Parallax from an old timer

L

lwing

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If any experienced shooter at the range sees a newb target shooter, maybe after some conversation, ask to have a look through his scope to see the glass quality, as your just curious, then casually bring up how properly adjusting your parallax for more then just focus will tighten groups, and then explain how it works, newb will be shocked at how it works and how simple it was, newb will figure he owes you one, old timer doesn't come across as a know it all,
Newb, smiles and thinks, thanks old timer
Don't ask how I know:)
 
OK OK, You are now confusing me with parallax. So I need some help here, shooting at 1000mtrs benchrest using nightforce at 30 to35 power range I normally adjust PLLX to the point where I can see the rings and that tiny white square with X on target. 99% of time dealing with mirrage.
Sooo just wondering if there's a suggestion here that adjusting differently would eliminate some of the mirrage??????
Thanks.
 
Let the rifle rest natuarly pointing at the target without you holding the rifle...

Then look through the scope without touching the rifle...

Move your head up and down and side to side just a little and watch to see if the reticle stays in place relative to the target or if the reticle moves in relation to the target as you move around. If you do this right you will look like a baseball pitcher shaking off or agreeing to the pitch call from the catcher.

If the reticle remains in the same position no matter where you move, then you have correct parallax.

If the reticle is moving when you move, then your parallax needs to be adjusted.

All too often, especially when you do not have 20 20 vision, the best parallax setting is not where you have the best focus.

Some guys say that when shooting groups, you need to stay on the rifle the same way the whole time for all shots in the string... I think this is just a method to shoot good groups with parallax set incorrectly. If it is correct, then the POI will not change because you moved a little.

As for adjusting parallax to eliminate mirage, well... that's impossible number one and number two... why would you want to? Mirage tells you how to read the conditions and you need to see the mirage to compensate for those conditions.

If you were to find a certain scope that was better at hiding mirage than some other scope, it would be because the scope has a very narrow field of focus... so narrow that only mirage that occurs within a short zone would be visible and therefore you would not see the mirage very clearly. This is not to suggest that in such a case the image would be clear, because it would not. The image would be washed out and blurred in areas that are out of focus and you would just see a distorted image that looks like bad glass.

There are guys who use a spotting scope to read mirage where they set the focus to about the 2/3 mark, that way they get twice the field of focus that you would get from a scope which is only 1/2 of what might appear reasonably clear.
 
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^^

Yes. And if you see the cross hair moving a bit, your group can be that much bigger, due to sighting error.

I wiggle my head at each range and then make a little mark with a silver Sharpie for the correct setting for each range. I have 50+ scopes and not one of them has my marks at the same place as the factory marks.
 
if your looking straight down your scope and your scope is properly lined up - there is no parallax
the key is making consistent shots (consistent position etc) none of the scopes I use have a parallax adjustment
 
IvoB said:
if your looking straight down your scope and your scope is properly lined up - there is no parallax
the key is making consistent shots (consistent position etc) none of the scopes I use have a parallax adjustment
Click to expand...

If you don't have a parallax adjustment, then you can improve your group size by aligning with the scope just a little too far back. That way the outer edges start to go dark.

Then you align your eye so the dark edges are evenly distributed to the outer field of view, then you can see if your eye is centered or not.

You can even use this technique with a scope that does have adjustable parallax in addition to properly set parallax, just to leave nothing to chance.
 
I have never believed it’s the sighting system that causes rounds to hit low in bright light… I have correlated it to light refraction which occurs regardless of the sighting system.

If you watch shooters in an F Class match on a day with intermittent cloud cover it’s like watching synchronized swimming.

No clouds over head and guys are pounding away on the V Bull, then a cloud rolls in and suddenly everyone is hitting high in the five ring… then they adjust and hit the V Bull for a while… then the cloud goes by and everyone starts hitting low in the five ring… then they adjust and start hitting V Bulls again.

The odd guy doesn’t follow this pattern because he recognizes what is going on and takes the leap of faith and holds high or low to compensate for the changing light conditions before he catches a five.

You can take the lights up sights up to another level…. Meaning it is not always up… its actually toward the sun or away from the sun… so the expected POI shift depends on the time of day and the direction you are shooting relative to the sun.

And then there's the percentage of light change... some clouds are thicker than others, so you need to guestemate the percentage of change based on how dark the cloud is.
 
Ganderite said:
^^

Yes. And if you see the cross hair moving a bit, your group can be that much bigger, due to sighting error.

I wiggle my head at each range and then make a little mark with a silver Sharpie for the correct setting for each range. I have 50+ scopes and not one of them has my marks at the same place as the factory marks.
Click to expand...

I was thinking of doing this with whiteout. Sharpie might look nicer, thx.

Never heard of lights up sights up. Ill have to pay attention to this next time. :)
 
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