Post by whitehorse on Dec 2, 2019 14:43:34 GMT
Plane Talking w/ Mat Manning
Mat Manning reflects on the rising popularity of first focal plane sights, and presents the scopes that airgunners should look out for.
Thanks to the consistent accuracy of modern air rifles – springers and PCPs – most airgun shooters now regard a telescopic sight as standard equipment. There is no denying that a modest investment in a decent optic can make a huge difference to results both on the target range and in the field.
For a long time, basic requirements didn’t extend much beyond reasonable light transmission and adjustable magnification. Over recent years, however, more and more features that were once regarded as extras have become the norm on airgun shooters’ telescopic sights.
The long list now includes finger-adjustable windage and elevation turrets that don’t require tools to tweak zero, side parallax wheels, larger tubes for an even brighter sight picture and, increasingly, the ability to illuminate the reticle to achieve improved contrast against dark backgrounds. Some scopes even feature integral bubble levels to help avoid accuracy problems caused by canting the gun.
The curved trajectory of an airgun pellet, which typically starts well below the central point of the crosshairs before passing through it, rising up above it, and then dropping back down to pass through it once more before falling to the ground, means that shooters need to apply hold-over and hold-under to keep shots dead on target over varying ranges. This has prompted further developments in the design of telescopic sights, and their reticles in particular.
Manufacturers began by adopting the traditional mil-dot reticle to give shooters additional aim-points that could be utilised to make quick and simple compensation for the rise and fall of the pellet.
The constant clamour to go one better than the competition has resulted in a wide range of weird and wonderful reticles with more reference points than any shooter is ever likely to require. The principle remains the same, though, and they serve their purpose.
Until very recently, most airgun shooters were satisfied with second focal plane scopes. With these optics, the reticle does not change in size when zoom is wound up or down, which means the aim-points used to apply hold-over and hold-under will shift when the level of magnification is changed.
With this arrangement, shooters either have to put in more practice and establish where to aim over varying ranges at different zoom levels, or simply stick to the magnification that best suits the type of shooting they do and resist the urge to crank the power up or down.
First focal plane scopes overcome that problem because their reticles change size in proportion to the target as magnification is increased or decreased. That means the correct aim point required to achieve a direct hit at any given range remains exactly the same whatever level the zoom is set to.
An initial disadvantage with first focal plane scopes was that they cost significantly more than their second focal plane counterparts – hence most airgun shooters’ willingness to put up with the niggles of the former system.
The situation has changed over recent years, though, and very good first focal plane scopes are becoming more and more affordable. FFP is now the big word in airgun scope must-haves, and most airgun shooters expect to see them on the shelves of their local gun shop.
Mat Manning reflects on the rising popularity of first focal plane sights, and presents the scopes that airgunners should look out for.
Thanks to the consistent accuracy of modern air rifles – springers and PCPs – most airgun shooters now regard a telescopic sight as standard equipment. There is no denying that a modest investment in a decent optic can make a huge difference to results both on the target range and in the field.
For a long time, basic requirements didn’t extend much beyond reasonable light transmission and adjustable magnification. Over recent years, however, more and more features that were once regarded as extras have become the norm on airgun shooters’ telescopic sights.
The long list now includes finger-adjustable windage and elevation turrets that don’t require tools to tweak zero, side parallax wheels, larger tubes for an even brighter sight picture and, increasingly, the ability to illuminate the reticle to achieve improved contrast against dark backgrounds. Some scopes even feature integral bubble levels to help avoid accuracy problems caused by canting the gun.
The curved trajectory of an airgun pellet, which typically starts well below the central point of the crosshairs before passing through it, rising up above it, and then dropping back down to pass through it once more before falling to the ground, means that shooters need to apply hold-over and hold-under to keep shots dead on target over varying ranges. This has prompted further developments in the design of telescopic sights, and their reticles in particular.
Manufacturers began by adopting the traditional mil-dot reticle to give shooters additional aim-points that could be utilised to make quick and simple compensation for the rise and fall of the pellet.
The constant clamour to go one better than the competition has resulted in a wide range of weird and wonderful reticles with more reference points than any shooter is ever likely to require. The principle remains the same, though, and they serve their purpose.
Until very recently, most airgun shooters were satisfied with second focal plane scopes. With these optics, the reticle does not change in size when zoom is wound up or down, which means the aim-points used to apply hold-over and hold-under will shift when the level of magnification is changed.
With this arrangement, shooters either have to put in more practice and establish where to aim over varying ranges at different zoom levels, or simply stick to the magnification that best suits the type of shooting they do and resist the urge to crank the power up or down.
First focal plane scopes overcome that problem because their reticles change size in proportion to the target as magnification is increased or decreased. That means the correct aim point required to achieve a direct hit at any given range remains exactly the same whatever level the zoom is set to.
An initial disadvantage with first focal plane scopes was that they cost significantly more than their second focal plane counterparts – hence most airgun shooters’ willingness to put up with the niggles of the former system.
The situation has changed over recent years, though, and very good first focal plane scopes are becoming more and more affordable. FFP is now the big word in airgun scope must-haves, and most airgun shooters expect to see them on the shelves of their local gun shop.
