For those that think FFP may fit their need for their style of hunting, this info may be helpful as there has been a lot of bad info given in this thread.
FFP scopes are not all 2-3k, far from it. You can get top end durability, repeatability and plenty good glass starting at around $600.
SWFA's SS line makes a great starter FFP for $600. It is a 3-9x42 with excellent glass, turrets, and durability. It offers plenty of power for shots on almost all critters out to 1000 yards and anyone will be able to determine if they like the FFP concept with this beauty of a scope. And they hold their resale well. In fact SWFA has a great used scope trade in program if needed. They also have a 5-20 that is top notch and have a mid level zoom coming out soon.
Bushnells tactical series, which includes a couple generations of HDMR, some of the LRS, and the new XRS series, are all FFP scopes and have what I consider to be one of the best reticles on the market. Their G2 reticle is simply fantastic. One of the best features in my mind is the varying thickness of the center crosshair vs the rest of the reticle. The center crosshair, the part that would be used for the real LR work, is very thin, .03 MIL or .1MOA which is thinner than most SFP reticles including NF's MOAR and is even getting close to the holy grail of ELR shooters, the NPR1. The rest of the reticle however is thicker which aids in shooting on lower powers or in dark timbered areas. The reviews have been through the roof on these scopes in terms of turret repeatability, overall durability, glass and features. There is a range from 3-12 to 4-30 so a guy can get about anything he wants. The 3-12, a nice starter FFP scope runs about $8-900 again with plenty of power for most LR shots.
There are a number of others models/manf. as well and manufacturers are coming out with new FFP models all the time, which makes me think there is an actual demand for them, but hey maybe I am wrong.
In my mind the truth on this topic is clear, in part because I have used both FFP and SFP extensively and still have a number of both styles and because if guys hung in and filtered out all of the bravado and testosterone, this thread shows it as well. For most big game hunters that are moving into the LR game, which is a large % of guys on this site, an FFP scope makes a lot of sense. Is it mandatory, no not at all but the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks for this group of hunters IMO. For LR shooters like myself, who love LR shooting but aren't married to it to the extent that they are going to pass-up a shot at an animal just becuase it is too close, but still want to be proficient at LR (say 8-1000 yards or so) FFP makes a heck of a lot of sense, especially if you like being able to get off quick shots by using holdover which I really like. And lets be honest, that is probably 95% of LR hunters in general and even here on LRH where there is a lot more dedication to the sport it is still likely 85-90% of shooters. Again is it necessary, no but the advantages outweigh the negatives for this kind of shooter in my mind. For those that will only dial for elevation and wind for every shot, then FFP isn't as important. For those pure LR hunters and ELR hunters, the SFP advantages, or FFP disadvantages, will likely outweigh the advantage FFP offers. But the new reticles and features are even making that a tougher sell for guys like me that prefer FFP for my general purpose shooting and hunting. And for the record I have never shot a tactical match ever. What must be wrong with me!
One other issue that was hit on a couple times but really not fleshed out as well as I would have liked is the benefit of holding for wind vs dialing. Again shooting style will dictate this to some extent. But I tried the dial wind thing and hated it for the way I hunt. First I want to be able to get off my shot as quickly as I can and still complete a clean well executed shot. Dialing for x amount of wind then waiting for that exact condition to return so I could shoot was painful, cost me a couple nice trophies, and lowered my confidence because if I knew I needed to shoot but the wind wasn't exactly back to when I took the reading then I was too focused on that and didn't execute my shot as well as I should have. Yes I am sure I could get used to it and I know a lot of guys do but I really like the concept of being able to dial elevation, calculate wind extremes and the holds that correlate and then use my experience reading conditions to hold for wind. I believe it to be a more accurate way of shooting in the varying winds I deal with. FFP is far superior to this style of wind compensation, again for my style of hunting.
I guess my encouragement to guys reading this in order to determine what direction they should go is to sit down and really evaluate how you are going to hunt, what style you prefer or are best at, what expectations you have, and what exactly you want to accomplish. That may take some time out shooting for you to get a good enough feel for different styles, etc. before you can make that decision. Then look at the individual advantages and choose what is going to work best for YOU. Not what I say or the majority says or what the poster with the highest post count or highest number of big game kills says. But what works for YOU after a good thorough analysis of what you need/want in a shooting system.
This thread made me chuckle many times. If I didn't know better I would have thought that we were deciding on which arm to cut off and how each would most drastically affect our shooting. It is just a scope guys and personal preference, style, and likes actually do come into play.
I think we need to move away from this diseased concept of "I think differently than you do so YOU suck!" If we were all the same life would be pretty boring.
Scot E.
