Rifle Scopes Issues seeing through scopes

[steyrsteyrsteyr]

So I'm having a massive issue getting any to semi clear sight picture when I'm looking through scopes. One rifle I have is just a 3x and I could see through it perfectly. Two scopes, a Athlon Midas tac 6-24 and a Vortex diamondback 6-24 I could not get a clear picture and it ruined my range day. The thing is, at home I tested both scopes out, especially in prone and everything was perfect on every magnification, I went to the range and it was horrible!

The problem I have is no matter how close or far I was to the scope nothing helped fix it. It was impossible to get a clear picture steady, it was like the scope picture would constantly fluctuate from a big to small picture, black would appear bottom left then it was top right and it was very frustrating. It did this on every magnification. When I got home I tested it out again and all of a sudden I could clearly get a sight picture like before!

What's going on? This is really frustrating the hell out of me. Also at the range my wife could see perfectly clear through the scope with no issues.

 

[m1match]

Is your ocular adjusted properly? This thread should help with that:

Rifle Scopes - Setting up a FFP rifle scope - A simple PSA on Diopters

bohemr13 X96 MONTHS Premium Member First Sergeant Rating: 3.6/5 this site 7824 posts this site Setting up a FFP rifle scope - A simple PSA on Diopters 03/02/2015 Last edited 03/03/2015 by bohemr13 (9 votes) I recently had a somewhat disgruntled customer return a scope because he complained of...

www.snipershide.com

Is your parallax adjusted properly?

 

[steyrsteyrsteyr]

Is your ocular adjusted properly? This thread should help with that:

Rifle Scopes - Setting up a FFP rifle scope - A simple PSA on Diopters

bohemr13 X96 MONTHS Premium Member First Sergeant Rating: 3.6/5 this site 7824 posts this site Setting up a FFP rifle scope - A simple PSA on Diopters 03/02/2015 Last edited 03/03/2015 by bohemr13 (9 votes) I recently had a somewhat disgruntled customer return a scope because he complained of...

www.snipershide.com

Is your parallax adjusted properly?

Yes and Yes. It doesn't make sense why it works in one environment and not the other.

 

[m1match]

Do you wear contact lenses? I do and find that my eyes get dry sometimes when I'm shooting because I don't blink as much and when that happens, my sight picture fuzzes out.

 

[steyrsteyrsteyr]

Do you wear contact lenses? I do and find that my eyes get dry sometimes when I'm shooting because I don't blink as much and when that happens, my sight picture fuzzes out.

Forgot to mention I wear glasses.

 

[m1match]

Hmmm... I'm not sure what's going on then...

 

[beetroot]

Were you prone at the range the exact same way as at home?
My guess would be you cheek weld is giving you grief but that usually manifests itself only at high magnification.

Try to recreate the issue at home and find out whats wrong, try on lower magnifications first.
I'm betting on cheek weld.

I had a Vortex HST that had a very tight eyebox on 16x, under good lighting conditions or minimal mirage it was usable but on a hot day or low light the scope was unusable on max magnification. Issue was also made worse in weird shooting positions.

Solved it by buying a better scope, all problems went away.

 

[Precision Underground]

Sounds like you got all worked up when live rounds entered the gun. If you are just getting into precision shooting there can be a mindset shift between relaxed at home looking through the scope and getting amped up when live rounds enter the rifle. This leads to overthinking and all kinds of weird issues. If the sight picture was doing what you say, your head or the rifle or both were moving all around.


Do this at home. First, REMOVE ALL MAGS AND AMMUNITION FROM ANYWHERE NEAR YOUR LOCATION. DO IT. DON’T ASSUME YOU CAN MANAGE NOT TO HAVE AN ACCIDENT. NO AMMO ANYWHERE NEAR THE RIFLE. Practice setting the rifle up aimed at a target. Pick a target and line up to it, don’t just set the rifle down and look through the scope. Line the rifle up straight and then make sure you are straight when you address the rifle. The online training here can direct you as to how to do this. Practice getting on the rifle and make adjustments to length of pull and scope position as you practice over a couple of days or weeks until you are comfortable. You want to mimic exactly what you will be doing when you are actually going to fire rounds at a target. Any set up issues that you may run into will be dealt with before you get to the range. When I get a new rifle or or stock I spend a lot of time at home setting it up and adjusting everything as stated above.

