AO or Not for 22LR

slinkylegs

slinkylegs

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Curious what everyone's thoughts are regarding the value of having an adjustable parallax on a 22lr for hunting. I grew up with a Ruger 10/22 that was mounted with an old 4x32 Bushnell, and that thing was always adequate for my bush hunting purposes. However, lately I've been curious about the value of having an AO or side parallax on a scope. For instance, most rimfire optics are set at 50 yards for the parallax, but I have encountered very short range shots on grouse and squirrels that were affected by some parallax (most of my shots in the bush are between 10-20 yards, but I've had some 5-10 yard shots). I haven't noticed it as much for longer shots on gophers, but I suppose that could happen. In theory, having an AO would be of some benefit, but is it going to move the needle that much?
 
Shooting with .22LR often involves a variety of distances. If your scope doesn't have a lot of magnification, AO is not usually necessary. In fact, most low powered scopes don't have it. As magnification increases, it becomes increasingly necessary to have AO so that objects at various distances can be seen clearly.

What's low power? Anything under 7X probably doesn't have AO because it's not needed. Some 3 - 9X scopes such as Leupold's rimfire 3-9 EFR has AO. Scopes for centerfire rifles that don't have AO usually have the parallax set for 100 yards. But these aren't high power scopes, often about 9X or 12X.
 
You will mostly NOT have parallax sighting error, or at least significantly reduce it, the more consistent that you are, when you mount and hold your rifle - actually, where your sighting eye-ball is. I have a Leupold fixed 4 power rimfire scope - the booklet says it is factory set to be parallax free at 60 yards. At about 10 yards, from sandbags holding the scope still - I can move the cross hairs off a target the size of a golf ball - either way - by going right or left with my head - to the point that I start to see a black rim on the opposite side of the image - that apparent movement is parallax error. May not really be an issue for you at all, if you mount your rifle consistently - might be your biggest source of misses, if you are "sloppy" about how you mount and look through the scope. There is only ONE distance where your crosshairs are showing "precisely" where the theoretical centre of your future group is going to be - closer and further than that one distance, the cross hairs can appear to move on your target - the further that you are from that "parallax free" distance - closer or further - the more that sighting error can occur.
 
Its nice to have, but hardly necessary. Proper sight alignment and head position will deal with any parallax issues, and its not a big deal if your target isn't perfectly crisp in focus.
 
My one .22 I hunt with has an AO and I don’t use it while hunting, it’s set at 50m and is more than adequate for closer range targets. Have it a good solid repeatable cheek weld and head position is more important. At the range I sometimes use it but the majority of the time I have it set to 50m while target shooting, a fixed parallax scope is not a negative for me in anyway while hunting.
 
yes, get one with extended focal range on the AO if possible. depending on what distances you'll shoot.

HAD a leup varixiii 6.5x20 with extended focal range and was perfect for shooting indoor 20m or outdoor to 200m
Replaced with sightron s3 and AO does not go down low enough to get perfect focus at 20m :( .......
 
LeftFootOfDoom said:
yes, get one with extended focal range on the AO if possible. depending on what distances you'll shoot.

HAD a leup varixiii 6.5x20 with extended focal range and was perfect for shooting indoor 20m or outdoor to 200m
Replaced with sightron s3 and AO does not go down low enough to get perfect focus at 20m :( .......
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I just picked up a Tract 4-12x40 with EFR on my CZ452, but the eyepiece is a bit thicker than most other scopes I've had, so there is very little room between the bolt and scope. Makes it awkward to chamber and round, and when the magnication is up around 12, the bolt knob scrapes. I'd consider getting a different scout if I could find comparable features at a comparable price point (with a smaller eyepiece). That or try to get an extended bolt handle I suppose, but that would be costly
 
I would almost look at an LPVO optic for this exact thing.

I tend to spend more time at the range and various distances so all my optics have adjustable. However for hunting it means one more thing that can go wrong. For hunting small game I have been using open sights on 22s for the most part but I sold that rifle so now I am likely to toss a red dot on my 22 this year for hunting.

B
 
FYI maximum parallax error is calculable, it depends on the objective lens size, the distance to your target, and the distance at which the scope is parallax free.

https://www.lelandwest.com/parallax-error-calculator.cfm

For a scope w/ a 40mm objective built to be parallax free at 100, max error at 5 yards is like 0.75 inches. And that's MAX, chances are you'd be much lower in a real situation, you'd have to be deliberately trying to stay right at the edge of the eyebox to get the parallax error to max out.

If you're missing squirrels at 5yds it might be a combo of sight over bore height and the distance you're zeroed at - you're gonna be low at 5 and AO won't fix that.
 
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For those unfamiliar with parallax, think of AO or Side Focus (AO is on the front of the scope, SF on the side) as doing one important thing -- focussing the scope. If you have to squint and strain to get an image in focus in the scope, it needs adjustment. Adjusting the AO or SF will bring the image into focus.

Focus issues don't occur with lower powered scopes, but they are increasingly important as magnification increases. That's why higher powered scopes usually have AO or SF.

This focus is not to be confused with reticle focus. That's another adjustment.
 
I suspect there is some confusion about parallax sighting error - is entirely different than "focus" - but is mostly what a user will believe is occurring when he adjusts the AO or side focus to get the image "in focus" - is relying that the maker also made the mechanism to adjust the parallax at the same time that the image focus is re-set. Is entirely possible to have the image in perfect focus, but to have parallax sighting error; or to have no parallax sighting error, but the image not precisely in focus. As mentioned above, is an entirely different thing to set the cross hairs to also be "in focus".
 
Potashminer said:
I suspect there is some confusion about parallax sighting error - is entirely different than "focus" - but is mostly what a user will believe is occurring when he adjusts the AO or side focus to get the image "in focus" - is relying that the maker also made the mechanism to adjust the parallax at the same time that the image focus is re-set. Is entirely possible to have the image in perfect focus, but to have parallax sighting error; or to have no parallax sighting error, but the image not precisely in focus. As mentioned above, is an entirely different thing to set the cross hairs to also be "in focus".
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That makes sense as hardly anything is perfect, since it is more difficult to do a parallax test then to see if the image is in focus people will just tune the image and let her rip.

One why to find out if your eye is centred on the optic with your natural cheek weld and neck position is to increase the power to maximum and reduce and shift your eye closer to the scope while trying to maintain alignment and see if the shadow that occurs as you reach the limits of eye relief is centred.

You can even mount the scope a bit further forward and create a slight shadow on higher magnifications for a visual confirmation of alignment.
 
With any AO or SF system there are distances imprinted on the turning ring on the front of the scope or on the knob on its side. Ignore those "suggestions" because they are only estimates. Adjust the AO ring or SF knob for when focus is clearest. That's when parallax won't be an issue, at least for most .22LR shooting distances.

For a reasonably straightforward and easy to digest explanation, see h ttps://www.outdoorcanada.ca/parallaxerror/
 
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