Help....my wife cant see consistently through th scope.

[StumpGrinder]

My wife love to hunt but she has been getting very frustrated because she can't see through a scope consistently. She missed the opportunity on a buck last year because she couldn't see through the scope. Its bad enough that she's not eaven excited about our elk hunt next week.

Is there a somewhere she can take some shooting classes and get professionally fitted so she can enjoy going again.

I have tried to help but I dont know how and it normally ends in a fight, from what I can see she is shouldering the gun to low and can't get a check weld but she says its comfortable there. I'm going to make a foam riser for the stock at work today.

It looks like fit may be the problem, shotgunners know how important fit is to accurate shooting. A good exercise is to pick a spot on the wall, close both eyes and mount the rifle. If it fits correctly you should be looking very close to that spot when you open your eyes. This workes for open sights and scopes. If the barrel is high the stock is to short, if low it's to long. A good rule of thumb is with the recoil pad in the crook of your and hand extended towards the pistol grip, your index finger should just reach the trigger to the first joint as if you were going to fire it. People spend lots of money fine tuning the fit of a shotgun but seldom pay much attention to the fit of a rifle!

 

[corsair4360]

It looks like fit may be the problem, shotgunners know how important fit is to accurate shooting. A good exercise is to pick a spot on the wall, close both eyes and mount the rifle. If it fits correctly you should be looking very close to that spot when you open your eyes. This workes for open sights and scopes. If the barrel is high the stock is to short, if low it's to long. A good rule of thumb is with the recoil pad in the crook of your and hand extended towards the pistol grip, your index finger should just reach the trigger to the first joint as if you were going to fire it. People spend lots of money fine tuning the fit of a shotgun but seldom pay much attention to the fit of a rifle!

The real question embedded in your post is " what are your wife's arm length, shoulder width, neck length, etc etc" When you get those measurements compare them to others and their rifle fit, use yourself if no-one is available.

Wish I had thought of this years ago, my wife likes to shoot, but getting her away from her stuff is always a challenge.

 

[olyeller]

First thing I see is the same problem my wife has. I finally got her to quit holding the rifle straight in front of her (Shoulders square to LOS, like your wife's picture is)
Your left shoulder is in front of your right, she needs to do the same.
Have her stand up and hold the rifle angled way around to the left, like off-hand shooting. Bet that she does a lot better.

 

[WildBillG]

From the looks of the pictures your wife is not far enough up the stock. Is this her rifle or does she just borrow one of your rifles. If she rely likes to shoot and hunt it maybe time to get her a rifle. A good all round rifle that will not beat her up but has enough power to kill what ever you 2 hunt. Then set that rifle up so it is perfectly comfortable for her. That means no crawling up the stock on the highest scope setting which I think is what her problem is you described.
One other thing though has she complained any about other seeing issues. It is off the wall but maybe this is an eye problem. I only bring this up because I have a few and they make some sight picture issues.

 

[StumpGrinder]

No a professor and hard to tell but you look considerably closer to scope than she is. Don't crawl into the scope but make sure her distance between eye and optics not too great. FWIW

I agree with many of the posts about eye relief and as I'm sure you know not all scopes are the same in that area. Some scopes may have 4" of relief while others barley 2". I have a pistol scope mounted on the back sight of my Mossin and it works great! So you can get a scope with longer eye relief but the rifle still needs to fit her. I ALWAYS set eye relief on maximum magnification, if not in lower magnification you may be able to see through the scope but the sight picture will be off center and will affect accuracy.

 

[yote-hunter]

My wife love to hunt but she has been getting very frustrated because she can't see through a scope consistently. She missed the opportunity on a buck last year because she couldn't see through the scope. Its bad enough that she's not eaven excited about our elk hunt next week.

Is there a somewhere she can take some shooting classes and get professionally fitted so she can enjoy going again.

I have tried to help but I dont know how and it normally ends in a fight, from what I can see she is shouldering the gun to low and can't get a check weld but she says its comfortable there. I'm going to make a foam riser for the stock at work today.

My daughter has this issue as well, we have went to extra high rings so she doesn't have to tip her head. She looks straight through the scope. She has also been able to use a carry handle AR with the high mounted scope to good effect.

 

[Hugnot]

I've fitted a few women up with rifles and shotguns through the years. The article by JDYoung is on the money. It is more than length of pull.

First thing - check dominant eye. If she is left dominant then nothing will make her comfortable behind a big RH rifle.

Then, generally...

Women have longer necks than men.
Women have higher cheekbones than men.
Their jaw tends to be finer (less 'square').
These three add up to the need for a higher comb on any gun.

Women have different chest structure.
The breast tissue starts up at the collar bone and grows thicker as it descends through the normal recoil area.
They have less muscle on the chest.
These mean the recoil pad needs to be angled to suit and is not as square to the bore like it is for men, usually the stock is cast off (outward from the centreline). Sometimes, the toe needs to be angled off a little to allow for larger breasts.

Upper body strength is less. A gun which is heavy out front is going to be a problem for most women to hold effectively. Lighter barrel and shorter forend.

