reticle fading ?

[rebs]

when target shooting what makes the reticle fade from sharp black to kind of gray ?

 

[efoleyjr]

Check the date on the calendar and compare it to your birthdate. I know the problem.

Ed

 

[JEFFPPC]

Great answer Ed! But, are you setting your PA to infinity , looking at the sky and adjusting the rear lens until the xhair is sharp and black? After that look at your target and adjust PA to proper focus. If this does not work.....look at that calender again.

 

[VA_XTC_Shooter]

I have noticed this when my eye creeps out of alignment with the reticle. It has been a red flag for me to check my head position, mostly occurs in Offhand for me.

 

[rebs]

This happens to me with a fine cross hair with target dot. When I first look the cross hair is fine but fades after looking too long. It doesn't happen with thicker cross hairs.

 

[wkdickinson]

I had a similar experience, but back when I was younger. I went to see an ophthalmologist and explained what was happening. After a thorough examination, he told me there was nothing wrong with my eyes and that often times when we do things that take a great deal of concentration with our eyes, we unknowingly stop blinking. That results in the surface of the eye drying out, which cause all kinds of problems. After that I made myself become very conscious of blinking during the aiming process and my problem disappeared.

Not saying it will work for you, but it sure did for me.

 

[fkimble@charter.net]

I've had that problem with guns that have not seen the light of days for an excessive time. I have to readjust the focus on my cross hairs because after a year my prescrption has changed. Also a lot of folks don't correctly adjust the crosshair focus. Have lost track of the number of times I've seen a shooter get on the scope and spend several minutes staring thru the scope while turning the ocular adjustment. You must take a quick look and then turn away. Change adjustment. Look again. Keep doing this til it looks good immediately. Otherwise you brain kicks in and tries to help sharpen the image.

Frank

 

[6MMsteve]

ocular not focused, also mirage from barrel heat can cause this also, and what year is it.

 

[JFrank]

when target shooting what makes the reticle fade from sharp black to kind of gray ?

Sunlight

 

[Mike Casselton]

Staring at it for too long without blinking.
Your eye is drying.

It happens more often the older you get...

 

[SSL]

This happens to me with a fine cross hair with target dot. When I first look the cross hair is fine but fades after looking too long. It doesn't happen with thicker cross hairs.

I had the same problem with a similar reticle, especially when in bright light conditions when the pupil contracts. Just so happened I had an eye exam coming up. When I mentioned it to the doctor, she looked closer than just the normal exam and found I had a cataract forming. Too small for a surgeon to bother to deal with at the time. I'm still waiting for it to grow enough for surgery (5 years now!), but I did change to a slightly thicker reticle. Worth a thought.

 

[rebs]

I had cataract surgery in both eyes and I am going to try adjusting the ocular and make sure I blink more