Ok, lets dispel this myth that all FFP scopes have cross hairs that are large and mask your target.
SOME FFP scopes have reticles that obscure the target. They don't all.
This is a Premier Heritage 5-25x with a Gen2 XR reticle. The scope is only offered as FFP.
300 yards, 3"x6" plate:
1125 yards, IPSC target:
You can easily put those crosshairs in the middle of the 6" head and see white in all four quadrants.
This scope loses very little (if anything) to an SPF scope in long range deliberate shooting. I've shot 900 and 1000 yards with people who are mostly shooting SFP and I have never been at a disadvantage.
That is the style of crosshair you want to take full advantage of FFP. It allows to do combined wind and elevation holds using the reticle. This is what makes FFP a superior system for fast moving/urban situations like they faced in Iraq. It is also
SUPERIOR for hunting for the same reason. The reason is that your crosshair hashes match your turrets and are true at any magnification. Just estimate the range or have a spotter laser the targets and relay the distance and you can engage them far more quickly than SPF without worrying what magnification the scope is set at. Easy to do if you know your dope. Run a snap shoot: 5 second exposures, random distances (lets say 100-600 yards and anywhere in between, not the single caned distance we do in DCRA precision matches), equally skilled shooters with each kind of scope. The the guy with SFP will get destroyed unless he sets his scope to the magic magnification and knows his dope in the units the reticle is in (why mildots with MOA turrets is retarded). That's what real life field use looks like, your target isn't always going to just sit there and wait for you to change magnification, make scope adjustments or do math in your head. Seconds count! Unfortunately, we can't run that kind of stage at most ranges, which is why people don't appreciate this. Most people's view of precision shooting is deliberate F-class style matches or matches at a fixed, caned distance.
Crosshair too hard to see at low magnification? That is why you
always get illumination with an FFP scope. Just leave it on out in the field. On a good scope, the battery will last for weeks. I tested this on my Premier with a battery that wasn't even fresh and it lasted nearly two months being left on continuously. And I bought the battery at the dollar store.
The other advantage is that if you miss and see the bullet splash or hole, you just measure the miss with the crosshairs and correct directly on the turrets. No estimating the size of the miss and trying to figure out how many inches/MOA/whatever you need to correct. You see people zeroing an FFP scope trying to figure out what the correction is the way out would with SPF when all they have to do is measure it with the reticle and correct. None of this walking the bullet onto the target crap, two shots and you're zeroed. Doesn't matter what the distance is or what magnification the scope is at, a mil (or MOA) is always a mil (or MOA) in the reticle, and you just plug that into the turret without having to calculate anything.
Most people have no idea how to take full advantage of FFP, or even the basics of how it is used. Many of the scope makers don't fully understand it's full use, which is evident by the type of reticles they offer. If you ask about FFP and you get an answer that focuses on ranging or having to think about centimeters, the person you're speaking with doesn't understand FFP or how to use it to it's full potential.
