Eyesight through a scope

[apakesha]

My son (15 YRS) has a problem looking through a rifle scope. He cannot see the cross hairs. He can see the target but not the crosshairs. I've adjusted the eye piece in and out but it doesn't seem to make a difference. Has anyone experienced this and if they do what is the solution? He does wear contacts and needs glasses. Any insight would be appreciated.
Mike

 

[BoydAllen]

For an eyepiece to be in proper focus, it must be adjusted for the individual. What works for you, is way out of focus for him. Try adjusting the eyepiece to various settings throughout its full range of adjustment. I am betting that somewhere along the line, he will be able to see the cross hairs. Beyond that, there are tricks to properly adjusting an eyepiece that are important, and not at all obvious. If you manage to find a setting where he can see the cross hairs, want to know more about how to fine tune the focus, either start another thread, or PM me.

 

[necchi]

It's not the scope, the focus or his eyes.

It's an awareness thing, the same happened with my son,,
He didn't "get it" until one day at a Cabelas while crusing the used gun rack he picked one up and looked through it,, "BINK!"

Give him a scope off the rifle to play with, any cheap tasco or whatever will do. It might take awhile but soon the "lightbulb" will go off.

Don't push it or you might turn him off to shooting with a scope.

 

[broncman]

On a clear day, have you had him look through the scope at the clear blue sky? A white wall? You want something that he can not focus on. An object that has nothing at all the eye can focus on. Then the eye will find the crosshair and you can adjust the eyebox so he sees it clearly.

Another problem is an adjuatable objective that is slightly out of focus and you look the the scope to long. Your eye will try to focus the image and not the cross hair.

Basically you are focusing two planes. The image, and the crosshair. When correct your eye should focus on the crosshair and the image point of focus should also be on the crosshair.

The problem is when your eye has to focus on an image that the scope is projecting either in front of the cross hair or behind the cross hair instead of ON the cross hair. Eyebox focus your eye to crosshair, objective foucus image to crosshair.

Have him look away then into the scope then away a few times so his eyes do not start hunting for a focal point in the scope

 

[apakesha]

I've adjusted the eye piece to its limits in and out. Doesn't seem to make a difference. Looking through a Nightforce NXS 12-42 x 56 at 100 yds. I'll make an appointment with the eye doctor to see if they might find something or help him out. I'll try and have him look at a white background or sky and see if it makes any difference. I'll also let him look through different scopes.
Thanks
Mike

 

[BoydAllen]

If a scope has an adjustable objective, or side focus, and the eyepiece is properly focused for the shooter, the reticle and target are in a single plane when the scope is adjusted for peak target sharpness.

 

[K22]

A young person I taught to shoot had the same difficulty. In his case it was the manner in which he positioned his head on the stock.

I used one of my rifles that has a 4x scope and had him look at a white wall while I coached him on head position. First I had him close his eyes and hold the rifle in a position that felt comfortable and repeat this several times with his eyes closed until he obtained the "feel" of the rifle in a position that was natural for him. Then I had him repeat it with his eyes opened. He stopped bobbing his head around and soon was seeing the cross hairs.

I assume you checked which eye is his dominant eye and he's shooting out of that eye. If he is cross dominate and trying to shoot out of his non dominant eye that could create a difficulty in picking up the cross hair. This is more of a problem for pistol shooters than rifle shooters but you may want to check this if you already haven't. If he has to shoot out of his non dominant eye then cover the dominant eye and see if that corrects the problem.

Keep working with him - we need all the young shooters we can get.

 

[Forum Boss]

The son of one of the regular shooting buddy of mine had a similar problem with a fine cross-hair scope. This kid was a true "eagle-eye". Without correction (no glasses, no contacts), he was seeing and calling bullet impacts at 100 yards. I kid you not. The guy had like 50-20 vision (he can see at 50 feet what normal people can see at 20 feet). We solved the issue by using a scope with a thicker reticle.

Still it was pretty amazing at what the guy could see with his naked eyes. I still don't know why he couldn't see the FCH reticle.

 

[Immike]

Kids will drive you nuts trying to set them up for the first time. They accept anything that you hand them and won't say a word. If you have ever been to a good eye doctor they give you a back and forth test to see what is the best for you. I have a son that is autistic slightly and he makes me work at setting him up. I had a archery pro shop years ago and setting up a child was part of the job. You must gain their trust and relax them to get a fit.