Crosshair disappearing. What to do.

[Bill3508]

Shooting today and my crosshair keeps disappearing. I can adjust parallax to see crosshair or target clean but not both. Never had this happen before. Crosshair just fades out. Very frustrating. Anyone else had this and know what to do or are my eyes finally jacked up?

Thanks

Bill

 

[hogpatrol]

Shooting today and my crosshair keeps disappearing. I can adjust parallax to see crosshair or target clean but not both. Never had this happen before. Crosshair just fades out. Very frustrating. Anyone else had this and know what to do or are my eyes finally jacked up?

Thanks

Bill

Uh, Need a little more info, i.e. scope brand and power, distance you are shooting, type of firearm/caliber, experience level, glasses or contacts, and last but not least, when was the last time you had your eyes examined?
Parallax is for target clarity and diopter ring on the scope is for the crosshair. Are you adjusting those correctly?

 

[watercam]

This is assuming your are adjusting parallax with it's adjustment and eye focus with the rear ocular focus adjustment.

 

[Joe Salt]

What watercam said. Ocular in the rear, aim at the ski or at a piece of white paper!

Joe Salt

 

[joshb]

Time to change reticle or scope? I'm using my illumination more and more these days. I might be getting older?

 

[Milo 2.0]

^^^Do what these guys are saying, this happened to me a year and a half ago, I had just never messed with the eye adj on a couple NF scopes.

 

[Bill3508]

Sorry, NF NXS 3-15x50 npr2 on a 260 ar10. I can open both eyes and the crosshair comes back but blurs the target, close one and crosshair disappears. Only having the issue on higher magnification. No glasses or contacts. 39 yrs old 100 yds.

 

[gotcha]

Sorry, NF NXS 3-15x50 npr2 on a 260 ar10. I can open both eyes and the crosshair comes back but blurs the target, close one and crosshair disappears. Only having the issue on higher magnification. No glasses or contacts. 39 yrs old 100 yds.

The ocular adjustment is the key. As per joesalt & watercam. On the other hand you might be developing astigmatism. Maybe time to visit your Opthamologist

 

[FatBoy]

This is an old article that Paul wrote (my bet is he still lurks here, even though his patience for BS has seriously diminished over the years). It's a very good read and should be required reading for anyone moving into a quality scope.

My bet is you have a combination of an out of focus ocular and a bit of astigmatism. This can be compensated for with fine adjustments of the ocular. Ideally, you would correct vision first but it's not necessary.

http://www.snipercountry.com/Articles/Parallax.asp

 

[Bill3508]

Thanks, I'm going to get my eyes checked. Never had problems like this before and the scope was previously mounted on another rifle that I hadn't shot in years. I'll work with the focus also. Thing is the reticle when I can see it is in focus, it just disappears when a look at it for more than a few seconds.

 

[watercam]

Seems like your eyes are straining. I would still adjust your ocular focus before anything else.

 

[hogpatrol]

Thanks, I'm going to get my eyes checked. Never had problems like this before and the scope was previously mounted on another rifle that I hadn't shot in years. I'll work with the focus also. Thing is the reticle when I can see it is in focus, it just disappears when a look at it for more than a few seconds.

Sounds like it's out of focus. Your eyes will adjust to it after looking at it. Like Joe Salt posted, look at the sky through the scope and quickly look away. Adjust small amounts and repeat. Do not stare at it while you adjust the ocular.

 

[savagedasher]

Sounds like it's out of focus. Your eyes will adjust to it after looking at it. Like Joe Salt posted, look at the sky through the scope and quickly look away. Adjust small amounts and repeat. Do not stare at it while you adjust the ocular.

Try a optical boost Larry

 

[nmkid]

Do your eyes produce enough tears or do you have, "dry eye" condition. I have dry eyes and always use drops before I start shooting and during. I always know when it's time to apply drops as things start getting blurry and the crosshairs seems to get blurry.

 

[XBBR Shooter]

Thanks, I'm going to get my eyes checked. Never had problems like this before and the scope was previously mounted on another rifle that I hadn't shot in years. I'll work with the focus also. Thing is the reticle when I can see it is in focus, it just disappears when a look at it for more than a few seconds.

"Thing is the reticle when I can see it is in focus, it just disappears when a look at it for more than a few seconds."

If you can see in focus, then it goes out of focus after you look at it for a few seconds, then the eyepiece is not properly adjusted.

The proper sequence for setting up a scope is, first you adjust the eyepiece (ocular).
You screw it out (counterclockwise) until nothing is in focus.
Then (wearing prescription glasses if you use them when shooting), you look at a blank wall, or the sky or something else far away.
Then you quickly look in the scope - the cross hairs should be out of focus. Turn in the eyepiece 1/8th of a turn.
Do the above again, and quickly look in the scope at the cross-hairs - if they are still out of focus, keep repeating the above until the cross-hairs are in sharp focus when you first look in the scope. Then LOCK the eyepiece in place (or make a note of the +/- setting if it has no lock). You don't EVER adjust the eyepiece again (unless your eyes change).

From this point on, you only adjust the parallax

 

[drover]

do the most important thing first - get your eyes checked. what you are experiencing needs to be checked by a professional, your vision is nothing to take a chance with.

drover

 

[Zero333]

Like others said, dioper adjustment.

Black reticle will try to fade on you when pointing at a black target. At least it looks that way.

Dioper adjustment.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

How long since you got your eyes checked?

 

[Bill3508]

How long since you got your eyes checked?

It's been probably 10 yrs.

 

[Dub]

It's been probably 10 yrs.

then that is where I would start