Scope Question

That is a good question. Why do you ask? What are you trying to accomplish? Maybe if you answer these questions some one might be able to help.

joseph
 
Joseph,

Thank you for your reply. I am new to the shooting sports, so I am in that learning phase. There is an incredible amount of information to make sense of and it gets a bit confusing. I am far from ready to be a long distance shooter, but I am enjoying the process of learning. When I mount my first scope, I want to do it correctly. It will probably be on a Marlin 60 as per the advice of members here to learn to shoot economically. That being said, I am hungry to learn as much as I can. Thanks to members here, I am beginning to understand MOA, zeroing, adjustable mounts, target turrets, etc. and what it takes to shoot long distances accurately. Each time I learn something, it seems to raise another question. I think I understand mechanical zero as being in the center of the available adjustment range. What I don't get is - optical center. If I place the scope objective on a mirror and line up the reticle with its reflection, have I found mechanical center? Or, are they separate things? I learn better when I understand what I am doing and why. Once I do put together a long distance set up, I would like to try varmint and predator hunting. I would not even consider taking a shot at an animal unless my rig is set up properly and I fully understand what I am doing.

Tim
 
Hopefully someone more knowledgeable then I will chime in to help you out. I am not sure if the optical center is more important then the mechanical center which you seem to understand.

joseph
 
http://www.usoptics.com/index.php?page=instructions


the link has info on finding optical center . I think optical center can be different than mechanical center . the use of a 20 moa mount is to give the scope more elevation adjustment for long distance shots . this happens because the scope is adjusted way low at a 100yds zero and gives you most of the scopes travel to use for elevation adjustment for longer distances . Jim
 
Take a look here on how to optically center your scope:

Hobbies Forum - How to optically center a scope

Note that I usually use the second method described (the mirror method) and if I really, really want to get it exact follow it up with the "v-cut in the box" method.

Optical centering aligns the scope's lenses and internals so that they all point in the same direction and at the same spot. Mechanical centering just puts you halfway between the limits of the adjustment, and due to manfacturing variables that may - or may not - be at optical center.
 
Thank you for responding to my question. Please forgive me for taking so long to acknowledge your answers - Dr. Vette, eyeballjr, joseph, and jimbires, I hope I didn't miss anyone. Also, the links were very helpful. I will be starting small bore silhouette with my Savage Mark II GL 22lr soon. Any scope reccomendations? I was thinking Mueller 4.5-14x40 with AO. I am hoping to get comfortable with mil-dots as well as dialing for different elevations.
 
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