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Scope adjustments move opposite of expected.

EricE555

I had a weird experience a few days ago when I was out target shooting. I was shooting a Vortex Viper 6-24x50 scope on an AR15. I first dialed in at 100 yards and found I needed to move the up/down turret in the down direction to get the point of impact to go up. I then moved out to 200 yards and found the offset adjust also needed to be DOWN to hit dead on vertical wise. The right\left adjustments worked as expected though.
What is going on here. The elevation turret was mounted on top (in case you think I somehow mounted the scope upside down). Could it have been assembled incorrectly at the factory?
Anyway, completely stumped as to how that came to be.
 
The Parallax adjustment ( I'm assuming "offset") should cause no significant shift at 100 or 200. Otherwise, I don't understand . I don't own a 6-24 Viper, so I cant comment on whether the direction of the threads is as I would expect. My Golden Eagle has no quirks.

The elevation knob, should, on most scopes, move the point impact up when turned anti clockwise, viewed from above and the windage, clockwise left, viewed from the side.
 
NZ_Fclass said:
The Parallax adjustment ( I'm assuming "offset") should cause no significant shift at 100 or 200. Otherwise, I don't understand . I don't own a 6-24 Viper, so I cant comment on whether the direction of the threads is as I would expect. My Golden Eagle has no quirks.

The elevation knob, should, on most scopes, move the point impact up when turned anti clockwise, viewed from above and the windage, clockwise left, viewed from the side.
Click to expand...
My apologies, I was not clear. I just mean that to dial in at 100 and to dial in zero at 200 both required moving the up/down in the opposite direction one would assume. I did look up instructions for the specific scope and its' instructions are normal...dial clicks up in the direction of the up arrow on the turret to move the point of impact up.
 
How old are you? I have, of late, found it a little more difficult to comprehend some simple mechanical functions. Fkimble’s explanation is a case in point.
The scope says “up”. At the range, I think. Does “up” mean the crosshairs go up or the point of impact goes up? I think I’m losing it, sometimes. My wife wonders why I carry around a note pad to write things down.
 
Up is up, down is down . . . This is why I turned my SEB mini around 180 degrees. Initially, moving the joystick up moved the rifle up. Makes sense? Well... The target goes down in the scope. I could not, COULD NOT! wrap my stupid head around that. So now, up on the joystick moves the rifle down, but the target up. Much more intuitive for this knucklehead. I guess that's why SEB puts a stub on both sides.

To the OP: Have you used this scope before? Is this a new issue? I'm wondering if the scope is new and Vortex put the wrong knobs on it.

Also, I need to think this through but I'll float it at the group: Is the elevation knob on the left and the windage knob up top? If that happens and you swap the knobs to "be in the right place" can this give you the trouble you're seeing? Yeah, this is a WAG. I'll need to go play with a scope to see if my guess is plausible. After breakfast. . . .
 
joshb said:
How old are you? I have, of late, found it a little more difficult to comprehend some simple mechanical functions. Fkimble’s explanation is a case in point.
The scope says “up”. At the range, I think. Does “up” mean the crosshairs go up or the point of impact goes up? I think I’m losing it, sometimes. My wife wonders why I carry around a note pad to write things down.
Click to expand...
LOL. I do admit I am very close to 60. But my mental faculties remain in place, I believe.

To Krogen: This is not the first time I have used the scope but I did not notice this issue before. I have to wonder if maybe I just didn't pay attention. On the other hand, maybe I am losing it. I am puzzled enough that I want to take it out and shoot it again just to confirm my observation.
If, after shooting it again, i confirm this, I'll send it back to Vortex.
Also, I did consider what would happen if the scope was rotated 90 degrees from proper mounting. In that case, elevation knobs would be on the side and they would adjust windage. That is certainly not what is happening here.
 
Let us know how you works out. Just think about your target hits. If low you move the turret in the direction that indicates UP.... you move the turret in the direction you want your bullet to go.
 
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The turret is not going to be threaded the wrong direction, so the real question is did you turn it clockwise to move the POI down? A person can always misread, confuse the knob’s labeling, or forget what they did, but modern scopes move POI up with counterclockwise rotation, looking down at the knob. I think you had it oriented correctly because windage worked.
 
Hang on....if the barrel is pointing up...and the angle is greater than the bullet drop 0-100yds and 100-200 yds...then the scope would exhibit what the Op suggests...?? Look it's 5am and I have just had my first coffee and puff on my nicotine dispenser...am I right??
 
NZ_Fclass said:
Hang on....if the barrel is pointing up...and the angle is greater than the bullet drop 0-100yds and 100-200 yds...then the scope would exhibit what the Op suggests...?? Look it's 5am and I have just had my first coffee and puff on my nicotine dispenser...am I right??
Click to expand...
Yup! The cartridge is so powerful, it’s still rising at 200. Even at a thousand, it will cut a man in half. At least, that’s what I hear on the tv. Maybe I’m thinking of the Creedmore? :rolleyes:
Seriously, you may be right. I’ll have to look into it more.
 
^^ he said that “up” made it go down though. Even it it was high mounted in the gun and crossing the LoS twice with a distinctive and long gap in between, moving it up would not push POI down.
 
joshb said:
How old are you? I have, of late, found it a little more difficult to comprehend some simple mechanical functions. Fkimble’s explanation is a case in point.
The scope says “up”. At the range, I think. Does “up” mean the crosshairs go up or the point of impact goes up? I think I’m losing it, sometimes. My wife wonders why I carry around a note pad to write things down.
Click to expand...
I have had this issue for years. I solved it by always sitting behind the scope with the rifle in solid bags and making the adjustments without looking at the dial markings. Elevation adjustment is easy, windage can be problematic if the adjustments turn hard or the sporter stock does not sit in the bags very well. I got acquainted with this technique when I got into SR BR. During matches you usually have to make an initial POA change from the previous outing and a few sight corrections as the conditions change.
 
joshb said:
Yup! The cartridge is so powerful, it’s still rising at 200. Even at a thousand, it will cut a man in half. At least, that’s what I hear on the tv. Maybe I’m thinking of the Creedmore? :rolleyes:
Seriously, you may be right. I’ll have to look into it more.
Click to expand...
Yea, according to Hornady that C M is a bad boy. It will re-adjust it's flight path at 500 yds. after already killing a Moose and look for anything else that might be close by all the way out to 1000 yds. and sometimes further.
 
You wrote: My apologies, I was not clear. I just mean that to dial in at 100 and to dial in zero at 200 both required moving the up/down in the opposite direction one would assume.

Which way you need to turn the knob depends on where your bullets are hitting! Has nothing to do with the actual distance. Distance will determine how much the scope clicks will move the impact point. If you are hitting low then you need to move the point of impact "up", if your hitting high then you need to turn in the down direction. The up/down arrows shows which way the bullet will go, not the crosshairs, they go in the opposite direction, if you are looking thru the scope as you turn the knobs!

Frank
 
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@EricE555 I see you're location is Everett WA. At which club or range are you shooting? If it's one I frequent, I'd be happy to meet you there to see if we can figure out what's going on.
 
All your doing with the up and down turret is moving the reticle to the POI.

Ie if your shot is hitting low on the target dialing up will lower the reticle to align itself with the shot and move the POI up.

Up on the turret means you are hitting low and it moves the reticle downward to the low shot. Same goes for down means you are shooting high and it raises the reticle to match the high POI.

If you follow the up and down it will work to move your POI to the target or bullseye.
 
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