Scope Sight Picture

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lot21

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Apr 15, 2009
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Got a dumb scope question, since the only dumb question is the one that’s not asked here it goes.

My two boys and I went to an Appleseed shot at Lima Ohio last Saturday. I was using a 10/22 borrowed from a relative since my youngest was using my usual 10/22. I had a horrible time trying to get a good sight picture through the scope. I had to constantly move my eyes around to try to not see black.

We are casual shooters, we may get out 10-20 times a year but I’ve never had this much problem with a scope before. My shooting was terrible because of it. Eventually the instructor taped some foam onto the stock to change my cheek location, that helped a little but it was still troublesome.

Now for the dumb part.

Are some scope designs more sensitive than other for this issue? I have never used the type of scope that was on this rifle. The kind where the muzzle end is about 2” in diameter and the butt end of the scope is around 1” in diameter. ( I can hear some of you chuckling). All the scopes I ever used have been the same diameter on both ends ( sorry I don’t know if there is a words for these different types).

I’ll be in the market for a scope for a gun recently returned from a relative and want to avoid the same problem.

Thanks.
 
Parallax.

It's going to be a factor of all scopes. Cheaper scopes are more subject to it than expensive ones, but you can't make it disappear completely. Also, were you sure they mounted it correctly? It almost sounds like they put it on backwards. (never seen that orientation as far as I can remember)
 
I'm not sure how to answer this.

As for seeing black in the scope, that usually has more to do with the distance your eye is from the scope. Moving forward or backward will generally help this more than anything else.

The muzzle end of the scope is known as the objective and is generally measured in millimeters, 40mm, 42mm, 44mm, 50mm, etc. The bigger the "muzzle end" or objective, the larger the field of view. Hope this helps you.
 
It is the "eye relief", that is, the distance from your eye to the rear lens that was causing you the problem. When you buy a scope, it should be mounted so when you move the rifle up to your shoulder to shoot, the scope picture is naturally centered without any black around the edges. Proper eye relief for your friend on his rifle will be different than the eye relief for you.
 
I took a picture of the rig before I gave it back. I thinking it was the distance of the scope from my eye. I picked it up the day before and didn't time to mess with it. It wasn't mine either and I didn't mess with they way it was setup.

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Take your rifle and loosen the screws in the rings so you can slide the scope back and forth. With your eyes closed, mount the rifle -- that is, bring it up into firing position. When it feels natural, open your eyes and, holding the rifle steady, slide the scope backward and forward in the rings until you get a full, clear picture. Leave the scope in that position and tighten the screws.
 
i think there are some erroneous responses above.

i recommend you go to the library thread in the rifle country forum and look for zak smith's articles on optics.

i like the "eye box" concept he refers to which is a combination of exit pupil and eye relief. if you get outside this (move your eye too close, too far, or left or right) you see black.

both of those are a function of the specs on the optics (things like the size of the objective lens, and the magnification setting, etc), not your eye. so a cheap scope could have the same specs and result in the same eye box as an expensive one. but it will be the same for two users of the same scope.

Vern's advice is good for mounting a scope. I'd add that you want to make sure you get a full clear picture on all magnification settings before tightening the screws
 
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