From UK MOD website.

 

So, could somebody tell me the wisdom of putting a reticle like that?

Tip of the spike is the point of impact and the spike is lit up in low light conditions.

 

The SA80 in combination with the SUSAT sight is the most accurate battlefield rifle the British army has ever had - the introduction of which caused a change to the marksmanship test - it has been claimed to be most accurate battlefield rifle the in the world (which may or may not be true). So i suspect that whilst its not to your taste it does the job.

 

Unless im mistaken the SUSAT has better low light abilities than many other sights such as the red dot type.

 

The SA80s faults im sure have been done to death elswhere - and probably by me

A point I missed earlier. I don't think that RO picked the sight. The government was using the SUIT, which was very similar (and even more horrifying to those brought up on crosshairs, as the spike came down from the top.)

The SUSAT is a wonderfully simple recticle, with no clutter that distracts from aiming or observation.

From a Human Factors Engineering angle I'd go as far as suggesting that SUSAT is a product of genius.  What the aiming mark does is act as an 'arrow' pointing at the target.  Great applied psychology.  And most UK recruits have not been 'corrupted' by experiencing other types of sight and have nothing to unlearn.

European preference for a post? Any examples? the only other standard European infantry rifle optic is the G36 sight, which is a horizontal line with a circle in the middle. AIUI, the ACOG has a simplified recticle as well.

Where sniping rifles are employed, the telescopic sights used have crosshairs, often with mildots. Sniping and marksmanship is a different discipline to squad infantry musketry. Infantry, AFAICT, want an easy-to-acquire sight with minimal visual clutter.

The post, AIUI, contains a tritium light source or prism reflecting the same, so it shows up in low light without the need for batteries. Not sure where eye strain would occur though. Focussing and the like is sorted by the optics.

The tip of the sight that looks rather small. Though it should be no strain when compared to iron sights, I just find those new laser dots or projected HUD dot sights, easier to acquire put on target than a post. Is the sight able to be focused or like those which are fixed 1.5 X or 2 X magnification?

The No.32 sight used on the No.4 (T) sniping rifle has a post with a horizontal line  ht*p://enfieldrifles.profusehost.net/ri10a.htm

Interestingly, it was apparently originally developed for the Bren gun.

The GPMG uses a C2 sight in the sustained fire role, which is also used on the L16 mortar.

The 0.5" heavy machine gun, in British service, is fitted with a softmount to which a SUSAT is fitted.

The C2 is not a conventional sight as you might think it is, its more of an 'angle measurer'.

 

not sure if it's been mentioned here already [sorry i'm lazy] but a bonus with the 'arrow' reticle is that it allows the shooter to focus on the target more whilst not losing focus on the point of the reticle. with crosshairs or norm iron sights, the average shooter can find it difficult to both focus on the exact point they wish to hit, and the crosshair/front pin at the same time. if that makes any sense to anyone...

Phototropic drift........................Yes BtB, it makes perfect sense to me. So a HFE did look at that sight and make a design input, maybe based on that factor? Learn something new every day.

Thanks.

Herald

...i'd imagine there was a method to their madness. It's a simple concept, look down a standard 'notch and pin' iron sight [air-rifle will do] at a five of whatever playing card for example at about 20 feet. Aim for the centre symbol [for example the centre diamond on the card]. now try focusing on that sysmbol whilst also focusing on keeping the pin in the notch on the sight. Tricky... whereas with this method of reticle, it is simple for the shooter to focus on their desired point of impact and where the tip of the pin is located at the same time.