Mirage question

Maelstrom

Sergeant
Supporter
Full Member
Minuteman
Supporter
Jan 6, 2007
1,292
479
Southern Maryland
How do you deal with mirage when using a spotting scope? I recently picked up a Bushnell Elite Tactical spotting scope. So far so good but yesterday when I was at the range I had difficulty getting it to focus clearly. It was only in the low 80's temperature wise but there was a lot of mirage. Is there anything that can be done to focus through the mirage to make the picture clearer? Hope that makes sense.
 
reduce the magnification setting, if it's adjustable_
exemple:
if it's a zoom from 20x to50x, go from 50x progressively down until the perceived disturb will disappear_(if arrived down to 20x the sight is blurry again , nothing to do )
if it's a fixed 50x, I'm sorry: nothing to do at all, at my knowledge_
(any advise better than mine, aside goin'home, will be welcomed from me too, of course!)
 
Last edited:
Why do you want to "focus through the mirage" with a spotting scope? Mirage is your friend, use it.

Use the spotting scope to read the mirage, use your rifle scope or iron sights to see the target.

I use a 10X scope for shooting, nothing higher, focused on the target. I use a 20-25 X spotting scope focused about 1/2 to 2/3s distance to the target to read the mirage.

If the mirage is too heavy for the 10X, turn it down. You can shoot fuzzy targets, actually targets are suppose to be fuzzy when using iron sights or pistol/revolvers because you're focused on the front sight. So even with a scope, you can shoot fuzzy. Careful though, I use a barrel band to keep heat waves off the barrel from interfering with the mirage.
 
I could barely see the targets and spotting hits was completely impossible. I tried lowering the magnification but it made little difference. I was looking at the spotter last night and it looks like I need to clean the lens as well.