Once you are comfortable doing that start dryfiring(see above warming about ammo near the rifle) I would recommend Dryfiring every day for a week or two before even going to the range. Then 5-10 dryfire pulls for every single live fire round. Less experienced shooters benefit 100% more from correct, intentional dry fire than from live fire. The goal is not just to practice set up and trigger pull but practice the mindset of being 100% flat from start to finish. You are learning to not let live rounds and live fire change your mentality. It’s easy to get all amped up and throw everything you have worked on out the window when live fire starts. Dryfiring is practice to go through all the motions and keep a flatlined mindset. No mental ramp up to the trigger pull and no reaction to the bang(or to the click of a dryfire). a lot of shooters can hardly even dryfire without a mental ramp up and reaction to the trigger pull.

I would also bump the magnification back to around 15 until you get a handle on your set up. Those scopes are going to have a really small eye box on 24x.

 

[carbonbased]

At the range, did you wear earmuffs? And at home, were you also wearing them?

I have found when setting up scopes that if I neglect to wear my earmuffs when doing so, there’s a good chance that at the range my muffs will block my head from getting a decent sight picture. Especially with an AR.

I usually try to have a variety of ring heights available when I set up a scope. I wear glasses too, and I find glasses more finicky than contacts when shooting through scopes.

 

[wildcats]

At the range, did you wear earmuffs? And at home, were you also wearing them?

I have found when setting up scopes that if I neglect to wear my earmuffs when doing so, there’s a good chance that at the range my muffs will block my head from getting a decent sight picture. Especially with an AR.

I usually try to have a variety of ring heights available when I set up a scope. I wear glasses too, and I find glasses more finicky than contacts when shooting through scopes.

Older age and had to start wearing glasses few years back. couldn't get good alignment with scope.
Had the same problem and solved it the same way .also switched to molded in style ear plugs and raised the scope a bit as well.

 

[Tweedycarcass23jonb]

Set that rifle up the same way you did at the range. wear the same protection you had on at the range, and see if it happens again. Adjust the gear if that’s the problem. Sounds like this is an eye relief issue.

 

[mcm308]

Definitely sounds like an eye relief problem. Practice getting on/off the rifle into shooting position and dropping the cheek into the stock where its a natural weld. You dont want to be creeking your neck forward or back to see through scope. Loosen the scope rings and tweak the scope forward and back while practicing your cheek weld and or move rings on the rail. Try to find the sweet spot in the scope. When your cheek hits the mark, you want instant sight picture. Sometimes you cant get the scope in the most optimal position and then you have to adjust your position a little. But maybe not as much before.

 

[steyrsteyrsteyr]

Definitely sounds like an eye relief problem. Practice getting on/off the rifle into shooting position and dropping the cheek into the stock where its a natural weld. You dont want to be creeking your neck forward or back to see through scope. Loosen the scope rings and tweak the scope forward and back while practicing your cheek weld and or move rings on the rail. Try to find the sweet spot in the scope. When your cheek hits the mark, you want instant sight picture. Sometimes you cant get the scope in the most optimal position and then you have to adjust your position a little. But maybe not as much before.

As Tweedy and you said, I think this is the issue. I won't be able to find out 100% until I try it out this Sunday.

I did a lot of adjusting to the spacers for LOP and moved the scope way forward! I can now get in prone, cheek on the stock and I get a clear site picture at 6x and as I change it to 24x I still get a clear picture without moving my head/neck.. Before I thought it was normal for me to be relaxed at 6x and have to stretch my neck forward a little as I went to 24x.

Fingers crossed.

 

[47guy]

Forgot to mention I wear glasses.

the same issue your having is why I do not ware my glasses when I shoot...my eye focuses back and forth from scope to glasses.

next range trip try a pair of clear safety glasses and see if that helps.

 

[steyrsteyrsteyr]

Went to an indoor range today and I zeroed in two rifles while sitting in a chair. Also, in case it matters these are .22LR rifles and have been from the story except the 3x is 5.56

One rifle worked perfectly, when I went to 24x I had to put my head forward just a tiny bit, barely noticeable.

