rimfire scopes?

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rosebute

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Ive been doing a lot of rimfire shooting this year, & im wondering how much real difference there is between a regular scope & a rimfire model as far as the different parrelax settings. I already have a 2x7 leupold ultralight scope, so is a rimfire model going to be noticeably better for 50 & 75 yard shooting ?
Thanks for any replies, Brian.
 
If your cheekweld and head positioning is inconsistent from shot to shot, then a scope with parallax that can be adjusted for the shorter range might be of some value. If your eye is properly centered behind the eyepiece from shot to shot, so that you are always shooting with a crosshair centered in a nice round field of view with an even black "border" around it, then parallax does not exist. If you are shooting really close, say in the neighbourhood of 20 yards or so, and trying to use a scope with high magnification, you might need the adjustment to get a clear focussed image.

I'll say this right now: the guys who claim that they are missing by 8 or 10 inches at 30 or 40 yards as a result of parallax error...are really lousy shooters. Parallax can introduce some error, but not nearly as much as some folks claim.
 
Most scope users don't even know how to check for parallax and are more than likely to put some in with the scopes with parallax adjustment and as jjohnwm said if you keep your head position and the view through your scope constant you will not even notice a parallax error if there is one and it will also helps with accuracy.
 
I would say it all depends on what your intended purpose is.

If you are putting this on a hunting .22 with the intention of shooting grouse and rabbits at 30-70 yards, then a proper 22 scope with a 50yard parallax would be a good investment. They are cheap, and that will just help eliminate one more factor that could cause you to miss. When hunting, where time is of the essence, this helps minimize errors caused by less-than-ideal eye positioning behind the scope.

On the other hand, if you are punching paper it really doesn't matter. A regular scope with 100yard parallax will work just fine for 25 and 50 yard paper punching, as well as 100+, and because you are at the range in a controlled environment, you can make sure you get your head perfectly behind that scope every time to eliminate parallax anyways.

If you were going for precision with a .22 at the range, then I could see getting one with adjustable parallax, but that is the only time I would personally use one. For hunting purposes, I feel its too complicated. It adds two more elements for you to mess up - one being your range estimation to the target, and the second being that you get the parallax set to the right amount (or remember to adjust it at all)
 
The Leupold vx1 2-7x28 is a perfect rimfire hunting scope that can be effective for some recreational target shooting up to 50 yd. If you want to get serious about target shooting, I would recommend a scope with more magnification (6-18 or better) and adjustable parallax (AO).
 
Just put a 3-9 x 40 Nikon bdc Rimfire on a savage bsev. 22. I was amazed actually. 50 yds was as expected. It was the 100-200 yard shots that surprised me. The bullet drop rings on the reticle are bang on accurate given the proper ammo velocity. Awesome scope imo
 
jjohnwm said:
If your cheekweld and head positioning is inconsistent from shot to shot, then a scope with parallax that can be adjusted for the shorter range might be of some value. If your eye is properly centered behind the eyepiece from shot to shot, so that you are always shooting with a crosshair centered in a nice round field of view with an even black "border" around it, then parallax does not exist. If you are shooting really close, say in the neighbourhood of 20 yards or so, and trying to use a scope with high magnification, you might need the adjustment to get a clear focussed image.

I'll say this right now: the guys who claim that they are missing by 8 or 10 inches at 30 or 40 yards as a result of parallax error...are really lousy shooters. Parallax can introduce some error, but not nearly as much as some folks claim.
Click to expand...

This.

I have both rimfire and "regular" riflescopes on my rimfire rifles. A good, consistent, cheekweld, and good fundamentals, are far more important factors, when it comes to accuracy. And that applies to both practical accuracy (eg: field shooting gophers) and "bench" accuracy (punching holes in paper). If your fundamentals are good, it really doesn't matter. Go with whatever suits your needs.

If regular riflescopes were so bad at shooting targets under 75 yards, a lot of freezers would go empty every deer season. Most game animals in North America are shot at under 75 yards.
 
A scope can only have perfectly zero parallax at one distance. That's usually 100 or 150 yards for "centerfire" scopes, 50 to 75 yards for rimfire or shotgun scopes. All it means is that the reticle and the image within the scope at which you are looking are at the same point...the crosshairs are plastered right on the aiming point, so no matter how you move your head, they are perfectly superimposed. If you are looking at something which is closer or further than what that scope is adjusted for, the image will be focussed at a slightly different distance from your eye, but that pesky reticle will still be in its fixed position, which means that if you aren't perfectly centered behind the scope you can peek "around" the reticle at the image, causing the reticle to apparently move on the image. That is parallax-induced error, but the error is really yours...if you are perfectly centered, the parallax will still exist, but there will be no error and your accuracy is unaffected. You introduce the error by looking around the reticle at the image.

It's more noticeable with higher magnification, but it's still there with a 2-7, just not as noticeable. And the amount of this error is more limited at short distances. If the scope is set for 100 yards and your target is at 20, the maximum parallax error is still not all that large, and the only way to get that maximum error is by having your eye way off center, so that you are only seeing a portion of the field of view. But if your target is at 1000 yards, and your scope is set for 100, parallax error can be much larger, and much more noticeable.

Sure, you can buy a scope with a parallax adjustment feature. Technically, what that means is that you can dial out parallax for any range, removing that potential error. But bear in mind that the distances marked on the adjustment dial or ring are far from accurate, and that the depth of focus is so large that it takes a trained eye to know when you are actually properly focussed; the odds are that the parallax adjustment feature will probably just mean that instead of only some of your shots being subject to parallax...all or at least most of them will be. :)

Learn proper form, holding your head and eye consistently behind the center of the scope, and you will be much further along the road to practical field accuracy.

Edit: Sorry, I type too slow...grelmar beat me to it, and in way fewer words to boot! :)
 
grelmar said:
This.

I have both rimfire and "regular" riflescopes on my rimfire rifles. A good, consistent, cheekweld, and good fundamentals, are far more important factors, when it comes to accuracy. And that applies to both practical accuracy (eg: field shooting gophers) and "bench" accuracy (punching holes in paper). If your fundamentals are good, it really doesn't matter. Go with whatever suits your needs.

If regular riflescopes were so bad at shooting targets under 75 yards, a lot of freezers would go empty every deer season. Most game animals in North America are shot at under 75 yards.
Click to expand...

For big game hunting, where your kill zone is 6"x8" no amount of parallax error will cause you to completely miss the shot. If you miss at 75 yards it has nothing to do with parallax and all to do with your skill.

On the other hand if you are trying to headshot a grouse at 50 yards you very well could miss your mark on such a small target.
 
Best to confirm what is the parallax correction specification for your particular scope on the user manual or with Leupold customer service.

Or you can just use the lowest possible magnification and be as consistent as you can when mounting and holding the rifle (when you shoot).
Parallax error is magnified as you go up in magnification. As long as your eye is in the same relative position vis-a-vis the ocular lens (eyepiece of the scope), your shots will be consistent.

Regardless of whether your scope has parallax adjustment like the good rimfire scope or not, it's good shooting practice to be consistent with your hold/cheek weld.
 
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