Just like Joe Friday in Dragnet, who said, "All we want are the facts, ma'am," a new digital reference gives us "just the reticles, man."

In his introduction to the Handbook of Standard Reticle Patterns by Manufacturer, D. Andrew Kopas writes, "The purpose of this handbook is to aid military, law enforcement, and civilian precision shooters in the selection of the proper reticle pattern for their respective mission. Given the wide variety of different reticle patterns used by the various scope manufacturers represented herein, including most of them in a single document can help to simplify the selection process."

Kopas agreed to make his handbook - now formatted in digital PDF format at 82 pages - available to members of this site, for free download.

I don't know anything about Kopas, other than that I'd heard he was offering this remarkable reference to the Navy Seals and military sniper units, without asking for one red cent in return. That's one swell chap.

He wants to assist marksmen and civilian long-range shooters in the selection of reticles. Kopas will soon be joining this site, and we've asked him to start writing about the reticles. Look for his "Reticle of the Week" reports coming soon.

In the meantime, you can download the handbook for yourself by joining this site and clicking on the "Members Only" tab up top. Speaking of the Members Only tab, that's the only way to get the Handbook - by joining this site. Click here to join

Inside you'll see reticles by:

• Schmidt and Bender
• US Optics
• David Tubb/Brand Cole
• Premier Reticles
• Horus Vision Systems
• Hakko
• Tasco
• Burris
• Zeiss Optics
• Hensoldt
• Mueller
• IOR Valdada
• Nikon
• Weaver
• Leupold
• Kahles
• NightForce
• Swarovski
• Leatherwood
• Pride Fowler
• Vortex Razor
• Darrell Holland’s ART Reticles
• Huskemaw Scopes
• Super Sniper Scopes

A Peak Inside: