Target Gets Blurry After a Few Seconds in the Scope

[dcali]

Make sure the ocular is properly adjusted. Start with it screwed all the way out. Keep your eye relaxed, taking breaks as necessary, and turn the ocular in until the reticle is sharp and focused. Then stop. Don’t go any further.

 

[highplainsdrifter]

Might also be dry eyes. You might try using some eyedrops to moisten your tired eyes. Sun and winds take their toll on your vision during the day.

I agree. As we get older, our eyes get dryer. When we are staring through a scope, we often do so for long periods without blinking. Thus, our eyes get very dry and our vision blurs. Try making yourself remember to blink frequently. If need be, use artificial tears between each string or group. I will bet that will change the view.

 

[Texas10]

Those "seamless" bi-focals are the problem. The sharp focus area is a thin strip down the middle of the lens, and what's happening is you are straying out of the sharp focus area. You can order a lens with a wider sharp focus strip at a premium, or buy glasses in a standard bi-focal, which is what I did and that ended the focus issue I was having. With the standard bi-focal you have the entire top section of the lens in sharp focus.

This was a really, really big issue with me as a pilot because I had to be able to move my eyes with out moving my head and see clearly as I quickly scanned both the panel and the sky for traffic. The blended lens is not designed for those who require acute vision, but rather for vanity.

 

[GotRDid]

GotRDid.

I'm of a similar age to you and wear contact lenses. For some time, I thought there were specks on my contacts, and I always tried to use a fresh pair for a match. However, I noticed over time that even fresh lenses didn't make the issue disappear. Turns out, I probably have what are known as "floaters", which are usually caused by small fragments of a protein known as collagen in the gel/fluid at the back of your eye. Generally, if I blink a few times and.or rub my eye, the floating spots will move out to the periphery for a short while and I can continue firing before have to repeat the procedure. Floaters are common in the aging process and you may have reached the age where you're really noticing them.

https://www.webmd.com/eye-health/benign-eye-floaters#1

My eyes have these “floaters”; mine are a bit more complex than the image I will include. Yes, they sometimes interfere with my shooting. I have found that a quick movement of my head from one side to the other shifts them out of my line of sight.


GotRDid.

 

[GotRDid]

Likewise, I have found that my eyes differ from time to time and I have to readjust the rear ocular focus to sharpen my view through the scope.
GotRDid.

 

[Ned Ludd]

GotRDid.


My eyes have these “floaters”; mine are a bit more complex than the image I will include. Yes, they sometimes interfere with my shooting. I have found that a quick movement of my head from one side to the other shifts them out of my line of sight.

View attachment 1104726
GotRDid.

Are you sure those are floaters? I've been watching "The Hot Zone" on television and they look a lot like Ebola virus. Have you been to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the last 21 days?

Seriously - how were you able to obtain those images? Very impressive! I tried to do that with my Hawkeye Borescope and all I got was a poke in the eye.

 

[msinc]

Well, I think you should {maybe you have and I missed it} check to see if it is there before you ever fire a shot. Then you will know for certain whether or not it is you. The reason I say this is because I had a similar problem. Fire a shot and see the scope go out of focus. Sometimes it would only last a few seconds and sharpen right back up and sometimes longer. I knew it wasn't mirage because the barrel wasn't even hot. Couldn't see what was happening while shooting, but saw it when a buddy shot his rifle. Two things happened and both I believe had to do with the weather. I don't know if it was a combination of barometric pressure or relative humidity or what, but I finally saw what was smoke from the round floating in the air ahead of the muzzle. There was no wind, so it just kind of hovered 20 feet or so out from the firing line. The cloud was faint and it did move very slow and I believe that was causing the out of focus view. Behind the rifle looking thru the scope the cloud was so faint I couldn't even tell it was there, just the fuzzy scope view.
The other one I have also seen a vapor trail {which does have to do with humidity} left by the bullets path hang in place and cause a fuzzy view. The vapor trail, by and of itself was a humidity thing, but the funny way it kind of hung around in the field of view {in place} for a few moments had to do with the weather conditions...pressure was such that it didn't dissipate, rise or fall and just kind of hang and no wind to speak of, at least not enough to notice it. Conditions have to be right for all this, so if you are seeing it every time you shoot in different conditions than I guess it cant be smoke or vapor trail.
One other thing it could be is just plain trying to look thru disturbed, upset air. Between muzzle blast and the bullet ripping it's way to the target there is a lot of disturbed air between the objective lens and the target. Wind changes it, but if it is otherwise calm you are trying to look thru that with a high resolution scope. Think of fumes at the gas pump. Air is clear, but there's a lot more of it in 100 yards. Couple that with springtime pollen......

 

[bennett ford]

Oxygenation of the blood has a lot to do with visual acuity. As an old iron sight shooter, the importance of breath control has been at the forefront of my shooting technique since I started. Try hyperventilating (3 or 4 deep rapid breaths) prior to starting the shot process. The older we get, the harder it is to keep the O2 levels up. I know whereof I speak
Bennett 7-9-40

 

[Beau]

I find that turning on the illumination helps sometimes.

 

[PAshooter20BR]

Blink more and often. I wear contacts and have allergies my eye doctor tells me it’s from over focus and I need to blink.

 

[Evlshnngns]

Make sure the ocular is properly adjusted. Start with it screwed all the way out. Keep your eye relaxed, taking breaks as necessary, and turn the ocular in until the reticle is sharp and focused. Then stop. Don’t go any further.

I'll try this.

As noted by others before, your eye is refusing to focus on the cross hairs. It has to do with the object(crosshair), and distance your eye is trying to focus on (3-5" away). I grabbed a different scope and it wasn't a problem. Reading glasses might be a solution, as someone else mentioned. Tired eyes before the range trip is also part of the problem. Scared the hell out of me first time this happened, hasn't been a problem lately.

 

[theallcineyes]

One possibility is parallax. Say a scope has fixed parallax of 100yd. The image of a target at 100yd coincides with the reticle, so everything is clear. However when the target is moved to 200yd, this is no longer true. Target will become blurry while the reticle is clear. If your try to focus on the target, the reticle may be ever so slightly out of focus.

It is correct to always focus on the reticle and keep your eye inline with the scope's axis, unless the scope has parallax adjustment.

 

[Beau]

I noticed this has been happening to me and I believe it is due to parallax.
My competition scope has a fixed 200 yard parallax. At 200, I seldom-never have a problem with loosing the reticle. Move back to 600 and it is a horrible struggle.

 

[Zero333]

I know the diopter adjustment is for reticle, but I wonder if playing with it a little might have any benefit with the blurring going on with the OP's sight picture. Brain and eyes can do weird things. Just a thought.