Relatively new scope user. Tips or advice?

[tonyben]

Now that I'm scoped, does anyone know a good read on tips and tricks to getting the most out of using optics? You know, a list of common mistakes and such?

One thing I was wondering was if you have to focus the scope at different distances and does it change eye relief? Is eye relief adjustable in most scopes to a certain degree? I noticed that I had to crank on the first ring of my Zeiss to get it in focus at 100 and with almost every shot the ocular lens would slightly hit the bridge of my nose. Thank GOD Zeiss scopes have a rubber ring at this area!

I looked like Rudolph coming off the firing line!

I also noticed some severe eye fatigue toward the end. My eyes were getting really, really tired. I was trying to focus on the target and it was dancing around like crazy!. The crosshairs would get blurry and sometimes disappear. I had to take some serious breaks and give my eyes a rest before firing some of the shots.

Also, I plan on getting a Pic mounted cant indicator.

My rifle was shooting great with iron sights so this was the first time shooting it with a scope. Here's a pic of my groups at 100. One of my groups had some wicked horizontal stringing. The center group was my best and it was 10 rounds...



Any advice is appreciated. The rifle is a LRB M14 with a Bassett scope mount and a Zeiss Conquest 3-9x50 with Rapid-Z 600 reticle. I made a hasty cheek rest with some rags taped to the stock until I can get a Kydex cheek rest. I was shooting off Caldwell bags placed just in front of the magazine.

Tony.

 

[ShootDots]

Here is what I do... Once the scope is mounted, I take it to my range. I elevate the rifle so I am looking at the sky.. I turn the parallax adjustment out to infinity. Then I turn the ocular lens (the lens your eye looks thru) til the crosshairs are very crisp and defined. Then you go to whatever distance you plan on shooting at and turn the parallax adjustment til the picture is crystal clear and WHILE THE RIFLE IS PERFECTLY STILL, move your head slightly up and down and back and forth while looking at your target. IF the crosshairs appears to move, you have parallax>>you also have "lash".. Your scope should be crystal clear and the crosshairs should stay where they are.. I had a BRAND NEW $1000.00 Leupold 45X target scope that when I did exactly that, I had a measurable amount of parallax>>> I had very bad lash.. I sent it back to Leupold and they fixed it.. When I got it back, it was crystal clear at whatever distance I focused it at and there was NO PARALLAX!

 

[dkhunt14]

If your eyes get tired and the crosshair gets blurry you are not adjusted right. If you bob your head up and down and back and forth and your crosshairs move you got Parallax. Either one can hurt accuracy. But parallax can kill you. I am not familiar with your scope, but I don't buy any scope without Parallax adjustment on the side or up front. Matt

 

[tonyben]

Thanks for the tips so far, please keep them coming!

I don't have a Parallax adjustment. Here's the scope I have:
http://www.eurooptic.com/zeiss-conquest-3-9x50-rapid-z-600-reticle-hunting-turrets-matte-black-demo.aspx?gclid=CIXUnKe6070CFVKFfgodyIEAvg

I'll have to live with this one for a while until I can get a good scope which may be a couple of years as I've got a big project in the works right now; but that project includes buying a high end scope after the build is done. The build won't be done for a year, then I have to save for the scope.

Tony.

 

[jrm850]

A method I learned that works well for me is to do as another poster mentioned and point the scope at an open sky. (or any solid colored surface that will give your eye nothing to focus on except the crosshairs) Look through the scope and within 3 seconds, rotate the eyepiece until the cross hair just becomes fuzzy. mark that spot. Do the same procedure only this time rotate in the opposite direction until it is just fuzzy. Mark that position. Rotate the eyepiece until you split the difference between the two marks. Also make sure you let your eyes relax between 3 second looks.

 

[CatShooter]

Now that I'm scoped, does anyone know a good read on tips and tricks to getting the most out of using optics? You know, a list of common mistakes and such?

One thing I was wondering was if you have to focus the scope at different distances and does it change eye relief? Is eye relief adjustable in most scopes to a certain degree? I noticed that I had to crank on the first ring of my Zeiss to get it in focus at 100 and with almost every shot the ocular lens would slightly hit the bridge of my nose. Thank GOD Zeiss scopes have a rubber ring at this area!

I looked like Rudolph coming off the firing line!

I also noticed some severe eye fatigue toward the end. My eyes were getting really, really tired. I was trying to focus on the target and it was dancing around like crazy!. The crosshairs would get blurry and sometimes disappear. I had to take some serious breaks and give my eyes a rest before firing some of the shots.

Also, I plan on getting a Pic mounted cant indicator.

My rifle was shooting great with iron sights so this was the first time shooting it with a scope. Here's a pic of my groups at 100. One of my groups had some wicked horizontal stringing. The center group was my best and it was 10 rounds...



Any advice is appreciated. The rifle is a LRB M14 with a Bassett scope mount and a Zeiss Conquest 3-9x50 with Rapid-Z 600 reticle. I made a hasty cheek rest with some rags taped to the stock until I can get a Kydex cheek rest. I was shooting off Caldwell bags placed just in front of the magazine.

Tony.

Focus is a poor word to use - the term that is used for adjusting for the range of a scope, is Parallax.

On the scope you have, you CANNOT "focus" or adjust for parallax at different ranges - it is a fixed focus scope - Your scope comes adjusted for parallax... "Focused"... at 100 yards. You CANNOT change the focus - it is not possible.

