Rifle Scopes Diopter Adjustment Tip.

[Southern Custom]

After reading over the diopter adjustment thread I thought I’d add something that helped me tremendously. I bring it up because one comment in that thread addressed this very subject. The fellow mentioned that he was unable to tell the difference when adjusting from one extreme to the other. This is with the scope at max power I’m guessing as the OP recommended.
I heard another take on this on a podcast with some scope guru who’s name fails me now. But his method was the same except for the power adjustment. He noted that when set to max power it is not uncommon to not be able to fine tune because the reticle looks sharp across a broad range of settings.
Thus he recommended setting the reticle to a much lower setting like 6-7 power. At that size it it much easier to see the small changes when cycling in and out with the adjustment. By trying to pick up the small hash marks or numbers you can much more readily see those changes and recognize when the reticle is at its sharpest setting.
Being fairly new to FFP scopes I was having that issue at full power. I dropped to 7 and sure enough, I was able to fine tune much more easily.
thought I’d pass this on.

 

[Ryridesmotox]

I concur. I set mine at 5 or 6 power. Just high enough that I could see the change when the reticle lines were very fine.

 

[Pete B]

Haven't really had an issue doing it at max power..... but will give this a try next time and see if it helps.
Thx for the heads up.
Pete

 

[koshkin]

Good observation. I did a couple of videos on that. For finetuning, you want the scope on a comparatively low magnification. Basically, the lowest magnification where you can see the reticle clearly.

ILya

 

[gebhardt02]

This is how we recommend setting the diopter on our ZCO scopes in the operators manual.

 

[Deleted member 113831]

Thanks guys, good stuff.

 

[ifgator]

This is how we recommend setting the diopter on our ZCO scopes in the operators manual.

Just to verify I did this yesterday at the range with my ZCO scope. The diopter starts all the way in correct? As in clockwise? It was essentially already clear and didn’t get really fuzzy till further out. I also notice the reticle gets bigger if you go further counter clockwise.
One thing of concern was parallax adjustment. I seem to run out of room. I realize numbers don’t mean much but to give you a reference to eliminate parallax at 300 yards, done on a bench, I’m at the 800 mark and a little concerned as there is little adjustment left on the dial and I plan on using this scope to shoot to a mile plus. Is this normal? 5-27 mpct 2

 

[koshkin]

This is how we recommend setting the diopter on our ZCO scopes in the operators manual.

I recorded those videos after a conversation with Jeff. Different manufacturers recommend different things, while many do not get into it at all, so I figured I should add some detail.

ILya

 

[308pirate]

The diopter starts all the way in correct? As in clockwise?

Doesn't matter from which end you start.

One thing of concern was parallax adjustment. I seem to run out of room. I realize numbers don’t mean much but to give you a reference to eliminate parallax at 300 yards, done on a bench, I’m at the 800 mark and a little concerned as there is little adjustment left on the dial and I plan on using this scope to shoot to a mile plus. Is this normal?

Yes, it's normal. Your parallax knob should have a symbol that looks like a horizontal 8. That's the symbol for focus at infinity.

 

[gebhardt02]

@ifgator So your diopter is adjusted correctly? But when adjusting parallax at 300 yards the turret indicates closer to 800? That does not sound normal unless a pretty big change in outdoor temp/environmental conditions.

The diopter will most likely be closer to screwed in unless your eyes are pretty wonky, so if you have it turned out quite a ways, maybe check that again. Otherwise, please call our customer service number at 208-435-4000 and Mr. Huber can usually figure things out pretty quick and get you taken care of.

 

[ifgator]

No its pretty much screwed in and why I'm double checking everything. The reason I started at ground zero on scope set up again is because most of my parallax is useless and when I get further out I'm out of adjustment. So yes, while trying to remove parallax on a 300 yard target, the dial is all the way to the 800 mark. Im left with very little for further distances.
I'm not upset either. I love my scope. Best picture I've had and love the reticles. In fact Fedex just dropped off my 2nd ZCO scope ......5-27 MPCT3

 

[thexman]

Wonder what distance should be looking at with the low power magnification? Still look at the sky or somewhere closer like 200-300 yards?

 

[thexman]

Wonder when adjust the diopter and doing the fine tuning at low magnification say 5x, how much difference are you able to tell when look at somewhere closer than the sky?
I tried again:
1. At 5X magnification, infinity parallex, adjust the diopter from blur to somewhere I can clear see the reticle.
2.Move to a building at about 250yards, still 5X magnification, adjust parallex, fine tuning diopter.

In step 2, I can't tell the difference of the reticle within a range roughly 50-60 degrees of a circle while making diopter adjustment. Everything in the reticle is really small, can't really see much difference . Maybe it's my eyes?

 

[DDT]

some SH members suggested adjusting diopter in low magnification for better results. My experience does not confirm that method. I have reached better results with higher magnification, parralax set to infinity, scope pointed to the blue sky or when inside building pointed to the mild "milk" light or white wall etc. As you already stated, with low mag you are probably not able to resolve small error in diopter setting with your vision.

 

[smoothy8500]

I figure if Ilya Koshkin suggests in his youtube video that diopter setting at a lower magnification is better, I'll follow his advice.

 

[10ring'r]

On my scopes that have parallax adjustability, I use high (max) and parallax set to infinity. Set diopter (white wall or sky) where reticle is the sharpest and you're GtG. I'm old and have eye issues and my reticles are clear and easy to read.
Mac

 

[gebhardt02]

We aren't saying the lowest magnification, but a "lower" magnification setting. Around 8-10 seems to work best for me.

 

[vergil]

After reading this post I tried it on my Razor gen2 4.5x27,I couldn't tell the difference in the reticle below 15x, I remember Nightforce saying reticle needs to be clear edge to edge not just in the center.

 

[E. Bryant]

I got a reminder on this suggestion when messing around with setting up a new scope a few weeks ago. I set the diopter correctly - or so I thought - at max magnification, dialed down the magnification, and the little details on the reticle tree got fuzzy. Messed around again with the diopter at about 8x until everything came into focus, and then it performed much better across the magnification range.

Wonder when adjust the diopter and doing the fine tuning at low magnification say 5x, how much difference are you able to tell when look at somewhere closer than the sky?
I tried again:
1. At 5X magnification, infinity parallex, adjust the diopter from blur to somewhere I can clear see the reticle.
2.Move to a building at about 250yards, still 5X magnification, adjust parallex, fine tuning diopter.

In step 2, I can't tell the difference of the reticle within a range roughly 50-60 degrees of a circle while making diopter adjustment. Everything in the reticle is really small, can't really see much difference . Maybe it's my eyes?

I'll be honest and say that my vision isn't good enough to perform this process at 5x, at least not with a typical reticle. Somewhere below 7-8x or thereabouts is when fine details get too fuzzy to be messing with diopter adjustments.

 

[Gil P.]

Ilya said to set the diopter at the lowest magnification where the fine details of the reticle become clearly visible, not the absolute lowest magnification of the scope.

 

[ofelas]

That "lower" magnification setting is close to the highest magnification on my most used scope

We aren't saying the lowest magnification, but a "lower" magnification setting. Around 8-10 seems to work best for me.