50 yard Parallax Scopes

Is your current vortex blurry at 50 yards set to 1.75 as well as 5X? Have you tried adjusting the eye piece?

How much is vortex charging for the parallax adjustment and re-seal?

My eyes are just starting to hint towards reading glasses but I still find low power variables easy to focus at close range on lower magnification levels.
 
I played with the focus ring. It gets a bit better, but not by much. I think they said around $50. I have the rma number now. I have to fill in a form and pay shipping to Guelph. The fee includes return shipping and the resetting of the parallax. I think that's more than fair.
-Jason
 
I have a Simmons fixed 4x32 on my 204 Ruger glass is crystal clear excellent eye relief zeroed at 50 yards pretty dead on at 200 yards no doubt a very effective set up for coyotes out to 300 or more yards. BTW most people over-look these scopes cause they think they are cheap
 
I have a very old Redfield 6X that I changed the paralax on. I do not remember where I got the information to do this but this is how I did it. I bought a very small strap wrench from CTC and used it to loosen the lock ring on the front bell. I then screwed the lens in or out ( I can't remember which ). When I reached the point where the clarity was best at 50 yards I reset the lock ring. It was easy and has worked fine ever since. I don't know whether this can be done with newer scopes or not. I was told that this scope was made shortly after Redfield bought out Kolmorgan. Whether this is true or not I can't say for sure but it is a very old scope.
 
IMR4320 said:
So how is this done in a principle ? It's another skill many of us could use and since we know the technical aspect of guns and ammunition/reloading, why not learn another subject, especially when often deeded.
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If you look very closely at most scopes, about a quarter of an inch from the end is a nearly invisible parting line. On a Leupold its actually right at the gold ring. Everything in front of that line is basically a thread protector with a tiny bit of lock-nut function. To remove it I usually wrap some masking tape; twisting it or bunching it up to supply some grip. Sometimes I've resorted to a strap wrench. If it doesn't break loose fairly easily just quit and give up.

Once the little collar moves it'll spin off like nothing and expose the threaded lens carrier. On the front edge there should be a couple slots on the carrier. I use a hacksaw blade as a tool to turn it, if it doesnt turn with just your fingers. Turning the carrier out shortens the parallax distance. A 1/4 turn is quite a bit and 1/2 turn is a lot. Twist and check, and when you're happy spin the collar back on.

This is a good way re-purpose big-game scopes for rimfires and tweak a big game scope for longer range use. Bear in mind that if you are doing it to fix a previously good scope that changing parallax might have been a symptom of other trouble in the first place.
 
Dogleg said:
If you look very closely at most scopes, about a quarter of an inch from the end is a nearly invisible parting line. On a Leupold its actually right at the gold ring. Everything in front of that line is basically a thread protector with a tiny bit of lock-nut function. To remove it I usually wrap some masking tape; twisting it or bunching it up to supply some grip. Sometimes I've resorted to a strap wrench. If it doesn't break loose fairly easily just quit and give up.

Once the little collar moves it'll spin off like nothing and expose the threaded lens carrier. On the front edge there should be a couple slots on the carrier. I use a hacksaw blade as a tool to turn it, if it doesnt turn with just your fingers. Turning the carrier out shortens the parallax distance. A 1/4 turn is quite a bit and 1/2 turn is a lot. Twist and check, and when you're happy spin the collar back on.

This is a good way re-purpose big-game scopes for rimfires and tweak a big game scope for longer range use. Bear in mind that if you are doing it to fix a previously good scope that changing parallax might have been a symptom of other trouble in the first place.
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That is an excellent explanation of how it is done.
And there is normally no purging or resealing required unless one has done something really wrong because you are not turning the lens carrier very much at all and the lens carrier is sealed with o-rings.
 
Dogleg said:
If you look very closely at most scopes, about a quarter of an inch from the end is a nearly invisible parting line. On a Leupold its actually right at the gold ring. Everything in front of that line is basically a thread protector with a tiny bit of lock-nut function. To remove it I usually wrap some masking tape; twisting it or bunching it up to supply some grip. Sometimes I've resorted to a strap wrench. If it doesn't break loose fairly easily just quit and give up.

Once the little collar moves it'll spin off like nothing and expose the threaded lens carrier. On the front edge there should be a couple slots on the carrier. I use a hacksaw blade as a tool to turn it, if it doesnt turn with just your fingers. Turning the carrier out shortens the parallax distance. A 1/4 turn is quite a bit and 1/2 turn is a lot. Twist and check, and when you're happy spin the collar back on.

This is a good way re-purpose big-game scopes for rimfires and tweak a big game scope for longer range use. Bear in mind that if you are doing it to fix a previously good scope that changing parallax might have been a symptom of other trouble in the first place.
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That is exactly what I did.
 
Gerald said:
I have a very old Redfield 6X that I changed the paralax on. I do not remember where I got the information to do this but this is how I did it. I bought a very small strap wrench from CTC and used it to loosen the lock ring on the front bell. I then screwed the lens in or out ( I can't remember which ). When I reached the point where the clarity was best at 50 yards I reset the lock ring. It was easy and has worked fine ever since. I don't know whether this can be done with newer scopes or not. I was told that this scope was made shortly after Redfield bought out Kolmorgan. Whether this is true or not I can't say for sure but it is a very old scope.
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I think this is an error?? moving front lens in or out is about setting parallax error - that might be related to "clarity" of the view, but that parallax error is checked by moving eye from side to side or up and down to verify the cross hairs do not appear to move on the target. "Clear view" or a "focused view" is normally adjusted by turning the rear lense - the eye piece - in or out, not the front one, although they work together, apparently.
 
Sure an adjustable objective is supposed to be about dialling out parallax. That doesnt mean that it doesn't change the focus; and everyone who has turned one knows he can make it sharp or blurry any time he wants. Fact is, you eliminate parallax by adjusting the focal plane , hopefully stacking it on the same plane as the reticle. Focal distance adjusts parallax.

Another one that drives me nuts is the eye-piece focus. People who made it to page 3 of their manual discover that the primary stated purpose of the adjustment is to make the cross hairs sharp. Some find it necessary to announce that on the WWW but who wants to be the first to claim that it doesn't also focus the image? Fact is, thats how it works.
 
I think that we can agree that focus on the target image is not the same as parallax sighting error. As mentioned, I have "old school" standard scopes that I can get crystal clear view of target and cross hair (focused) that have noticeable parallax error when my eye is moved left or right behind the scope. They are checked by using different tests - a "clear focused" view is not a test for parallax error, except, I think, on the so-called "Side Focus" scopes, which I do not own one.

And Dogleg is exactly correct - the procedure in the manuals to set the eye piece focus is to get a really crisp cross hair image - is not done aimed at a target, at least as per the instruction booklets...
 
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