S&B PMII 5-25 Parallax

[338x]

Last Christmas Santa was good to me and brought me a S&B PMII 5-25 under my tree!! Yeah, I wish it was that way... Instead it was 6 1/2 months wait and many $$$$... Anyway, my new S&B exact model 677-911-972-B8-B4, 5-25x56 PMII LP P4LF 1cm cw LT MTC/LT ZS DT/ST just in case you guys ask.

I went shooting a few times since then and really love it. One thing that got wondering is the following; as an example, let's say I'm shooting at 200 meters, I adjust the side parallax until the image is perfectly clear and I would find that the dial indicating the distance would match my target distance (within +/- 50M...). The problem is if I set the side parallax adjustment that way, there is a fair amount of parallax through the scope! Meaning that if I move head (eye) up and down the point of impact is changing. In order to eliminate the parallax, I have to crank up the side parallax adjustment to 600+ meters before I can get rid of the parallax. The image clarity does not seem to change whereas my experience with other scope, the image would get blurry.

I spoke to my friend who owns 3 of the same model and confirmed he has the same "problem" (if I can call it a problem and hopefully not). I also remember taking a long range shooting class where our instructor (a Canadian Army Sniper...) told us that they usually crank their S&B side parallax to infinity and leave it there. My last shooting session, my shooting companion had a NF Competition 12-42X56 Benchrest scope and it has has absolutely no parallax whatesoever by matching the parallax adjustment and his shooting distance.

So my questions to you are:
1) Is there a problem?
2) Why is there distance indication of this adjustment?
3) You guys have the same issues?
4) Does this relates to specific models?

Thanks in advance. Cheers, Fred.

 

[Toolman]

Just ignore the numbers on the dial......get a clear parallax free image and move on. I currently still have 1 S&B and have owned 3 total and they all were the same.

 

[Alpheus]

The markings on the dial can but rarely match the adjustment needed to remove parallax. This is true for all scopes, and is in no way a problem. Heck, most scopes don't even bother with specific graduations on the knob to begin with.

 

[bsand]

Numbers do not mean anything. I usually have to do the same. We have the same scope, but mine is ral8000 coated. I dial parallax until it's good enough and forget about it. my other scope, the parallax is just labelled min to max and Infinity.

 

[338x]

HERE'S WHAT THE S&B MANUAL SAYS:
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9. Parallax adjustment
All PM II models without parallax adjustment are preset at the Schmidt & Bender factory to be parallax-free at 300 m unless a different distance is specified.

PM II scopes with parallax compensation have an easily operable setting Wheel (illus. 18), positioned as a third turret opposite the windage adjustment. With this turret the shooter may easily focus targets at any distance without having to interrupt his target acquisition. The parallax adjustment turret is engraved with distance markings. If the distance to the target is known, rotate the turret so that the corresponding distance marking lines up with the index mark on the saddle. If the distance to the target is not known set the scope to the highest magnification. Then move the adjustment ring of the parallax compensation in the direction of the estimated distance until you get a focused image. Not he parallax has been properly adjusted and you may also read the distance on the turret.
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So what they are saying, is :
1) That the distance DO mean something.
2) That once the image is focused, no further adjustment is required.
3) That (last sentence) the distance shown on the turret once adjusted for clarity IS the distance shooting at.

That particular day, I really experienced this while I was shooting at 200M. Maybe this would be different shooting at 300M+ but the statement in the manual does not match the actual field result and this is what puzzles me. I would not challenge this if this was a low end scope but this a military grade scope! Maybe an explanation from S&B would be interesting to hear...

 

[Whiteout]

This is common on many different scopes some more so than others. You will see some manufactures have removed the markings and have a min max or other style indication. As you may discover your parallax setting can change based on the weather conditions your shooting in as temperature and humidity will affect this somewhat. The only time I would be concerned is if you cannot dial in the parallax at all then you have a problem.