Thread: Help with parallax

Hey team.

New to me scope 2.5-15 has side focus. All my previous scopes have been 12 or less mag so I have never had to deal with parallax.

I understand that at higher mag the reticule needs to be focussed so the crosshair stays still if I move my head side to side.

What’s the go with lower mag? What should I have the parallax set to? It’s on my varmint rifle so most of my shooting will be reaction on lower mag, with the odd placed shot at range.

Just want to know what to have it set to?

Cheers

Same

Adjust so crosshair stays on bullseye if you move head side to side or up n down

On a quality scope it coincides with the image in focus as well

Thanks. Once set will it change as I change zoom? Or is it about how my eye sees the image?

Did some googling and think I have it sorted

First, focus the reticle at infinity. Start with the parallaxdialset to infinity. Next, adjust the eyepiece focus ring till the reticle is sharp (wearing contact lenses or glasses if youre going to hunt with them.) Your eye quickly adjusts focus by reflex to whatever object it sees. So you need to stare into the distance like the sky and bring the gun to your eye and go by what you see in the first second or two. When youve finished, the reticle should be sharp at the same time as a very distant scene at “infinity” (> 1000m approx). If your eye has to hunt back and forth and only one is really sharp at a time then Keeping fine tuning it.

Second, for each shot adjust the parallax ring (side focus) till the target is sharp. If you are short or longsighted there will be a small difference between the focus distance and the parallax free distance. To get the tightest groups its better to have parallax zeroed out and the image may be a bit blurry. Or else hold your eye right in the very middle of the optical axis ! To zero out the parallax, set the rifle in a solid rest and without touching it move your head side to side or up and down . If the crosshair moves on the target the parallax setting needs adjustment. Note that if you do this with your cheek touching the rifle stick you will move the rifle so thats not a good way to do it. For practical hunting its best to simply focus the target sharply using the parallax dial and hope the true parallax zero is close. Some scopes have grub screws you can loosen off to turn the scale to the true distance. Otherwise you need to know how far out your parallax dial markings are and whether they are supposedto be yards or metres or maybe just unmarked ticks.

Third, while hunting, carry it with the parallax dial set to the most likely average distance you will shoot. And wind down the power. If its below 6x you have good depth of field and wont have problems with the target being out if focus. At 3x everything will look sharp (but small). I would be interested to hear whether people think actual parallax error is less at lower power, for the same sighting error (eye away from optical axis). Sometimes it seems as if increasing the power paradoxically reduces the resolution and i can see more detail at 6x than at 8x. This mostly applies when shooting closer than the closest parallax adjustment range eg a Target at 20m when your scope only adjusts down to 50m.

Originally Posted by Bagheera

...To get the tightest groups its better to have parallax zeroed out and the image may be a bit blurry...

If it's a half-decent scope, you wouldn't have to put up with that.

Ive seen it with both Zeiss and S&B.
You may not see it if your eyes can focus on the image. But you may find the reticle goes a bit out of focus.
On another topic, i find the whole image reticle and everything goes out of focus if I stop breathing too long …

One of the OP questions was whether the parallax setting will change with magnification power.
I dont know the answer to that but obviously it shouldnt. Will be interested to hear if others have seen it occur.

One thing I have seen on a low-mid priced scope ($800 but packed with features like “focussing” aka parallax down to 10 yd) is the magnification changing a bit as I wind the parallax knob. You dont usually do that while looking through the scope so so may not notice it. I havent seen it on the Schmidt but that is quite modest in its specs and only focusses down to 50m. Anyway i suspect the parallax setting and magification setting are potentially related. An optics expert might be able to tell us if this is a design error or something inevitable that manufacturers try to optimise in different ways.

Only scope I have noticeable parallax with is a weaver 2-10 microtrac I got years ago for the 10/22.
No adjustment, have to do it with the lense.
Havent had the courage to do it
Should really adjust it out one day

Perhaps it was set at 100 yd or 150yd at the factory. My leupold vx1 2-7 is set for 80 yd which helps fine shooting and a sharp image in the most common ranges specially group testing and sight in at 100.
But for a 22 you use it up close and need it set for 25 or something.

Good head position solves most of these worries, you can't have parallax error if your point of reference is the same.

I use the parallax/side focus knob to focus the image and give good object definition, reticle must be in focus (correctly set ocular adjustment as described above) and the centre of attention before the shot breaks, no point shooting at a blurry smear!

Good head position solves most of these worries, you can't have parallax error if your point of reference is the same.

I use the parallax/side focus knob to focus the image and give good object definition, reticle must be in focus (correctly set ocular adjustment as described above) and the centre of attention before the shot breaks, no point shooting at a blurry smear!

@caberslash yup I found the head position imperative. shooting a possum up a tree or a hare at 50m it was fine, even longer shots worked ok.
But trying for a tight group you had to be careful.
Being a semiauto helped as you didnt have to move much for the next shot