Home AR-15 First Focal Plane v. Second Focal Plane

First Focal Plane v. Second Focal Plane

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Buckle up, because we’ve been waiting a long time to bring you this deep dive into a topic near and dear to our hearts. Find out the big differences between first and second focal plane riflescopes, and get some tips on which one is perfect for you.

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50 COMMENTS

  3. I missed a nice buck 3 shots in a row at 246 yards. It blew my mind because I had no idea what went wrong. Turns out, my 4-16 was a second focal plane and I was at 8 magnification. Learned a lesson the hard way.

  5. A person can use second focal plane as the first focal plane. A person just has to calculate the value of the reticle in a certain power. On a 20 power scope and the mark is 1 moa the same distance other reticle is 2 moa at 10 power.

  6. You left out two important points in your painfully short video that most Airgun channels cover when talking about the difference between SFP and FFP rifle optics, and that's the reason FFP optics were developed in the first place: Eliminating changes in Point of Impact and angular measurement while retaining versatility at varying magnifications.

    First-Focal Plane rifle optics are not intended for professional competition or reflexive shooting, Fixed magnification parallax adjustable optics are. First-Focal Plane rifle optics are intended for use where the user will be changing magnification frequently where absolute accuracy and reliability is more important than time spent or scoring. Situations like range-finding, reconnaissance, or variations in range all will require shifts in magnification that with a SFP optic will cause your POI to shift away from your POA as you dial your power up and down to obtain more accurate measurements or better field of view. FFP optics solve this issue by placing the reticle on a plane where the zero point of a given shooting system remains the same across all levels of magnification, allowing the user to shift magnification to range estimate, apply holds for wind and elevation, aim at smaller targets, or obtain a wider field of view/greater light capture without changing POI relative to POA.

    Under the vast majority of circumstances a Second-Focal Plane Variable-Power optic, or a Fixed-Power optic, is sufficient for any task, so long as parallax can be accounted for and the proper time and effort is spent learning and understanding one's optic and its relationship to the ballistics of their setup.

    First-Focal Plane optics are for special applications where the user can reasonably expect to be changing magnification a LOT.

    In my case, I shoot airguns for pest control and recreation, so I am constantly changing magnifications, and use a 4-14×40 FFP MRAD BTR riflescope. My pellets have a maximum point-blank range of 50 yards on a 3 inch target, a maximum ETHICAL range of 75 yards for a 1 inch kill zone at 17fpe on small pest animals(starlings, raccoons, possums, squirrels, pigeons, designated feral cats, wild rabbits, ground hogs, gophers. This list IS exhaustive. I do not shoot any other living creature outside of circumstances where I am ordered to by law enforcement or animal control, and never outside of this range.), and a maximum EFFECTIVE range of 150 yards on non-living targets such as paper, bottles, cans, stumps, balls, spinners, flippers, etc. For pest control I leave my scope at 4x power and can guarantee an ethical, instantly lethal, shot on any small game animal that spans one mil in calm conditions. Anything smaller than a squirrel, any wind greater than 5mph, any time I need to range a target, or even just to identify an animal to see if it's actually a target I've been paid to shoot or something I should leave alone, I increase my magnification.

  10. I find it strange that people keep saying holds on sfp are useless unless fully zoomed. Using multiples of 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 aren't difficult to figure out. Wouldn't necessarily have to use turrets since the holds are visible. More work than ffp for sure but they're not useless under max zoom…

  14. Well done! I got a ffp strike eagle 5-25 and if I had watched this video first I may have got the sfp. hunting coyotes up close and personal is a bit difficult on 5-8 power with that tiny reticle. illumination does help as mentioned.

  16. Excellent video!! As said before, when hunting in wooded areas, you rarely have a shot beyond 100yds, and unless you are posted in a large field, you rarely shoot beyond 200 yds, so your aim point is always the center of the cross hairs no matter which high powered rifle you are using. If you have a second focal plane scope, say 3-9, and your reticle has minutes/mils hash marks, then say at 3 power, each hash mark instead of 1 mil/min is now 3 mil/min, and at 4 1/2 power, the hash marks a 2x. But, in general, if you're hunting on 3 power, I would think you are close enough to the target that you would not be using any of the hash marks, and just go off the center of the cross hairs. Interesting.

