Mirage Elimination

[Darryll]

A friend of mine says that mirage can be eliminated when looking through a rifle scope by using a polarized lens, or a pair of sun glasses with polarized lenses. Is this true? Are there any polarized lenses available to fit the objective lens of riflescopes, and if so who makes them? Thanks in advance.
Darryll

 

[Alex Wheeler]

I have not tried this, but I am sure it wont work. The nature of what mirage is means you can't eliminate it. I believe the better scopes only pick up more mirage, it seems that may to me. Some guys use it to read the wind. Mostly in F-class. The best bet is to learn to like it.

 

[RDavies]

NO, polarized sunglasses DONT eliminate mirage, though I wish they did.

 

[STS]

A friend of mine says that mirage can be eliminated when looking through a rifle scope by using a polarized lens, or a pair of sun glasses with polarized lenses. Is this true? Are there any polarized lenses available to fit the objective lens of riflescopes, and if so who makes them? Thanks in advance.
Darryll

Sorry to say, but your friend is wrong. You can decrease scope magnification to the point that you can't see the mirage if it's not to severe, but that doesn't mean it's gone. It's still there, you simply can't see it. Everyone seems to hate mirage but it is the truest form of wind indicator there is. It can't lie to you like a wind flag sometimes can. As long as the mirage is not a total wash out, so bad that you can't see much of anything, it is more of a tool than an enemy. I have seen many times where there is a whole range full of wind flags pointing one direction and suddenly the mirage reverses direction before any of those wind flags have even thought about reversing. Which way do you think the bullet will go? Mirage can't lie, the wind makes it move and it weighs nothing.

 

[DBailey]

I understand that some people shoot better without mirage. I wish that I understood how.
I am a F-Class shooter and for me, elimination of mirage would be the same as loosing my best friend.
I honestly can not remember a single day that I shot as well without mirage as I do with the mirage so thick it appears as if you are looking through soup.

I'm not an optics expert so I don't know why. But I can tell you that higher end optics (NF 12-42 BR's) have a tremendous amount less glare when the mirage is heavy than the cheaper scopes that I've used. If glare is the problem then maybe a polarized lens would help.

 

[M-61]

Polarized lenses do Not have any effect on mirage what so ever. Their purpose is to reduce glare. Hold one pair in the air, take a second pair and hold them out at 90 degrees to the first . Look thru the lens. It will be black. Rotate one pair slightly and you begin to see light...in the end both held the on the same plane and you see through them. Like looking through Venetian blinds and a 2nd set held 90 degrees to the first.... blackness. Kind of a crude explanation of how they work....but in the end should there be mirage you will see it perfectly clear except minus any glare. Whatever mirage is evident through the naked eye merely gets magnified by the power of the scope.

 

[CaptainMal]

We had so much mirage at the 1,000 yard shoot at Manatee Gun Club Saturday it was near impossible to see the targets.. Ironically I forgot my normal shooting glasses and used a pair of Ocean Wave polarized glasses I had in the truck for the boat.

Could not see crap through my Nightforce BR. Simple as that.

Oh --- no praise to the glasses --- I won the match on pure luck under hideous conditions.

 

[mr45man]

Out here in AZ i routinely shoot with prescription sun glassed (polarized)
12x42 Night force , 600 to 1000.

They have no effect on the mirage, allways plenty to go around LOL

John H.

 

[LHSmith]

3D glasses should provide the best depth perception to tackle mirage.

 

[mac86951]

From an optical standpoint, a Polarizer can reduce some of the mirage effects, but not eliminate it, thus it still won't help the shooter that much. If you want to try it, find a Linear Polarizer, not a Circular one. I'll leave out the optics lesson, but a linear polarizing filter needs to be rotated to the correct position (done visually) for it to block, or pass the light you need. Mirage is a general description, Heat Haze is moving so much, you might be able to block out some of the reflections from it, but you won't get rid of the wavy picture, just reduce the hazy effect that you have to look through. If you are having trouble with heat-haze, the filter is pointless. If you have trouble with the "sea or lake" effect (inferior mirage) near the horizon, the filter can help. Biggest problem with the filter however, is that it will reduce the amount of light passing through significantly. A camera might need 1-2 stops more exposure, YMMV.

A shield on the barrel is about the only way to really reduce Mirage (Heat Haze), as the barrel is usually the hottest thing in the line of sight, but I shoot in the high desert, so we have some amount no matter what.

 

[PALarson]

Obviously it matters what one is doing whether or not it would even be good to eliminate the Mirage. As has already been stated in this thread mirage is a shooters best friend. My poorest sores are when it is overcast and no mirage can be seen. As has already been stated the flags can and do lie. Sometimes in some ranges one flag gives the true indicator of the wind, and sometimes it is difficult to figure out which flag it is. Obviously if you can determine which flag is the the one it can be a blessing for a shooter. When one sees mirage it is a welcome sight for an accomplished shooter.
Paul Larson Mid Range and Long Range HI Master

 

[fr3db3ar]

You guys are far more experienced than I but I have to agree. As much as it clouds the picture it's your friend.

I was shooting @ 400 Thursday and the flags were blowing to the right, I looked through the scope and the mirage was moving left...I thought WTF? Looked at the flags again and they had shifted. Just in the time it took to look at the flags and move to the scope the wind had shifted.