Scope qestions, parallax

[turbo v6 camaro]

hello

I have a Nikon M-308 Scope on my AR-10A

I read the stick thread about parallax but I'm still a little confused.

While i only have 100-200 yard at my home to work with...

Do i set the Parallax, for every range that I'm shooting? or can i set it on 1000 and leave it there

I seen a video from last years NRA champ, that you can leave a small black circle in the scope and make sure its even on all sides, thus making sure you are true on the scope, if I do this do i still need to adjust the parallax

this is my first scoped rifle.

 

[Bullet bumper]

First off you should set it for every range . However if you are shooting around the hundred then the 100 setting is OK but if you get closer to 200 then the 200 setting should be better . I say should because there is no guarantee that the scope will correct exactly right for your eyes at the ocular focus setting that you need to see the cross hair sharply .
So a good thing to do is test the scope at 100 measured yards on a target.
set the scope for 100 yards parallax correction.
get the normal sight picture , then move your head about side to side up and down a small amount behind the scope . If the cross hair stays on the same target position all the time it's correct for you at that distance . The whole image may move about a bit but the cross hair point of aim should stay locked to the same place on the target .
If it does not and the cross hair wanders about the target then the 100 yard setting is not correct for you at 100 yards range . Play around with the setting each side of the 100 yard marking and find the place where the cross hair is locked to the target and that is the correct place for your eyes at 100 yards.
You can do one of two things , do it at different ranges and remark the scope parallax knob or bell to the correct positions for your eyes or just do the head move thing to zero in on the right correction before a shot using the settings as a rough starting guide . For quick snap shots or running shots the head move thing is impractical and so is mucking about with the parallax to some extent so I do both . I test and remark some of my my scopes and I also do the head move thing to check for slow bi=pod shooting . However when I think moving game is likely , I select a setting say 150 yards and stick with that . Hope that helps .

 

[westcliffe01]

If the parallax is not tuned right, it can really mess up your point of impact. I tried a Minox scope a 3-15 that was quite expensive but had no adjustable parallax. With a rifle that I knew could shoot 0.5moa, the best I got out of it was 2.5 moa at 100 yards (the distance most non adjustable scopes are supposedly set for). I replaced the Minox with my Nikon Monarch 2 3-12x42 and shot 0.5 moa again. The Minox went back and was replaced with a Vortex Viper PST.

You need to test your scope at known ranges to see if the scale is off. If the parallax is not adjusted correctly the reticle will move on the target when you move your eye but not the rifle. All the adjustment is doing is making the image/target plane coplanar with the reticle plane. That way, if you move your eye, the reticle does not move relative to the target.

 

[turbo v6 camaro]

thanks for hte information so far, I need to shot more but i got my rifle in FEB and ammo has been hard to find........ its getting better but still hard to find

SO i know how to test for it now, thanks !


2 questions
what is the reason to move the scope forward and allow a little bit of black in ring? does that just make sure you are aligned with the scope?

if you are aligned with scope, does the parallax even matter? (because your eye is in the perfect center so side to side wont mater right?)

here is the video i'm talking about
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJOaIKvRASs&feature=player_embedded]Shooting Fundamentals - Eye Relief - YouTube[/ame]

good advice or gun)

 

[westcliffe01]

Perfect eye placement is just another thing to worry about (and screw up) in the second you have to take a shot. Get to know your parallax adjustment and then setting it is second nature once you have ranged an animal, or pre-set it based on what you are expecting to go down.

If you then need to adjust it, do so, else it may already be set up fine.

You can also get an idea of how close you need to be dialed in at different ranges. A tiny bit off is just a tiny bit off but of course at long range everything matters. At 100-200 yards you just have to be close.

 

[turbo v6 camaro]

Perfect eye placement is just another thing to worry about (and screw up) in the second you have to take a shot. Get to know your parallax adjustment and then setting it is second nature once you have ranged an animal, or pre-set it based on what you are expecting to go down.

If you then need to adjust it, do so, else it may already be set up fine.