Finally, in addition to shorter arms, women also have smaller hands. This means that the grip needs to be closer to the trigger so they can reach and have control, the grip is usually smaller so a good control is made.

So, take a look at a Weatherby Camilla for inspiration of a designed for women rifle.

Vanguard® Camilla - Weatherby, Inc.

The Vanguard Camilla Rifle—“designed by women, built by Weatherby”—incorporates a high comb, along with a number of other features that make this rifle superbly comfortable to shoot. Aptly named after the first lady of Weatherby. FINISH Barrel/Receiver/Trigger Guard - Matte, bead blasted, blued...

weatherby.com

Camilla.

BackCountry.

I've fitted a few women up with rifles and shotguns through the years. The article by JDYoung is on the money. It is more than length of pull.

First thing - check dominant eye. If she is left dominant then nothing will make her comfortable behind a big RH rifle.

Then, generally...

Women have longer necks than men.
Women have higher cheekbones than men.
Their jaw tends to be finer (less 'square').
These three add up to the need for a higher comb on any gun.

Women have different chest structure.
The breast tissue starts up at the collar bone and grows thicker as it descends through the normal recoil area.
They have less muscle on the chest.
These mean the recoil pad needs to be angled to suit and is not as square to the bore like it is for men, usually the stock is cast off (outward from the centreline). Sometimes, the toe needs to be angled off a little to allow for larger breasts.

Upper body strength is less. A gun which is heavy out front is going to be a problem for most women to hold effectively. Lighter barrel and shorter forend.

Finally, in addition to shorter arms, women also have smaller hands. This means that the grip needs to be closer to the trigger so they can reach and have control, the grip is usually smaller so a good control is made.

So, take a look at a Weatherby Camilla for inspiration of a designed for women rifle.

Vanguard® Camilla - Weatherby, Inc.

The Vanguard Camilla Rifle—“designed by women, built by Weatherby”—incorporates a high comb, along with a number of other features that make this rifle superbly comfortable to shoot. Aptly named after the first lady of Weatherby. FINISH Barrel/Receiver/Trigger Guard - Matte, bead blasted, blued...

weatherby.com

Camilla.

BackCountry.

Camilla sure looks good. I am now thinking of making something like her using an old take off Ruger MKII stock cut off just behind the tang and attaching a section, glued & pinned, that could be sawed and rasped into shape, then having the results duplicated into one piece of laminate or walnut of some kind.

 

[Tulsa Reiner]

I give another vote for the Beartooth Cheek Raising pad. I have it on two of my rifles and can achieve a perfect fit with it, avoiding changing to a new (more expensive) stock.
They can be had in 2 days using Amazon Prime.
One tip: it is most easily installed from the front of the stock, sliding it backward. This requires either removing the scope and rings (a big hassle), or simply removing the stock by loosening the action screws, which avoids the need to recheck scope sight-in just a couple of days before your hunt.

 

[Lompoc]

I presume by the way she is holding the rifle that she is right handed is she also right eye dominant

 

[Lompoc]

There is a simple way to check by using your hands and making a triangle

 

[Bert dwyer]

Elaborate a bit on the rig (caliber, scope, rig weight, brake, LOP, etc.. The tear on her cheek leads me to believe she is more than just a little upset about this issue.

 

[Txrockman]

My wife love to hunt but she has been getting very frustrated because she can't see through a scope consistently. She missed the opportunity on a buck last year because she couldn't see through the scope. Its bad enough that she's not eaven excited about our elk hunt next week.

Is there a somewhere she can take some shooting classes and get professionally fitted so she can enjoy going again.

I have tried to help but I dont know how and it normally ends in a fight, from what I can see she is shouldering the gun to low and can't get a check weld but she says its comfortable there. I'm going to make a foam riser for the stock at work today.

Had the same problem with my wife. I did 3 things move up in power 4-12x50 and a lit reticle. Leupold VX-R. We also made sure the scope was adjusted for proper view when rifle is mounted. Hope this helps.

 

[Bert dwyer]

My wife love to hunt but she has been getting very frustrated because she can't see through a scope consistently. She missed the opportunity on a buck last year because she couldn't see through the scope. Its bad enough that she's not eaven excited about our elk hunt next week.

Is there a somewhere she can take some shooting classes and get professionally fitted so she can enjoy going again.

I have tried to help but I dont know how and it normally ends in a fight, from what I can see she is shouldering the gun to low and can't get a check weld but she says its comfortable there. I'm going to make a foam riser for the stock at work today.

Te

My wife love to hunt but she has been getting very frustrated because she can't see through a scope consistently. She missed the opportunity on a buck last year because she couldn't see through the scope. Its bad enough that she's not eaven excited about our elk hunt next week.

Is there a somewhere she can take some shooting classes and get professionally fitted so she can enjoy going again.

I have tried to help but I dont know how and it normally ends in a fight, from what I can see she is shouldering the gun to low and can't get a check weld but she says its comfortable there. I'm going to make a foam riser for the stock at work today.

try first moving the scope front and back , until she feels right , most of the time , the scope is not in the right position

 

[DSMITH1651]

Where do you live?

Cokato, MN