Re: where to focus
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 223man</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I posted this else where and really didn't get any hits so I'm going to try it here.
When shooting with iron sights you focus on the front post, is it the same when using a scope? I mean do you focus on the reticle or do you focus on the target or does it matter cause a proper sight picture will have the reticle and the target as one crisp picture? </div></div>
If you have properly adjusted the scope's ocular/eyepiece for <span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-weight: bold">your eyes</span></span> you should be able to adjust the the focus ring/knob to the point that the reticle and target are in simultaneous focus. The exceptions to this are that: (a) the target is outside of the focusing range of the scope, (b) the scope is broken, (c) the scope is a POS, or (d) the scope is a broken POS.
Everyone's eyesight is different, which is why the ocular/eyepiece should be adjusted for <span style="font-weight: bold">your</span> eyesight. <span style="font-weight: bold">When the eyepiece/ocular is properly adjusted for your eyes the reticle will always be in sharp focus regardless of the image focus.</span>
Without having the ocular properly focused your eye may be "chasing the focus" as you try to focus on the target. When you look at something your eyes naturally focus on the object - the same thing happens when you look through a scope. So when adjusting either the Ocular or Parallax you shouldn't look through the scope for more than a couple of seconds at a time because your eye will automatically begin to compensate to bring the image into focus. This is why people who adjust the ocular and parallax all in one long turn, without looking away every few seconds sometimes get eyestrain and/or headaches.
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. Never look at the reticle for more than a couple of seconds when adjusting the eyepiece (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.
Remember, look away every few seconds and make small adjustments to dial-in the Ocular/Eyepiece focus. Once you have achieved this, you should not adjust the eyepiece at all, except to maintain proper focus 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.
Keith