  18. Decades ago, I bought a Shepherd Scope based on the recommendation of the 9ID MTU and a couple of snipers in 2/75 Ranger Bn. I paired it with a .308 M1A. I told the folks at Shepherd that I wanted the reticle configured for Federal Gold Match 168gr BTHP. If I use a heavier weight or lighter weight load, I have to compensate accordingly. But with Federal Gold Match, my rounds can be covered with a dime at 200 yards. I changed the stock just a few years ago to the new Archangel platform and all that bumping around changing the stocks didn’t move the zero even a little bit.

  22. All i want is SFP and seem to see the market ever increasing over to 1st focal plane, very few need to have a ret like this and its more expensive, i just want good glass good tracking and MOA on the turrets and ret
    Simple so why push the ffp , it must be about the cash, just a range finder and turn the turrets for me

  24. I'm a new shooter, and this was the best explanation of FFP vs SFP I have seen online – thanks. I have a Ruger Ranch Mini, shooting .223. The rings are 25mm in diameter. Can you recommend a scope for this rifle. Thanks again.

  25. This is in my opinion the very best video explaining the difference between SFP and FFP. I always show my friends this video so they can get an understanding. And this time I'm here because I want a SFP for hunting. Max range I'd take a shot is 600 yards and that's the absolute Max I could if I wanted. My last year's hunt was just as you said, not ideal with a FFP. I learned a ton from that season and now I want a 4-16×50 SFP with an illuminated reticle. I think this is the best setup for hunting. You really only need to shoot up to 300 yards or less and the center of the reticle is perfect to handle that. 4 power zoom for up close shots and 16 for 300+. 50mm objective lens is an excellent size for night time shooting and with an illuminated reticle on a low setting is just the perfect setup. Now if only Vortex made this 🤔

  26. Ok,….in need of some advice….. I have a Vortex Crossfire II 4x12x44 scope mounted on my Browning X-Bolt, chambered in .300 WSM. I have not yet sighted it in. Based on what my hunting buddies tell me, I should sight in at 100 yds, although most of the info on the ammo boxes reference sighting in at 200 yds. Now for the type of hunting I will most likely being doing, I really dont see me taking a shot past 300 yds….hell, 150 yds truthfully. So, having said all of that….I ask this, which range would be the BETTER range to sight in… 100 yds or 200 yds? Thanks much in advance.

  31. But the reticle does not change, right? Ever. It is the image that changes and the reticle and image "change" in relation to each other; but the reticle itself does not change. It's behind the magnification so it cannot change. The image grows larger and the values of the reticle no longer match the particular points on the image. Am I correct? Thanks.

  36. I use that same HST 6-24×50 that the showed. Perfect for hunting, specially varmint. I probably won’t win PRS or F-class competitions with it (first focal plane is faster) but is perfectly capable of precision at long ranges.

  39. big bore pcp air rifles should use FFP . You are not doing the long range but the hold overs and windage in the reticle is super important. However 2nd focal plane is superior to FFP in most hunting situations with firearms because most of the time we are using the center of the reticle to kill animals and we do it on low power and there is an advantage to not having to move your scope to 10 to be able to see the reticle.

  42. I'll give video 5 stars. Now, as far as the Vortex line of scopes, the one i bought for my AR is CRAP !. It's got all kinds of junk imprinted or etched on one of its lens, in other words NOT DUST. I'm reasonably sure i'm not the only one that got one of these factory screw ups. CROSSFIRE II CF2 – 31037 1x4x24

  47. For second focal point scopes, you can calculate your own holdovers and windage corrections at any magnification, put it on a card and laminate it. Easier to buy the slightly more expensive first focal point scope, however. Next choice is MOA or MRAD.

  48. Well if your holdovers are so tiny it means you are shooting at something very close so do you really need to use the holdovers? Just point and fire. SFP as your scopes max magnification increases just doesn't make much sense to me. At lower powers, you are so far from where the holdovers are meaningful that you are constantly spinning the dial, so maybe for 1-4, 1-6 or even 1-8 it might make sense but for speed, it makes more sense to go FFP where no matter where you are on the dial your holdovers are correct and you can just use them to put rounds on target. Plus it is my understanding that the quality of the glass used with FFP scopes is superior in general to SFP scopes, which is another significant advantage.

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