Rifle Scopes Nightforce Reticle Focus

[kmc0929]

Can I reset the reticle focus back to near factory settings? I started fooling around with this setting and can't for the life of me get it to work right. I loosened the eyepiece separate from the magnification ring. then i loosened the lock ring, so that it went clockwise and moved closer to the magnification numbers. Then i just turned the eyepiece. I tried tightening the eyepiece (clockwise) as far as it would go, and I have tried loosening it just about as far as i felt comfortable going. I have the mag turned up all the way, and the parallax at infinity and I look at a bright wall across the room and the reticle always looks the same. Any suggestions?

If I want to turn it back to where it was set from the factory can I just turn it all the way clockwise and make a number of counter clockwise turns to get back there?

Also, what is a good way to retighten that lock ring. Now every time I go to turn the magnification, it slips and the eyepiece just turns.

 

[Sendero_Man]

Re: Nightforce Reticle Focus

the eyepiece turns on the NXS models when you change magnification....

http://nightforceoptics.com/nightforcescopes/LIBRARY/NFOwnersManual5_08_webNoWarrantyCard.pdf

 

[kmc0929]

Re: Nightforce Reticle Focus

yes i know the eyepiece turns when you change mag, i am saying that i cant tighten the eyepiece correctly, they turn separately when i change mag.

 

[Sendero_Man]

Re: Nightforce Reticle Focus

did you strip it out ?

the lock ring won't stay tight then ?

 

[Sendero_Man]

Re: Nightforce Reticle Focus

I assume you have the instruction manual with you ? if not, that is what the link is I posted above. read thru the adjustment section, tells you how to do it.

 

[m1k3]

Re: Nightforce Reticle Focus

Try going outside and adjust it while looking at a cleat sky. Don't look at the sun (I've seen somebody do it).

I noticed that since the NF adjust the focus so slowly that your eye will attempt to focus on the paper at only a few feet away vs. being fooled into focusing at infinity which is what you need.

Do a search around here and there are several detailed posts on how to adjust the reticle.

Good shooting
Mike

 

[mdmp5]

Re: Nightforce Reticle Focus

The lock ring should screw away from the magnification numbers, toward the ocular lens when tightening. Keep in mind that the threads are super fine, and require quite a bit of turning to reach maximum power. This is one of the most common problems that people have with the NXS. They are frustrated by the fact that they cannot get a clear picture, then find out that they had not adjusted the ocular lens correctly. It even happened to me years ago; I was shooting thru a blurry picture for months before I realized what I was doing wrong.

 

[vman]

Re: Nightforce Reticle Focus

Lol

 

[sniperaviator]

Re: Nightforce Reticle Focus

The Nightforce dioptor focus does more than just focus the reticle.

Factory setting is about:
1. Screw it all the way clockwise.
2. Screw it counterclock maybe 3 turns.

If your near vision is normal or wear glasses that corrects your near vision to normal, somewhere close to all the way in is where you want to be (a few turns out). (When you look at the image it is a near vision image, I believe).

Focusing on a blank wall or blue sky doesn't work with a nightforce.

Put the unit on full magnification and look at something at "infinity" (very far away, like over 1000 yards. Put the parallax on infinity. Then turn the diopter focus until it is in focus.

You will have to refocus the parrallax when you go to less magnification. Also the diopter focus interacts with the parallax focus. That is how my Nightforce 5.5x22 works anyway.

Hope that helps.

 

[Aries64]

Re: Nightforce Reticle Focus

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sniperaviator</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The Nightforce dioptor focus does more than just focus the reticle...</div></div>
<span style="font-style: italic">"The Nightforce dioptor focus does more than just focus the reticle."</span> Can you hear yourself? The reticle focus is just that - <span style="font-style: italic">reticle focus</span>. As long as the Lockring is properly tightened the reticle will remain in sharp focus even when turned in conjunction with the magnification ring.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sniperaviator</div><div class="ubbcode-body">...Focusing on a blank wall or blue sky doesn't work with a nightforce...</div></div>
This is incorrect - focusing the reticle against a blue sky will work with any riflescope. A blank wall will also work but a clear, cloudless sky is preferred. The NightForce Owner's Manual is partially to blame for confusion of how to correctly adjust the Ocular Lens (reticle focus). Instructing people to <span style="font-style: italic">"look through the riflescope eyepiece at a light colored background such as a white wall..."</span> isn't the best way to focus the eyepiece / ocular / diopter.

