Thread: How important is adjustable parallax in a short range scope?

As I ponder what scope to put on my 500 S&W I've been thinking about parallax and the need for an adjustable parallax.

I want to be able to use from point blank to perhaps 200 yards, with most of the shooting being within 50 yards with subs.

All most all of my rifles have scopes with adjustable parallax and I typically hunt with the parallax set for distance I would expect to encounter game eg 50 yards for bush hunting, 200 yards for open tops etc.

If I most of my shooting is going to be with in 50 yards and I have a scope with a parallax set at 100 or 150 yards does it matter?

I note that most air gun scopes have adjustable parallax


Thoughts.....

At the range, with large animal size targets, I don't think that parallax error is going to matter, but your target will be out of focus. If you can live with that, then no problem.

get a 1-6 or a 2-8 and no parallax and you will be good to go.
I wont' be buying another "hunting" scope with parallax adjustment nor over 12 power. I actually like my 2-8 best of all my scopes for hunting cause its simple to operate.

Consistent cheek weld and no parallax is not a problem. I've just switched to a VX6 2-12x42 with no parallax adjustment. It wasn't too hard to shoot 0.6MOA group at 550yds.

What they said.


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Simple to adjust parallax yourself with most scopes.

Mostly what was said above. General rule of thumb is low mag means it is not needed. Parallax adjustment only really comes into it with larger magnifications (think 9x and above) If 3-9 etc not really needed, but a 6-24x it would be a good idea. For what you describe as purpose, I would agree a 2-8, 2-7 or 3-9 would be fine without parallax adjustment.