When you change power, the eye relief might change slightly, but it will be small, and you should not be affected by it.

Eye relief is NOT adjustable in any scope. What do you mean by "I noticed that I had to crank on the first ring of my Zeiss to get it in focus at 100... "

There is no ring to adjust focus.

You have badly mis-adjusted your eye piece.

On this scope, you set the eyepiece for your eyes, and then you leave it alone... it is "set it and forget it!"

To adjust it properly, you need to turn the eyepiece all the way out (counter clockwise) before you start.

Then, while pointing it at a blank wall or the sky, look in it, and if the crosshairs are not sharp, turn the eyepiece in a little, and look in it again, and continue to "adjust and peek" in small adjustments until the cross hairs just get sharp.

Then lock the eyepiece in place. If there is no lock, then note the setting of the eyepiece in case it gets moved.

If you turn the eyepiece further in, the cross hairs will look sharp, but your eye will be forcing the focus (which is what you are doing), and that will cause eye strain, and it is why your eyes hurt after shooting for a day.

That scope has 3.5" of eye relief, so you should not be getting whacked in the nose with the gun you have.

You might try keeping your face further back on the stock.

Here is an article that might throw some light (a pun ) on the subject...

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

 

[Road_Clam]

You may find that it takes a few tries to get your scopes eye relief set just right. I found that setting the eye relief in my garage was not working for some reason shooting from my LGC's shooting benches. So once you are comfortable that each time you settle behind your rifle (eyes closed) and open your eyes and you have an instant perfect sight picture now your good. lastly make sure you used some Blue loctite and torque the screws once your done positioning the scope. Good luck !

 

[tonyben]

Thanks again for the advice. I was talking about focus, though. The last time this was installed on a rifle, it was on my Savage 110 in 30-06. I zeroed it at 200 and the target was in focus. I was working at 100 that day and noticed I had to strain my eyes a little to get in focus at 100, so I turned the ocular lens to get back in focus.

I used to be in the Marines and was aircrew on CH-53E's back in the day. Part of my job was flying at night with NVG's (Night Vision Goggles). Some of our guys would get back from flying at night for 4 to 8 hours and have some wicked headaches and it was due to the NVG's being slightly out of focus. What we would teach guys to do is to look at something and bring the object into focus. Close your eyes for a few seconds and open them again. If it took a second or 2 for the object to come into focus, then the goggles were out of focus. We would adjust, close and open eyes and repeat until the object was immediately in focus when you open your eyes.

I used this same technique the other day, but from what I'm seeing, I was doing something wrong. After reading what you guys were suggesting, I turned my magnification all the way up and stared at a blank spot on the wall. My crosshairs were out of focus so I adjusted focus from what I used the other day.

R_C-
Thanks for your last post. I set my eye relief while in the standing position in the garage. I'd bring it up and check eye relief, then adjust until it was perfect. I'll set my eye relief at the range next time.

I'm thinking that the horizontal stringing on the 155 Berger group had to do with the way I shot with a scope that day, but I'll know more next trip.

I'll see what happens on my next range trip and get back to you guys. Again, I'm not an experienced scope shooter and I've got a lot to learn. Thanks for helping me out.

Tony.

 

[Road_Clam]

I have an inexpensive Bushnell Banner 6-18X50 on my AR-15 Varmint, and for shooting up to 200 meters the scope is perfect. However aquiring my target at 400+ yards gets to be a challenge for me (I have very poor nearsighted eyesight). So on my Rem 700 .308 Varmint I spent big money after much research and purchsed a Sightron SIII 8-32X56 and wow what a difference at 400+ yards. Better clarity, and more options for distance focus adjustments. I had a REALLY hard time spending $875 on a scope, but like so many veteran precision shooters say, "spend big money on optics, not your rifle". Here's a pic my Remmy Varmint .308, and some 200 meter groupings in shoots (keep in mind i'm a newer precision shooter) :






Here's my AR with the Bushnell Banner 6-18X :

 

[Shynloco]

Thanks for the tips so far, please keep them coming!

I don't have a Parallax adjustment. Here's the scope I have:
http://www.eurooptic.com/zeiss-conquest-3-9x50-rapid-z-600-reticle-hunting-turrets-matte-black-demo.aspx?gclid=CIXUnKe6070CFVKFfgodyIEAvg

I'll have to live with this one for a while until I can get a good scope which may be a couple of years as I've got a big project in the works right now; but that project includes buying a high end scope after the build is done. The build won't be done for a year, then I have to save for the scope.

Tony.

tonyben,
Just to be clear, what ShootDots was talking about in that Leupold 45X scope he sent back, had to do with a parallax error that ONLY the scope manufacturer can correct. It's NOT an adjustment you can make on your own. I've had to send a scope back to the manufacturer for that very error in the scope that they can easily correct (and clean the scope internally as well). And once you set your eye relief (I like 2 inches and you should not have to worry about tattooing your face via recoil) leave it alone no matter the distance you are shooting and the focus adjustment you've made. Just my thoughts.

Alex

 

[22BRGUY]

Another item that might help with leveling and tracking.

http://www.sinclairintl.com/shooting-accessories/benchrest-equipment/forend-benchrest-adaptor-prod35661.aspx