Why? Because the best way to adjust the reticle is to adjust it <span style="font-style: italic">without distraction</span> to the eye, and the best way to eliminate any distraction is to have nothing else in the view except the reticle. This is why the Ocular should be adjusted while viewing the reticle against a cloudless sky (or at least a clear area of the sky). A blank wall is "OK", but clear sky is best because the reticle will be the only visible object within view.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sniperaviator</div><div class="ubbcode-body">...Put the unit on full magnification and look at something at "infinity" (very far away, like over 1000 yards. Put the parallax on infinity. Then turn the diopter focus until it is in focus...</div></div>
Again - for clarification, no objects should be within view except the reticle, <span style="font-weight: bold">so the scope should be viewed against a clear, cloudless area of the sky.</span>

Below is the correct procedure for Diopter (Ocular/Eyepiece) adjustment for both fixed and variable power scopes. The procedure is the same regardless of scope manufacturer, or whether the objective/parallax focus is on the objective ring or is a side focus type.

<span style="font-weight: bold">NOTE:</span> If the scope is a fixed power unit skip steps 1 and 2 as they do not apply.

(1) Turn the magnification ring to maximum (highest power).

(2) Turn the Parallax focus to "Infinity" (the symbol for Infinity looks like a figure eight). <span style="font-weight: bold">NOTE:</span> Most non-side focus scopes use a ring on the objective bell to adjust parallax, and the distances are usually numbered. Side focus parallax adjustment knobs may or may not have distances marked.

(3) Turn the ocular bell/eyepiece all the way in.

(4) Aim the scope at a cloudless section of the sky (you don't want anything except sky in the view, or else your eye will naturally attempt to focus on the object in the view beyond the reticle.

(5) Look at something nearby, but not too close, then look through the scope at the reticle. If the reticle is out-of-focus turn it a bit to begin to focusing the reticle, but look away from the scope. <span style="font-weight: bold">Never look at the reticle for more than a couple of seconds when adjusting the eyepiece</span> (if you look at the reticle for more than a second or two your eye will naturally begin to adjust to bring the reticle into focus - and you don't want this to happen. <span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-weight: bold">You want to be able to look through the scope and see a sharply focused reticle immediately with your eye relaxed</span></span>. This cannot be achieved by continuously looking through the scope and turning the eyepiece into focus in one continous motion because your eye will have already begun to adjust.

<span style="font-style: italic">Remember, look away every few seconds and make small adjustments to dial-in the Ocular/Eyepiece focus.</span> Once you have achieved this, you should not adjust the eyepiece at all, <span style="font-style: italic">except to maintain sharp reticle focus</span> as your vision changes over time <span style="font-style: italic">(it always does).</span> You may want to put a pen mark on the eyepiece indexed to the index dot on the scope tube - if the tube doesn't have an index mark use a pencil. That way, if someone else shoots your rifle and adjusts the Ocular you know where to return the adjustment to.

However, if you still cannot achieve simultaneous reticle and image focus after following the above directions for Eyepiece/Ocular Focus, it is <span style="font-style: italic">possible</span> that there is a problem with the scope.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sniperaviator</div><div class="ubbcode-body">...You will have to refocus the parrallax when you go to less magnification. Also the diopter focus interacts with the parallax focus. That is how my Nightforce 5.5x22 works anyway.

Hope that helps. </div></div>
If the the scope was set at <span style="font-style: italic">high magnification</span> and the parallax was correctly adjusted (zero parallax) reducing the magnification really shouldn't require that the parallax be re-focused. The need to re-focus the parallax would be more likely if the parallax was adjusted at <span style="font-style: italic">low magnification</span>, and then the magnification was increased, magnifying the parallax error.

