help me understand adjustable optics, please...

[Mr. Friendly]

from what I currently understand, AO is a feature you use to compensate for parallax, which occurs when the eye doesn't always sit in the same position when you shoot. I'm betting that I'm missing something to my understanding of this, because it would seem the simpler solution would be to teach yourself to put your eye in the same place every time you use the rifle.

from what I've also seen stated is that AO is mostly used on rimfire rifles and not centerfire...comments about how someone would never want one on their big rifles has been said a few times in thread's I've perused.

thanks for helping me out!

 

[updatelee]

take a fixed parallax scope (usually set to 100m) now put the scope on something stable like a table and aim at something really close, like 15m. now move your eye around. see how the retecle moves around, even though the scope isnt ? thats parralax. its bad because you cant trust where your bullet is going to hit. now how bad is it ? well thats a personal pref. some guns arent ever going to shoot better then 3-4" @ 100m, so will the scope effect things ? not really.

 

[Grizzlypeg]

I'd say its less an issue of rimfire vs centerfire, as both more than often use fixed parallax scopes (but fixed at different distances), than it is an issue of precision and or varying distances. If you are target shooting, every advantage counts, or if you are shooting at small varmints at a distance, the width of a gopher is much smaller than the kill zone on a deer or larger animal. The choice of whether or not to have a parallax adjustable scope must come down to determining your needs. I would not have one on a deer hunting rifle, but I chose to have one on my 223 bolt action rifle as I shoot at smaller targets and demand a much smaller margin of error. Its not a feature you want on a bush rifle.

 

[NormB]

from what I currently understand, AO is a feature you use to compensate for parallax, which occurs when the eye doesn't always sit in the same position when you shoot. I'm betting that I'm missing something to my understanding of this, because it would seem the simpler solution would be to teach yourself to put your eye in the same place every time you use the rifle.

from what I've also seen stated is that AO is mostly used on rimfire rifles and not centerfire...comments about how someone would never want one on their big rifles has been said a few times in thread's I've perused.

thanks for helping me out!

The parallax adjustment, either AO or knob on the side, focuses the target image on the plane of the recticle (Xhair) if this focus is ahead or behind the X hair you will have parallax, if you move your eye from centre. The eyepiece focuses the view of the xhair. When everything is adjusted the target image and the xhair are in focus and on the same plane.

NormB

 

[Grizzlypeg]

Is your question, "Do I need a parallax adjustable scope?"?

 

[Mr. Friendly]

Is your question, "Do I need a parallax adjustable scope?"?

not quite...it's more of a wish to understand how parallax affects shooting and how the adjustable optics fix the issues it brings on.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to get the scope you've recommended to me several times, Grizz. btw, have you seen that thread in rimfire about the Traditions Silver Hunter scope meant for muzzle loaders?. a rather interesting read!

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=245737

 

[Grizzlypeg]

not quite...it's more of a wish to understand how parallax affects shooting and how the adjustable optics fix the issues it brings on.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to get the scope you've recommended to me several times, Grizz. btw, have you seen that thread in rimfire about the Traditions Silver Hunter scope meant for muzzle loaders?. a rather interesting read!

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=245737

Yeah, that sounds similar to the ballistic plex they call that feature on Burris scopes and Boon & Crocket on Leupold. Its a good idea, seems simpler (to hold over) than actually dialing in the elevation on a knob. I have that feature on a Burris Fullfield II and it works pretty good at 100,200, 300 yards with a 308. I'm playing around with my 22 at 50, 75 and 100 yards and there's a fair bit of holdover at 100. A good 5 1/2" compared to the zero at 50.