Etched reticle explained

[amac]

Would somebody please explain to me what an "etched" reticle is? I just received an explanation from a manufacturer that contradicts my previous understanding.

As the phrase "etched reticle" suggests, I thought the reticle was/is actually etched onto the glass. That's is not what I was told.

Someone please explain. Thanks

[Failure2Stop]

I thought the reticle was/is actually etched onto the glass.

That is my understanding: etched reticles are the result of removing material from a lens within the tube.

I am curious as to what you were told by said manufacturer.

ETA- FWIW, Wikipedia agrees with us.

[amac]

From unnamed said manufacturer.....

"That scope definitely does have a glass etched reticle and it is held in place with a lock ring. There is a bonding agent on the lock ring and the edge of the glass plate that the reticle is etched onto for added strength"

and....

"the way this reticle is held in place is pretty standard practice for any glass etched reticle...."

So, what do you think?

[Failure2Stop]

It sounds to me like the guy is explaining how the lens is secured within the tube.

[amac]

My concern expressed to said manufacturer is a non-etched reticle coming loose and this is the response I received. If his explanation of etched reticle is accurate, then all scopes have the same potential for failure - reticle coming loose and cross hair lines shifting.

[dolf]

"ETA- FWIW, Wikipedia agrees with us."

I wouldn't trust a damn thing that comes from Wikipedia!

[JSantoro]

...then all scopes have the same potential for failure - reticle coming loose and cross hair lines shifting.

Yes, but only because that's always been the case with optics. Anything made by man us mutable to begin with, and the little old lady likes to show up to the factory drunk from time to time.

This is true of any internal component; if any lens/prism inside a scope comes loose, there will be actual or apparent shift of the reticle. In the case of an etched reticle, it's etched onto a lens (usually by laser, these days, as there's no lands/grooves/jeweling as with use of an actual machine bit) and therefore the entire reticle moves if what it's etched onto comes loose, instead of, say, seeing a mil-dot hanging like an overripe pomegranate prior to watching it fall out of the FOV.

It's unusual, but there's still some optics out there made with an etched reticle on an independent piece of glass and set in front of a lens, but that's needless parallax, extra airspace, extra possible failure point, etc., so it's not common. The same circumstances apply; lens/glass shifts = apparent/actual shift of the reticle. This is the Luddite approach to an etched reticle, in comparative terms, as etching onto actual lenses isn't all that complex in the modern manufacturing sense.

[Failure2Stop]

"ETA- FWIW, Wikipedia agrees with us."

I wouldn't trust a damn thing that comes from Wikipedia!

Thus the "FWIW"

[amac]

Santoro, your explanation is consistent with my thoughts of etching. I will provide more info with personal experience once it's resolved. Needless to say, I'm shocked by what I'm hearing from said manufacturer. I didn't think "etched glass" was a subjective phrase.

[JSantoro]

It's subjective only to the ignorant, to an engineer, or to somebody trying to sell you something shitty.