the image of a certain fraction of the reticle. When shooting with unique hand wheels, the grid is especially moved, connecting it with the average hit mark. Choosing a scope with the right reticle is a challenging task. Most manufacturers strive to expand their range to please as many potential buyers as possible.
For this reason, many types, options, and sub-options of various sighting reticles exist. Therefore, there are also not so few questions before us. What kind of reticles are there? What are the best reticle types? How to correctly and fully use the opportunities that this or that reticle provides? This article will answer all these questions in a concise and maximally simplified form. Despite the endless number of options, several basic types of reticles exist. All others, as a rule, are their modifications or modifications.
Thin crosshair. One of the simplest and oldest types of the reticle. Allows you to point the barrel at the target. Everything else depends on your skills and luck.
DOT. Ordinary luminous dot. Most often, they are found in driven or collimator scopes. It is used where shooting long distances is not expected, but the target is likely to move quickly. Its main advantages: the luminous dot almost does not block the field of view, and it is visible at dusk or in poor lighting conditions.
German. The lower and sidearms of the crosshairs (conditional three, six, and nine o'clock) are made thick towards the edges and thin towards the center of the crosshairs. Wide "beams" of the crosshairs allow you to aim even in a hurry and have poor visibility quickly. The narrow central part does not overlap the target and ensures accuracy. Often such grids are made in the backlit version.
Duplex. All arms of the crosshairs are thick towards the edges and thin in the center. The development of the German grid. Very popular among hunters, as broad shoulders allow you to aim at a target against the vegetation, foliage, and other inhomogeneous surfaces.
Bullet Drop Compensation, BDC. It has a different scale on the “six-hour” shoulder. Allows range correction to account for bullet drop. Useful for long-range shooting.
Horus. Mesh with divisions on both vertical and horizontal arms. Allows you to take into account the distance due to the bullet drop, as well as the horizontal wind drift. Popular with long-range athletes.
Mildot. The shoulders of the crosshairs are marked with well-marked dots. The markup step is one milliradian (mil, mil). If you aim through such a sight at a target a hundred meters away, the division value will equal ten meters. In other words, with the help of simple calculations, this grid allows you to estimate the distance to the target and correct the fire on the go. It was created for army snipers. However, later it gained popularity among hunters. How to use the reticle features? As mentioned above, different reticles were designed for other conditions and provided additional capabilities. However, the distance to the target can be measured even with a DOT-type reticle. This is done as follows: serious manufacturers indicate in the accompanying documentation the size of the luminous dot in minutes. Knowing this and the approximate size of the target, you can roughly estimate the distance to it. This can be done based on the fact that a dot will overlap a target more the farther the target is from you. You know the diameter of the point and the approximate dimensions of the mark too. The method could be more precise but relatively simple. A Mil-Dot reticle will help you measure distance more accurately. To do this, you also need to know the approximate size of the target (averaged data for all major game types have long been known). Next, you look at how many segments of the scale the target occupies. For example, in your case, it will be 5. In addition, for example, the target will be a roe deer whose average body height is 23 cm. Next, we use a simple formula: multiply the height in meters by a thousand and divide by the height in mils (in scale segments). In our case, it will be 0.23*1000/4, resulting in 57.5 meters. As you can see, nothing complicated. The main thing is to know the approximate growth of the game you are interested in, and it is advisable to have a calculator at hand still. More sophisticated sports and special military reticles will give you even more options. However, you already have to build on the specific type of sight and its markings here. It will be necessary to consider whether the magnification of the sight changes, in which focal plane the reticle is marked, what is the division step and at what magnification it is correct. What exactly is this or that markup scale intended for? So that is why this reason, more than general recommendations, is needed here. Nevertheless, understanding its capabilities will be easy if you carefully study the documentation for your scope. However, your opportunities, as an arrow, will grow very significantly.
What is German # Reticle?
The so-called German reticle. The lower and side beams of the crosshairs are thick and well-marked, forming, as it were, a non-closed letter T. The upper shaft and the crosshair in the center are either absent or much thinner (so as not to block the aiming point). The main benefit of such a reticle is that a thick T is easy to quickly catch a glance, even in poor lighting conditions or in a hurry. Variants of the "German" reticle with additional illumination are pretty widespread. The German No. 4 grid is similar in parameters to the duplex grid. Suitable for big game hunting. For hunting, more professional aiming reticles are also used; these are the so-called BDC reticles (with ballistic drop compensation) and others designed for long-range shooting.
The German #4: Still Works
Reticles, like optical sights, are divided into tactical and hunting. The main difference between these types of nets is that tactical nets are all ballistic nets, while hunting nets are "simple." What does it mean? Hunting nets are more straightforward in execution since shooting is carried out at medium and short distances. There are, of course, sights for mountain hunting, for example, where shooting can be done at a distance of a kilometer, but the right hunters in an unfamiliar area at such distances rarely shoot; they try to get closer for an accurate shot. At long distances, shooting is possible but subject to ideal parameters (wind, pressure, humidity, the position of the weapon, and the target. Passing more than one kilometer through the mountains, up and down, more than one day, hunting down the coveted trophy, no one will shoot if they are not sure that Reticles are primarily based on a simple crosshair.
Ballistic (tactical) grids are designed to determine the distance to an object (target) to adjust corrections at a distance and downwind quickly. Ballistic reticles are used for accurate shooting at different lengths, all sights of military snipers and high-precision athletes, with a ballistic reticle. Ballistic reticles are also used in hunting scopes but are more straightforward and versatile. There are reticles for a certain caliber, mostly popular army calibers in tactical areas. These reticles work with a particular cartridge, and all divisions on the reticle are for a certain distance. The German grid is one of the most common and straightforward. The most popular of them are German #4 and German #1. You can see these grids with the thick right, bottom, and left (3, 6, and 9 o'clock) crosshairs that taper towards the center in the original style or with a dot in the center. Sometimes they come with a noon/upper crosshair, and sometimes they do not. These German meshes are usually backlit. In addition, it is the German reticle four that is one of the most popular among hunters due to its simplicity and ease of use.
Why the German #4 Still Rocks
It so happened historically that Germany is one of the weapons centers. There, at one time, the first-night vision devices were developed. Therefore, it is expected that when the need arose to develop a reticle, the Germans created several of them, which are still popular. We are talking, in particular, about the number 1 and number 4 reticle. The German number 4 reticle is widely known due to its maximum presence in the world gun culture. To date, the most relevant is the German grid number 4. The grid pattern turned out to be so relevant that modern night and thermal imaging technologies often use it for their development. Of course, the shooter's choice depends solely on several objective nuances: the size of the object of hunting, the firing range, and the time of day. It is worth noting that the popularity of the German reticle lies in the fact that it provides excellent ergonomics for accurate aiming.
As you can see, the leader among the reticles has already been determined; this is the German reticle 4. However, the essential criterion for choosing the type of reticle is the consideration of personal convenience. When you decide on the desired reticle, there is still much to do. After all, choosing the correct magnification, aperture ratio, and other sight parameters is even more essential.