Couple of Q's.....
does FFP or SFP affect how bracketing works?
Bill's card shows some blank spots... like the 2x8 at 54 yards doesnt have an entry. does that mean the 54 yard measurement is the same as the 55 yard reading? Same as the 53 yard reading?
Big Thanx to DeadEye for this series!!
Just to expand on this, FFP and SFP affect bracketing a lot, but in a good way. With a FFP scope, the brackets will always be the brackets regardless of magnification. This is because the reticle markings stay the same whatever the magnification. So if a cinder block is 4 mils at 50 yards, it will always be 4 mils because the reticle size changes with the magnification change.
An SFP scope is the opposite. If you bracket a cinder block at 4 mils at 50 yards at 16x, it won't be 4 mils if you change the magnification to 12x. The reticle appears to get bigger as you zoom out, so the cinder block would bracket at 5 or 6 mil instead of 4 mil.
However, you can use this to your advantage. For example, on my scope used for WFTF, I can change the magnification to make the reticle line up with a block, then see what the magnification is. So if I change the magnification on my scope until a block is bracketed by an even number of mils. I can then look at the magnification marking. If it's 30x, and 8.5 mils, I know the target is 50 yards away. If it's 8 mils, the target is 55 yards. I have a chart for the brackets of cinder blocks and kill zones at various magnifications for targets greater than 40 yards away.
Because Hunter class can only go up to 16x, there is less magnification range to be able to bracket by changing the magnification, but it's still useful enough that a lot of hunter class shooters prefer SFP.
The reticle view in Strelok is very useful for starting your bracket chart, but it takes practice in the field. Holding steady enough on a 52 yard target to get the bracket info is much harder than you think it is.
One other thing, there are a couple of match directors that think Hunter class isn't allowed to turn the magnification down. They think the scope has to stay at the same magnification throughout the shoot, even for offhand and kneeling lanes. This is an incorrect interpretation of the rules, but it's their shoot so they get to do what they want. So check with your local match directors before you spend too much time making charts and graphs for different magnifications.