You can also get an idea of how close you need to be dialed in at different ranges. A tiny bit off is just a tiny bit off but of course at long range everything matters. At 100-200 yards you just have to be close.

okay thanks, that clear it up for me, they are both different and necessary steps for an accurate shot, specially over 200 yards

 

[Bullet bumper]

That person may be a champion shooter but she knows little about scopes .
If you push the scope too far forward and create the big black ring you will loose field of view , she is a peep sight target shooter and knows jack about hunting I suspect. It is true that if you can place your eye in exactly the same place each time parallax will be minimised but that's the problem we can't , even with the perfect stock fitting because we shoot from all different positions etc.
What few people know is that even rotating the eye causes focus and parallax problems so just tipping your head down slightly changes things.
Also even the scope lens it's self may not be perfectly symmetrical and rotating it can cause issues. Set the scopes ocular focus first on a clear sky at mid power .
The best eye relief position is a compromise with variable power scopes . As the power changes the best eye relief position for that power changes ,
So what you do is find an eye relief position in about the middle of the power range and get it so you can see as much sight picture as possible . Then ramp the power back and forth to see it's still OK at lowest and highest power , adjust as necessary . Just jamming the scope forward is rubbish .
The best control for parallax is to adjust for it at the specific range and that's what the scopes are deigned to do then it don't matter if your head is not in the perfect + and - .001 position but you should still strive to have a good consistant cheek weld .

 

[theo98]

Scope question...to Parallax or Not!

With a non-adjustable parallax VX-III 3.5-10x50mm, my best 100yd. grouping with my custom .30-06 was 2 MOA. I stepped up to a VX-6 3-18x50mm with a side parallax adjustment and shot my best group at under .25 MOA!

Yea, the glass is much better and has a longer reach, but the tight reticle picture (stays on target with any head movement) due to properly adjusted parallax seems to have helped me out a lot in achieving accuracy!

Ted

 

[bruce_ventura]

With a non-adjustable parallax VX-III 3.5-10x50mm, my best 100yd. grouping with my custom .30-06 was 2 MOA. I stepped up to a VX-6 3-18x50mm with a side parallax adjustment and shot my best group at under .25 MOA!... properly adjusted parallax seems to have helped me out a lot in achieving accuracy! Ted

Are you sure parallax was the problem with the VX-III? Could it have been a mounting issue or a problem with the scope holding zero?

The parallax (focus) range on the VX-III would have to be very short, like 20 to 40 yds, to cause that much dispersion at 100 yds. If the scope focus was that far off it should be obvious when moving your eye left and right while looking at the target. Did you confirm that parallax range really was the problem? If so, Leupold will fix it under warranty.

 

[theo98]

Are you sure parallax was the problem with the VX-III? Could it have been a mounting issue or a problem with the scope holding zero?

Bruce,

My rifle custom build gunsmith did the VXIII install, torqued the rails and rings all down and obtained a repetitive zero for me. With his younger eyes and wealth of F-Class and open F-Class competition experience (won many), he was able to get consistent .5 MOA groups from this scope. However, the 100yd. parallax may still be a little off and my inexperienced eyes just couldn't maintain a steady straight on sight picture with the reticle.

The scope change (VX6) allows me to lock in the reticle POI, no matter my off center eye placement, and really is the only variable we changed with my hunting and ballistic setup. If I ever change scopes in the future, it will definitely have parallax adjustment!

Thanks,

Ted

 

[turbo v6 camaro]

That person may be a champion shooter but she knows little about scopes .
If you push the scope too far forward and create the big black ring you will loose field of view , she is a peep sight target shooter and knows jack about hunting I suspect. It is true that if you can place your eye in exactly the same place each time parallax will be minimised but that's the problem we can't , even with the perfect stock fitting because we shoot from all different positions etc.
What few people know is that even rotating the eye causes focus and parallax problems so just tipping your head down slightly changes things.
Also even the scope lens it's self may not be perfectly symmetrical and rotating it can cause issues. Set the scopes ocular focus first on a clear sky at mid power .
The best eye relief position is a compromise with variable power scopes . As the power changes the best eye relief position for that power changes ,
So what you do is find an eye relief position in about the middle of the power range and get it so you can see as much sight picture as possible . Then ramp the power back and forth to see it's still OK at lowest and highest power , adjust as necessary . Just jamming the scope forward is rubbish .
The best control for parallax is to adjust for it at the specific range and that's what the scopes are deigned to do then it don't matter if your head is not in the perfect + and - .001 position but you should still strive to have a good consistant cheek weld .

Thanks for the feedback, I usually leave this scope on 16x since its not FFP type