The other rifle was a bigger issue *i want to use this rifle for smallbore silhouette in the future* On lower magnification it was perfect, but once I creased it passed 16x it was pitch black like the picture was being pushed to the right side of the scope. If i canted the rifle towards me I could get a clear sight picture.

For what reason would canting fix a problem? I didn't have time to try it standing as I was in a rush to be in and out.

So to sum things up, I zeroed both rifles with double ear pro and one seems to be working great while the other isn't, but the bad one wasn't in the normal position I would be using it in.

 

[300Norma1959]

Try changing the position of your glasses on your face. I find mine need to be close to my face to get a sharp scope image

 

[SageRatSafaris]

I wear reading glasses, but trade them out for plain clear ballistic glasses when shooting, and push the glasses close to my face. I adjust the ocular focus ring to correct reticle focus for my eyesight. I prefer over the ear muffs, but I slide the headband forward to the bill of my ball cap to angle the muffs a bit over my ears so they don’t interfere with my cheek weld.

 

[carbonbased]

Went to an indoor range today and I zeroed in two rifles while sitting in a chair. Also, in case it matters these are .22LR rifles and have been from the story except the 3x is 5.56

One rifle worked perfectly, when I went to 24x I had to put my head forward just a tiny bit, barely noticeable.

The other rifle was a bigger issue *i want to use this rifle for smallbore silhouette in the future* On lower magnification it was perfect, but once I creased it passed 16x it was pitch black like the picture was being pushed to the right side of the scope. If i canted the rifle towards me I could get a clear sight picture.

For what reason would canting fix a problem? I didn't have time to try it standing as I was in a rush to be in and out.

So to sum things up, I zeroed both rifles with double ear pro and one seems to be working great while the other isn't, but the bad one wasn't in the normal position I would be using it in.

I’m a little confused. What is wrong with you canting (i.e. moving) the rifle so you can see through the scope? Unless something, like ear pro, is pushing/canting the rifle to begin with.

It is par for the course for a scope’s eyebox to tighten up as one zooms in. Perhaps you do not know that? At home, adjust your scope’s eye relief and ring height on the highest and lowest zoom, and in between too so you don’t waste the 5min you seem to spend at the range. (A joke, sorry, you sort of left yourself open to that, lol)

This is not too terribly difficult a problem to deduce. There is something that is missing from the information you are providing, at least for me. One needs to ssssslllooooooowwwwww down when in position and make small movements and fiddle with the zoom ring/diopter and see what is bumping what, what needs to be where, can I date your daughter, etc.

Be:
S. L. O. W. H. A. N. D. S. M. c. G. E. E.

 

[Southern Custom]

You have answered your own question. You mentioned thinking that it was normal to need to stretch forward to get a clear picture at full mag. It’s not. You should have the eye box set for the widest range of forward backward movement you can achieve when at full mag. In other words, if you set it up so that you have to move out if your natural position to get a clear picture then the setup is wrong for you.
First crank up the mag. Next loosen scope rings. Get into a shooting position. Close your eyes, settle into your cheek weld. Open eyes. If the picture is clear, then move your head fore and aft a bit. If still clear lock the rings down. If not, adjust the scope bit and repeat.
until you get the scope positioned where you don’t need to alter your cheek weld to get a clear sight picture then you’ll have issues.

 

[mcm308]

You have answered your own question. You mentioned thinking that it was normal to need to stretch forward to get a clear picture at full mag. It’s not. You should have the eye box set for the widest range of forward backward movement you can achieve when at full mag. In other words, if you set it up so that you have to move out if your natural position to get a clear picture then the setup is wrong for you.
First crank up the mag. Next loosen scope rings. Get into a shooting position. Close your eyes, settle into your cheek weld. Open eyes. If the picture is clear, then move your head fore and aft a bit. If still clear lock the rings down. If not, adjust the scope bit and repeat.
until you get the scope positioned where you don’t need to alter your cheek weld to get a clear sight picture then you’ll have issues.

Kinda what I tried to explain to the guy...