scope magnification issues

C

Copper

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I am sure there are some optic experts out there as I am not. I need a little clarification to my findings. I took out my 308 with a Zeiss scope mounted on it and zeroed the scope in at 600yards.(using x ring in the crosshairs). I am not sure at what magnification I did this at. Oh variable power 8.5-25 scope.
The next time out I was at 100yards and I used the mill dots to hit the X ring without adjusting the elevation. All good. I then zoomed in and fired another shot and missed the Xring. I then went back to first magnification and hit the Xring. I the zoomed out and missed the xring again. I found out that when I zoomed in and out I was about 12"high and to the left and then 12" low and to the right. My question is this normal or do I have a bad optic as its not a mount issue. I have also been informed that when firing with a variable power scope fire only at what magnification you have zeroed it in at. Is this true? Is 600 yards to far to zero in a scope? Would anyone have any thoughts on this?
Thanks
 
I would say you don't have a good optic, if it shifts 12 moa on zoom. Unless you have some kind of parallax problem.
Worth putting the thing in a vice and watching the crosshairs as you zoom.
 
I took out my 308 with a Zeiss scope mounted on it and zeroed the scope in at 600yards.(using x ring in the crosshairs). I am not sure at what magnification I did this at. Oh variable power 8.5-25 scope.
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So which Zeiss do you have that has an 8.5x-25x magnification range?
 
If you are using a Second focal plane scope and trying to do what you are doing you are just going to get even more messed up.

When you change the magnification you change the scale/ratio of those mildot's in relation to your target.

Everything must remain constant if you want to use your mildots for hold overs.
 
Kelly Timoffee said:
If you are using a Second focal plane scope and trying to do what you are doing you are just going to get even more messed up.

When you change the magnification you change the scale/ratio of those mildot's in relation to your target.

Everything must remain constant if you want to use your mildots for hold overs.
Click to expand...

This!
 
When I zero my scopes, I usually do it a 100 or 200 yards, depending on what I use the rifle for. I'm no expert on optics, by any means, but when the scope is zeroed, as long as you are shooting at the same range/distance that the scope was zeroed at, you can zoom in or out as much as you want, and you should always be on target. At least from my own experiences, that's what I have found. If you are trying to calculate range from your rifle to a target, it is then that I would consider your zoom or magnification power to be critical, depending on your scope's focal plane.
 
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strider007 said:
When I zero my scopes, I usually do it a 100 or 200 yards, depending on what I use the rifle for. I'm no expert on optics, by any means, but when the scope is zeroed, as long as you are shooting at the same range/distance that the scope was zeroed at, you can zoom in or out as much as you want, and you should always be on target. At least from my own experiences, that's what I have found. If you are trying to calculate range from your rifle to a target, it is then that I would consider your zoom or magnification power to be critical.
Click to expand...

This has been my experience as well.
 
Try zeroing in at 100 and test from there. Make sure to set your scope to the proper magnification to achieve true zero, and then shoot to diagnose. If your hitting where you should be, then all is good. But if after that zero, your point of impact changes with magnification changes, then I would start to consider having the scope checked out. Again, do your testing at a fixed distance and use the same ammo...keeping these variables constant will make it easier to determine if there are any issues.
 
Ok here is the deal , based on what information you have provided -

You are shooting a 2nd focal plane scope , this means when you zoom in/out the x hair stays the same size to your eye but the relation of how big the Mildots are on target changes . Lets say on 12x your mils are a true 3.6" apart, when you zoom up to 24x they are now only 1.53" apart as the target appears bigger when you zoom down to 6x they are now 7.2" apart on target . Make sense ?!?

And when you zoom in and hit left and zoom out and hit right when your shooting your canting your scope to the left (tilting the rifle) (or it's mounted with a cant) so when you zoom in and those mil ratios get smaller your shooting high and left as your actually aiming high and left as your scope is canted when you zoom out you mills are now bigger so your aiming low right
 
Thanks for the tips I am going to do that the next time out to the range and start over. That was the first time that I zeroed a scope in at 600yrd mark. I am actually going to zero at 200 tomorrow.
 
mag

I have started over again using the zeiss and a leupold zeroed at 100 and then 200 used different magnifications and so far all is good. I have the zeiss on a .308 and the leupold on a 50.:D
 
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