Please define "better eye relief"

[carlsbad]

I see people reviewing scopes and comparing them and will often say, "Brand X model Y has 'better' eye relief than brand P model Q". Eye relief is a distance. In astronomical telescopes, the 2" eyepiece holder was a boon because it allowed larger eyepieces to give wider fields and longer eye relief. For shooting scopes, the eye relief is generally quite generous to accommodate recoil. You can look these numbers up, generally 3-4".

Anybody got any idea what they are trying to say?

thanks,
jerry

 

[gambleone]

I see people reviewing scopes and comparing them and will often say, "Brand X model Y has 'better' eye relief than brand P model Q". Eye relief is a distance. In astronomical telescopes, the 2" eyepiece holder was a boon because it allowed larger eyepieces to give wider fields and longer eye relief. For shooting scopes, the eye relief is generally quite generous to accommodate recoil. You can look these numbers up, generally 3-4".

Anybody got any idea what they are trying to say?

thanks,
jerry

Just sales talk, IMHO

 

[Fotheringill]

The way I was taught is is how far away your eyeball is from the ocular lens. Generous eye relief means your eye can be further away from your eyeball while still getting a full sight picture out of the scope. Meager eye relief and having your eye right up there, especially if using a rear lens cover may result in the recoil coming right back against your skull bone (or getting scoped as the phrase goes).

 

[rkittine]

You will recognize people at the range that are shooting heavy calibers with short eye relief scopes. Instead of ring marks on their scopes, they will usually have half to 3/4 circle ring marks around there eye!

Bob

 

[Fotheringill]

You mean the guys who are referred to as raccoons?

 

[Sniper338]

Eye releif is how close you have to put your head to the scope to get a full sight picture. Some scopes you have to be closer to to get the full sight picture other scopes you dont have to hace the eye piece so close to your head. Good eye releif is nice to have

 

[dkhunt14]

You will recognize people at the range that are shooting heavy calibers with short eye relief scopes. Instead of ring marks on their scopes, they will usually have half to 3/4 circle ring marks around there eye!

Bob

I see it on the firing line when they come back with blood dripping off nose and chin. Matt

 

[dkhunt14]

As a side note the eye box is important also. Matt

 

[Tim s]

I see people reviewing scopes and comparing them and will often say, "Brand X model Y has 'better' eye relief than brand P model Q". Eye relief is a distance. In astronomical telescopes, the 2" eyepiece holder was a boon because it allowed larger eyepieces to give wider fields and longer eye relief. For shooting scopes, the eye relief is generally quite generous to accommodate recoil. You can look these numbers up, generally 3-4".

Anybody got any idea what they are trying to say?

thanks,
jerry

The word "generally" is meaningless relative to the question. If you are comparing 6X-10X scopes, you have long eye relief, if it is 10X vs 30x you're gonna see a major difference and " generally" is out the window.

 

[msinc]

I see people reviewing scopes and comparing them and will often say, "Brand X model Y has 'better' eye relief than brand P model Q". Eye relief is a distance. In astronomical telescopes, the 2" eyepiece holder was a boon because it allowed larger eyepieces to give wider fields and longer eye relief. For shooting scopes, the eye relief is generally quite generous to accommodate recoil. You can look these numbers up, generally 3-4".

Anybody got any idea what they are trying to say?

thanks,
jerry

It is easy to understand if you look thru a Trijicon ACOG...then look thru just about any European scope. You will get what "better eye relief" means real quick. Remember when the 2nd gulf war was going on and they would show clips on the evening news of Marines doing a sweep and clear in a building??? Notice how all of them with an ACOG equipped M4 had the buttstock on top of their shoulder and the weapon turned sideways like they were "gangster"??? They weren't trying to look gangster, no...they were holding the gun that way to get the ACOG close enough to their eye so they could see thru it!!!! One thing interesting about the ACOG...you cannot look up any eye relief. The folks at Trijicon must have been too embarrassed to publish it. I will tell you, it's about 3/4 of an inch.
I agree, many scopes do have plenty or at least sufficient eye relief...but the ACOG is not one of them. I understand some of the newer models have improved. Maybe another way to understand it even faster would be to say, "if you fire a rifle and the scope causes your eyebrow to turn blue and bleed....you need "better eye relief"!!!!!!

 

[JohnKielly]

If you get really desperate, you could google it. You could come up with an answer like this that might help: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_relief

It's even got a diagram.

 

[Ned Ludd]

The way I was taught is is how far away your eyeball is from the ocular lens. Generous eye relief means your eye can be further away from your eyeball while still getting a full sight picture out of the scope. Meager eye relief and having your eye right up there, especially if using a rear lens cover may result in the recoil coming right back against your skull bone (or getting scoped as the phrase goes).

This sounds like a serious medical issue to me .

 

[JohnKielly]

My bad. I thought we were discussing shooting, not pedantry.

 

[John Russell]

I have a background in astronomy. I can define eye relief better than wikipedia can. I know what it is. I want to know what "better" is.

Better eye relief is like saying this number 5 is better than that number 5.

--Jerry

"Better eye" relief is more eye relief. It is not rocket science.

 

[M-61]

+1
You want to be away from the scope so as not to have what we called a "Weaver Ring". I once frequently a very busy, well run range. It was always pretty crowed. In the parking lot,as you pulled in, you would see someone walking to their car with a bloody handkerchief to their eye.

The name for this I do not know. The distance that a full sight picture is there. I have a Leupold fixed 45. Ample or 'better' eye relief it has. However that full sight circle is only there in a minuscule range. It seems if I move my head the slightest bit forward or away I think I left a lens cap on.
I find this a real annoying characteristic. So what is that distance called, and is it common when you get to that power in a scope?

 

[dkhunt14]

I call it eyebox. When your head moves very little and all disappears. Matt

 

[M-61]

EYEBOX...perfect, thanks dkhunt14. Is a 'short eyebox' common or the nature of the beast when you get to the high powers?

 

[dkhunt14]

Some scopes seem good and others have a short eyebox. I am not sure what causes it. I have heard some say the 2013 Competition had a short eyebox. I heard the 2014 got made better from somebody that owned both. This is just what somebody told me. So apparently they can change or improve it. Matt