Scopes / Mirage

[CamTheBam]

Hi Guys,

Which characteristics of a scope allow you to see the mirage?

Higher mag., or smaller objective etc.?

Many thanks,

Cam.

 

[ronemus]

High mag and large aperture enhance mirage, as well as focusing at ~2/3 of the target distance.

 

[CamTheBam]

High mag and large aperture enhance mirage, as well as focusing at ~2/3 of the target distance.

Thanks!

 

[KY_Windage]

Mirage is like have a hundred gaseous lenses between you and the target. Any lens that is heated changes its shape, which distorts the image (light) that is passing through it on the way to your scope. With LR and a hot earth right below your line of sight the "lens" closest to the target distorts your image, then the next "lens" gets that distorted image distorts it even more, and so on and so on.

There is no way to "see through" such distortion. A very sharp, clear scope will give you a better picture, both on a cold day when mirage is minimal and on a hot day when it is high. Other than that all you can do is turn the magnification down so you don't notice the distortion as much.

Maybe someday someone will hook a computer up to a scope and have it track where the bullseye is every 1/100th of a second, then find the spot where the image appears to be most often, then show you that spot. That would be nice.

In the meantime, all we can do is try to make those calculations with our feeble brains, then try to shoot at where the bullseye is most of the time!