Scope / Shooter Help Needed

tactserv · May 15, 2024

I am looking for some help to understand why, and how to fix, an issue I'm experiencing. Background: I'm a 69 Year Old teenager, with all the physical wear and tear that comes with this stage in life. I have decided to take up Rimfire PRS (you know, ammos so much cheaper) and have put together a good rifle/scope setup. The scope is a FFP design.
Problem: When I got my new scope, I tried to read everything I could find so I would get things right. So I go to the range and adjust the ocular lens to get the reticle in focus. Close my eyes, pop them open, and see the reticle in focus, good to go. The reticle, against a nice blue sky, is crisp and looks great. Aim at a target and the damn thing is hard to find. I suspect it has to do with my focus is at a different distance, but don't know how to sort it out.

Gee Kay · May 15, 2024

i take it that you were on max power when adjusting the ocular adjustment for your eyes?

what scope by the way?

Hobo Hilton · May 15, 2024

tactserv said:
I am looking for some help to understand why, and how to fix, an issue I'm experiencing. Background: I'm a 69 Year Old teenager, with all the physical wear and tear that comes with this stage in life. I have decided to take up Rimfire PRS (you know, ammos so much cheaper) and have put together a good rifle/scope setup. The scope is a FFP design.
Problem: When I got my new scope, I tried to read everything I could find so I would get things right. So I go to the range and adjust the ocular lens to get the reticle in focus. Close my eyes, pop them open, and see the reticle in focus, good to go. The reticle, against a nice blue sky, is crisp and looks great. Aim at a target and the damn thing is hard to find. I suspect it has to do with my focus is at a different distance, but don't know how to sort it out.

I experience similar issues. It is going to be a process of elimination. I would start with a visit to a top shelf ophthalmologist.

tactserv · May 15, 2024

Gee Kay said:
i take it that you were on max power when adjusting the ocular adjustment for your eyes?

what scope by the way?

12x on my 5-27 ZCO.

waveslayer · May 15, 2024

Parallax adjusted properly?

Gee Kay · May 16, 2024

tactserv said:
12x on my 5-27 ZCO.

yeah, i doubt its the scope

Cr1775 · May 16, 2024

Go to the sticky and try setting up again.

Convex · May 16, 2024

Hobo Hilton said:
I experience similar issues. It is going to be a process of elimination. I would start with a visit to a top shelf ophthalmologist.

This will never be about just the scope/camera but of course 2 optical systems.

Cataracts = fuzzy
Astigmatism =fuzzy

Trouble w/me was my rt/left eyeballs were/are different shapes so when I adjusted the diopter w/my rt it of course didn't look right when I used the left eye. There was a fight bet. my eyeballs, until I gave up and saw an opthalmologist.

I can hold either arm up to either eye about 8-10 inches and see the individual hairs w/either eye well into "geezerhood" @ 75.

Only downside is some women who used to look good when my eyes were fucked up are looking kind of ugly.

Glassaholic · May 16, 2024

tactserv said:
I am looking for some help to understand why, and how to fix, an issue I'm experiencing. Background: I'm a 69 Year Old teenager, with all the physical wear and tear that comes with this stage in life. I have decided to take up Rimfire PRS (you know, ammos so much cheaper) and have put together a good rifle/scope setup. The scope is a FFP design.
Problem: When I got my new scope, I tried to read everything I could find so I would get things right. So I go to the range and adjust the ocular lens to get the reticle in focus. Close my eyes, pop them open, and see the reticle in focus, good to go. The reticle, against a nice blue sky, is crisp and looks great. Aim at a target and the damn thing is hard to find. I suspect it has to do with my focus is at a different distance, but don't know how to sort it out.

This is not meant to be cheeky but you did adjust your side focus to your target right? And after adjusting side focus the best you can, the target still looks fuzzy? Since you mention Rimfire is your target really close, how close? Try focusing your scope on a target that is further away, at least 100 yards or more, do you still have the same issue? Do you have anyone you shoot with or anyone at home who can look through the scope, do they experience the same?

