I am the guy who likes cheap scopes... I shoot Bushnells and Simmons and old Redfield scopes... I have a few spares, and I buy one to add to the inventory when I see something that strikes my fancy... Of the 8 or so used scopes I have bought from guys on this site, two of them did not work. Luckily I was able to send them for warranty, a redfield and a bushnell. However, it would have been nice to check them out before burning up a bit of ammo trying to get them to work. My solution will be putting a rail on a piece of plywood, and clamping it to the table top, then I can look through the dining room window at the neighbors house, and see if the crosshairs move as I adjust it, and see if the vertical changes when I adjust the horiz and vise versa. it will save me going to the range with a scope that does not work... Modern scopes are quite clear... I like them when they work...
I am going to build a scope testing bench...
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usually, there is nothing wrong with the cheap scopes you mentionned.
but I cannot see what to test out of them else than keep the zero once sighted in. so best test in mount, zero and beat the crap out of it and if zero dont shift, its safe to hunt with it.
but I cannot see what to test out of them else than keep the zero once sighted in. so best test in mount, zero and beat the crap out of it and if zero dont shift, its safe to hunt with it.
Why the plywood and rail though, why not just hold the scope on the table with one hand and turn the dials with the other while looking ?
Better yet wouldn't a bore sighter kit that uses the grid card sticking up from the bore work even better, mount the scope and bore sight it, if the crosshairs don't move with the dials then she's hooped ?
Better yet wouldn't a bore sighter kit that uses the grid card sticking up from the bore work even better, mount the scope and bore sight it, if the crosshairs don't move with the dials then she's hooped ?
with plywood and a rail, you can move it a dozen clicks and see how far it moves on the neighbors house, and see if it moves the same distance up and down as it moves sideways.
the other suggestions would probably work fine... I just want to check them out to see if one click really is a quarter of an moa
the other suggestions would probably work fine... I just want to check them out to see if one click really is a quarter of an moa
It sure is handy that you neighbors house has a moa grid on it.
OP, the scope testing bench would be a good thing to have, I thought about making one for myself. No other way to do it. Set up a grid for it though instead of the house thing. I have seen a few youtube vids that are interesting.
And is the correct distance for every scopes factory set parallax, and that the atmospherics in your house and the outside are the same, and that the window is magic and doesn't cause distortions and so on and so on.......
couple of points don't look through a window the glass can act as a lens and affect any adjustment and your neighbor's house might be too close also some serious questions might have to be answered too your local RCMP officers. The minimum distance for setting scopes is the magnification of the scope x 100m plus 100m so a times 6 scope should be set on something 700m away. Its best to use some thing solid and not moved by wind the edge of a building or electrical pylon works great.
I did something like that a few months ago to test a scope I expected to have an issue. Clamped my whole rifle to the table, aimed it outside about 200' away.
You need to be able to easily remove and place the scope back in exact same spot many times. I did find a issue with mine, but its an odd one. When I get time later this year I plan to do a proper steel test stand with stops and all bolted down.
Just moving the cross hairs/elevation/windage to check tracking doesn't tell you half what you need to know... a scope can track perfect and still be screwed up.
You also need to establish datum points and a procedure, and that procedure should overcome any possible discrepancies of the setup, as much as possible. Again not too hard.
Doesn't matter if its a $200 or a $5000 scope, there's a lot of moving parts in there that all have to be perfect to work right and tight and they can all have issues or develop them over time.
You need to be able to easily remove and place the scope back in exact same spot many times. I did find a issue with mine, but its an odd one. When I get time later this year I plan to do a proper steel test stand with stops and all bolted down.
Just moving the cross hairs/elevation/windage to check tracking doesn't tell you half what you need to know... a scope can track perfect and still be screwed up.
You also need to establish datum points and a procedure, and that procedure should overcome any possible discrepancies of the setup, as much as possible. Again not too hard.
Doesn't matter if its a $200 or a $5000 scope, there's a lot of moving parts in there that all have to be perfect to work right and tight and they can all have issues or develop them over time.
Actually, scope manufactures set their parallax on fixed parallax scope from 100 yards to 150 yards at maximum magnification. Rimfire scopes are set to between 50 and 75 yards again, depending on manufacturer. Also all parallax settings with numbers on them are simply guidelines because there are so many factors including atmospherics that affect how far the lens needs to be adjusted to give you the correct focus at distance. Case in point, buddy sets his scope to 100 yards and it is clear one day and then he has to slightly adjust it the next time he is out even though the distance hasn't changed. This isn't a problem with the scope, its how the optics work in conjunction to an ever changing atmosphere. That is why a lot of scope companies are changing their parallax markings from units of measurement to reference pints such as dots.
Interesting idea. I was thinking of doing the same thing to confirm the tracking on some scopes without having to mount it to a rifle and go the range.
A rail mounted on a piece of wood should work fine. Toss some rings on the scope and your good to go.
Nice thing about this setup is that your not pointing a rifle at anyone while testing, your just looking through a scope. No need for anyone to get excited and call the police.......well unless they think your a peeping Tom but just be discrete!
Yes but this is the minimum distance for setting infinity parallax without the need for any other parallax scopes. I do have experience in setting sights, scopes and binoculars in the field and I would set the parallax at infinity first it will give you the best focus and as you said the numbers don't really mean that much and setting parallax at infinity is going to get you pretty close at a closer distance sometimes so close you don't need to adjust it anymore.
Why not just fix a weaver or picatinny rail to the top of a deck hand rail? and use that to mount the scope on. Easy, quick, little work and fixed, you need to keep the scope from moving to do your testing and that would work slick......if applicable.
That would certainly work and should be very solid.
Your quite right though the setup, whatever it is, needs to not move at all so you can see the reticle movement when you adjust the turrets.
I don't have a deck but am thinking about mounting a rail on a work bench in my garage and sighting down the driveway with the garage door open.
This is my plan. (Pic. Rail) But to a heavy piece of wood, then clamp that to whatever bench/location that I'm at.
I have dozens of these testing jigs, in all shapes and sizes...they're called rifles! Almost any commercial or home-made shooting rest would be easy to adapt to firmly hold your rifle stationary with a couple of Velcro straps.
This project sounds suspiciously like an unnecessary solution to an imaginary problem; I recognize the symptoms, as I have similar recurring problems regularly...
This project sounds suspiciously like an unnecessary solution to an imaginary problem; I recognize the symptoms, as I have similar recurring problems regularly...
Mystic Precision
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I built a base for my tripod.. now I can point at various "targets" with ease.
Might get a bit boring staring at the same object
And I don't need to go outside....
Jerry
