Rifle Scopes Eye Relief/Eye Box questions.

[Vodoun daVinci]

Started my Precision Rifle Experience with a Vortex Crossfire II - 6-24X50 - super plain scope with great tracking, pretty good glass, simple reticle. Shooting from bench to get it figured out and adjusts the rifle so that when I got on the rifle comfortably the target view thru the scope was seamless. I mounted the rifle and there it was. On the bench not shooting from the side but from the back of the bench to not get used to the cutout.

Sub MOA performance with factory ammunition - easy to shoot and fun as hell. Worked up handloads and the gun shoots <.75 MOA. The goal has been to move to longer ranges and at my range they specify prone only. After shooting a friends Savage mounted with a Vortex Golden Eagle I decided I really liked the extra magnification (saves dragging a spotting scope to the range) but really couldn't swing the $1400 price tag as I'm a hobby shooter never destined to compete. So I bought an Athlon Argos BTR 10-40X56 - love the reticle, love the glass, love the extra magnification. Nothing bad to say about the scope and from the bench I liked it even better than my Vortex Crossfire II. This season I started shooting at 200 and 300 yards prone and now the problems have started.

Basically I'm all scrunched up and twist like a pretzel to get a good sight picture and sight alignment..it's been exhausting and painful. So I have been laying on the floor at home trying to readjust the gun and scope to resolve this and discovered that when I mount the gun naturally prone I have to shorted the LOP and force my neck forward to get into the eyebox/eye relief zone. So I checked the specs. First I noticed that I had shortened LOP and moved my Athlon all the way back on the rings as far as it would go and it's *still* not where I want it...I have to force my head forward and noticed that the Vortex is actually over an inch longer after the rear ring.

Add to this that the Vortex has an eye relief of 4" and the Athlon has an eye relief of 3" and we are at least shorter on eye position by over 2"...if you look at the pix you'll see that on my Vortex I could move the front ring back and actually shift the scope even more back where as the Athlon is just as far back as she goes.

Opinions? Is it worth remounting the Vortex to see if I can resolve my prone shooting gun setup or am I missing something else. Thanks in advance for any enlightenment you can offer.

VooDoo

 

[brianf]

it does sound screwy

is there any way you can get a pic with you on the rifle there might be other stuff going on

usually prone gets you closer to the scope not farther away so off the bench it would be impossible to shoot

i have thick shoulders, and high cheek bones so im usually a mess with cheek pieces but never too short that i couldnt get to the scope

 

[FishDr]

Notice that you changed the grip as well.... does that contribute to your position on the stock (it shouldn't, but going from an AR style grip to a vertical, I shortened my LOP just a touch).

 

[Vodoun daVinci]

I solved it....just laid everything out on the floor and got into a comfortable position and brought the guns into my shoulder and opened my eyes and the answer was pretty plain - I have to get the gun up off the ground more *or* I have to scrunch my neck/head down to line up with eye box. I raised it up 2 clicks on the bipod and tried the same trick and when I opened my eyes the sight pix was right there....I did have to pull the gun towards me and crane a little so I shortened the LOP like 1/2" and now I can lay on the gun and relax and concentrate on breathing and trigger not straining and grunting trying to find the target.

And I removed the rear mono pod as I don't use it (can't stand it actually) and it allows my rear bag to get into a more vertical position like the first pix. I dunno why this shit doesn't occur to me when I'm on the range...not the gun or scope. Just me. But I appreciate the good comments and help.

Thanks for the support!

VooDoo

 

[texner013]

Hey VooDoo,

Just wondering what calibre you have that Athlon mounted to and how do you find the eye relief? 3 inches seems a bit short and it's the only thing stopping me buying the scope at the moment.

Cheers,

Tom