Also, if the Ocular (Diopter) was correctly set initially (see my tutorial above) and the Lock-Ring sufficiently tightened, the Ocular/Diopter focus should not change as the Parallax knob is turned (an exception being that <span style="font-style: italic">if the Ocular / Diopter is set to either extreme end of the Diopter's adjustment range</span>).


Keith

 

[sniperaviator]

Re: Nightforce Reticle Focus

Someone from Nightforce ought to chime in here. We are discussing getting the diopter and parallax knobs adjusted right on a Nighforce 5.5x22-56.

I am no expert. My other scopes are a Leupold and a 2 Nikons, neither of which have a parallax knob. But I do own a Nightforce 5.5x22-56. I bought it with hard earned money and I am making the most of it. I was brought up in large family, things were never perfect so I am used to making the best with what I have (which usually had been stomped on by some older sibling). I am no dummy, I have two degrees, one in EE from a major university. Not bragging, just saying all this so people get the idea where I am coming from. I DIDN'T DESIGN THE THING! But I know enough about engineering design that things are never perfect and there are tradeoffs in any design. The scope has the adjustments it needs to get things pretty close to right. As always, if you keep your eye in the center of the sight picture, you'll minimize any slight parallax distortion that may still be in the scope.

What I had to do with my Nightforce 5.5x22-56 was this. Now remember the PURPOSE is to get the reticle in focus and the image in focus with a MINIMUM of parallax distortion. Parallax distortion can be seen if you point the horizontal part of the reticle in line with a horizontal powerline. Now lets say the powerline is in focus. Now move your eye up and down over the scope picture (bob your head). Move from the upper limit where shadowing starts, down the entire image to the lower limit where shadowing starts. If there is NO parallax distortion, then the powerline and the horizontal reticle wont change their relationship. If there IS a parallax distortion, then the powerline will raise and lower itself above and below the horizontal part of the reticle.

What I had to do when I had this problem was to move the parallax knob so this parallax problem went away. Moving the parallax knob put the image out of focus, so I had to move the DIOPTER focus to refocus the image. This is why I say that the diopter and the parallax knob interact with each other. There are many, many combinations of parallax position and diopter position that will FOCUS the image and reticle. But only ONE place where it is in focus AND there is no parallax distortion.

As I say, I have limited experience with scopes, and my Nightforce 5.5x22-56 is the only scope I have that has a parallax knob. But I spent several hours working on this problem and had to do it at several distances to get things as right as I could get them. I don't know if this is unique to all Nightforce scopes, just 5.5x22-56's, or what, but that is what I had to do. Undoubtably other scopes may work differently.

So there you have it. I am willing to change how I do and percieve things, I could be doing something wrong, could be explaining it wrong too. This stuff is not trivial. Anyway, I'm not trying to pass myself off as an expert, but I do own one and use it freuently. The original post the guy seemed to be having the same problem I was and I'm only trying to help him out. My first reply may have been a bit hasty, you have to start somewhere. This is kind of a complicated subject. Hopefully this will clear things up a bit.

 

[dieselgeek]

Re: Nightforce Reticle Focus

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sniperaviator</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The Nightforce dioptor focus does more than just focus the reticle.

Factory setting is about:
1. Screw it all the way clockwise.
2. Screw it counterclock maybe 3 turns.

If your near vision is normal or wear glasses that corrects your near vision to normal, somewhere close to all the way in is where you want to be (a few turns out). (When you look at the image it is a near vision image, I believe).

Focusing on a blank wall or blue sky doesn't work with a nightforce.

Put the unit on full magnification and look at something at "infinity" (very far away, like over 1000 yards. Put the parallax on infinity. Then turn the diopter focus until it is in focus.

You will have to refocus the parrallax when you go to less magnification. Also the diopter focus interacts with the parallax focus. That is how my Nightforce 5.5x22 works anyway.

Hope that helps.</div></div>

This really helped me. I've really liked my scope, but thought it lacked on the lower end. Until tonight when I tightened it all the way down. Wow, no wonder they call it nightforice.

 

[Vin]

Re: Nightforce Reticle Focus

I have 3 Nightforce scopes and all were fine when I got them. I have had no issues whatsoever and didn't feel the need to fuck with them.