ZCO has some of the best diopter instructions of all the manufacturers, but try the following method:

Initial setup: Set magnification to highest setting and set side focus to infinity. Loosen the lock ring in front of the eyepiece (if it has a lock ring) and while looking at a blank wall or the sky, rotate the diopter several turns counterclockwise (in the positive + direction) until the reticle is visibly out of focus. One of the most important things is to not stare continuously through the scope. Make sure you have something distant to look at when you look away from the scope. Then glance through the scope for no more than a few seconds. Then stare out at a distant object again while making a small adjustment. Then rotate diopter back clockwise until the reticle is focused as sharply as possible. (Note: you might need to go past what you think is sharp until it starts to get a bit fuzzy again and then dial back to the "middle" position between both extremes.)
Fine tuning: Find a target that is very far away, so that it looks sharpest when the side focus is at the infinity setting. As you look through the scope (important that it remains steady) you can mess with the diopter by making minute adjustments either CW/CCW and see if the reticle and/or image improves any. You can also check parallax to ensure that small head movements don’t cause the POA to shift. When the target is in the best focus there should be no parallax movement, if there is parallax movement with slight movement of your position behind the scope then try to fine tune so the reticle stays locked on target with no movement.
Closeup tuning: Now find a target that is closeup, say 100 yards away, set your side focus until the object comes into best focus, does the reticle still look sharp? Check parallax to make sure there is no shift. Make minute adjustments to diopter if necessary. Check back at long distance and make sure parallax and focus are still good to go.
Final reticle adjustment: This should be done when you have nothing else to focus on within the FOV other than the reticle. Set your magnification to the lowest setting where you can still define all the hash marks of your reticle. You can either do it while pointing at a blank light-colored wall (keep the side focus at the infinity setting, so any of the minute features on the wall are blurred out) or at the blue sky. One of the most important things is to not stare continuously through the scope. Make sure you have something distant to look at when you look away from the scope (to reset your eye). Then glance through the scope for no more than a few seconds. Then stare out at a distant object again while making small adjustments if needed to improve upon the reticle focus. Confirm both near and distant objects again.
Once you’ve performed the above 4 steps you should be set with your scope, it might be wise to mark your ocular and the scope tube with a pen or marker (especially if you don’t have a locking diopter) so you can return to this position if your scope is ever bumped out of alignment.

tactserv · May 16, 2024

Glassaholic said:
This is not meant to be cheeky but you did adjust your side focus to your target right? And after adjusting side focus the best you can, the target still looks fuzzy? Since you mention Rimfire is your target really close, how close? Try focusing your scope on a target that is further away, at least 100 yards or more, do you still have the same issue? Do you have anyone you shoot with or anyone at home who can look through the scope, do they experience the same?

ZCO has some of the best diopter instructions of all the manufacturers, but try the following method:

Initial setup: Set magnification to highest setting and set side focus to infinity. Loosen the lock ring in front of the eyepiece (if it has a lock ring) and while looking at a blank wall or the sky, rotate the diopter several turns counterclockwise (in the positive + direction) until the reticle is visibly out of focus. One of the most important things is to not stare continuously through the scope. Make sure you have something distant to look at when you look away from the scope. Then glance through the scope for no more than a few seconds. Then stare out at a distant object again while making a small adjustment. Then rotate diopter back clockwise until the reticle is focused as sharply as possible. (Note: you might need to go past what you think is sharp until it starts to get a bit fuzzy again and then dial back to the "middle" position between both extremes.)

Fine tuning: Find a target that is very far away, so that it looks sharpest when the side focus is at the infinity setting. As you look through the scope (important that it remains steady) you can mess with the diopter by making minute adjustments either CW/CCW and see if the reticle and/or image improves any. You can also check parallax to ensure that small head movements don’t cause the POA to shift. When the target is in the best focus there should be no parallax movement, if there is parallax movement with slight movement of your position behind the scope then try to fine tune so the reticle stays locked on target with no movement.

Closeup tuning: Now find a target that is closeup, say 100 yards away, set your side focus until the object comes into best focus, does the reticle still look sharp? Check parallax to make sure there is no shift. Make minute adjustments to diopter if necessary. Check back at long distance and make sure parallax and focus are still good to go.

Final reticle adjustment: This should be done when you have nothing else to focus on within the FOV other than the reticle. Set your magnification to the lowest setting where you can still define all the hash marks of your reticle. You can either do it while pointing at a blank light-colored wall (keep the side focus at the infinity setting, so any of the minute features on the wall are blurred out) or at the blue sky. One of the most important things is to not stare continuously through the scope. Make sure you have something distant to look at when you look away from the scope (to reset your eye). Then glance through the scope for no more than a few seconds. Then stare out at a distant object again while making small adjustments if needed to improve upon the reticle focus. Confirm both near and distant objects again.

Once you’ve performed the above 4 steps you should be set with your scope, it might be wise to mark your ocular and the scope tube with a pen or marker (especially if you don’t have a locking diopter) so you can return to this position if your scope is ever bumped out of alignmen

tactserv · May 16, 2024

Thanks for the above. I am taking a big step back and am starting over with this scope. 1. Get eyes checked and new glasses. 2. Complete the above. Looks like I wasn't as detail oriented as I should have been.

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