Rifle Scopes Vortex parallax markings might be off, I'm not sure

[Walter Haas]

A lot of it is because you are overwhelmed. You dove in and have read so much stuff about so many different things that at this time you have no business concerning yourself with.

In your case I will use parallax for example. It would be better if you didn’t even know it existed at this point. It is such a small trivial part of shooting with a magnified optic and you have started a couple threads that bring it up. Its a waste of energy at this time.

To make your life easier Walter, think of the knob on the left side of your scope as a focus and nothing more. You should only concern yourself with a full scope image with no shadowing when you press the trigger while not moving the crosshairs off the target and nothing more.

You started to run before you walked my friend.

Maybe so, this is an enormous field of knowledge. There’s an incredible amount of thinking and refinement that’s gone into every tiny detail of these guns and accessories and I really appreciate that, it makes it even more interesting to me so I’m not put off by the details, even if it hasn’t come together yet. There’s probably room for a lot of different personalities in the gun world from what I’ve seen. I’m not a combat guy or a gunslinger, I’m more like the quiet guy standing off the general’s shoulder that he gets a second opinion from.

 

[JBoomhauer]

Have you had a chance to make some adjustments in good light?

 

[Walter Haas]

Have you had a chance to make some adjustments in good light?

not yet it’s been foggy in the mornings will try again tomorrow. Thank you for asking.

 

[wchartz]

This suggestion may help with razors a bit. I have 3 Gen 2 razors. The distances on one of the knobs was off too much for me. All of them were off some but that is the nature of the beasts as has been explained in above posts. The razors have three tiny lock screws on the knob. If you have the correct screwdriver you can disengage the knob and rotate it, then relock. I would only do this if the distances are off significantly and in the same direction. You will NEVER get it exact on all distances according to the printed numbers but you may be able to get it close enough so that you can make a quick set and shoot with confidence on typical PRS targets. Another trick I have used is to take white paint and apply it using the tip of a paper clip to make a small dot or dots on the knob. I use one dot for 100 yds. two for 200 etc. This is done after diopter adjustments are complete. Even then I have found that the dots are off a little from one temperature extreme to another.
Another item mentioned in above posts is the fact that best target focus and zero parallax and not necessarily achieved simultaneously. I have seen that in several high end scopes but not to the detriment of defining or hitting the target. Go for zero parallax if you must make a choice but seldom will a small amount of parallax cause a miss on PRS targets or hunting unless you are very inconsistent in your face placement on the stock. That problem is bad shooter fundamentals anyway.
If you choose to adjust the knob be aware that the screws are set with a thread locking compound. You will need a properly fitting screwdriver and bear down HARD on the screwdriver. You can easily strip the screw slot.

 

[Walter Haas]

This suggestion may help with razors a bit. I have 3 Gen 2 razors. The distances on one of the knobs was off too much for me. All of them were off some but that is the nature of the beasts as has been explained in above posts. The razors have three tiny lock screws on the knob. If you have the correct screwdriver you can disengage the knob and rotate it, then relock. I would only do this if the distances are off significantly and in the same direction. You will NEVER get it exact on all distances according to the printed numbers but you may be able to get it close enough so that you can make a quick set and shoot with confidence on typical PRS targets. Another trick I have used is to take white paint and apply it using the tip of a paper clip to make a small dot or dots on the knob. I use one dot for 100 yds. two for 200 etc. This is done after diopter adjustments are complete. Even then I have found that the dots are off a little from one temperature extreme to another.
Another item mentioned in above posts is the fact that best target focus and zero parallax and not necessarily achieved simultaneously. I have seen that in several high end scopes but not to the detriment of defining or hitting the target. Go for zero parallax if you must make a choice but seldom will a small amount of parallax cause a miss on PRS targets or hunting unless you are very inconsistent in your face placement on the stock. That problem is bad shooter fundamentals anyway.
If you choose to adjust the knob be aware that the screws are set with a thread locking compound. You will need a properly fitting screwdriver and bear down HARD on the screwdriver. You can easily strip the screw slot.

Thanks for the feedback. My initial post was about the parallax marking being off when the visual focus was spot on, but I've learned a lot since then, namely that focus and parallax are not the same thing and they involve the diopter as well. But I hear what you're saying, if my pupil is on axis with the scope the parallax error shouldn't matter to the shot.

 

[Walter Haas]

Have you had a chance to make some adjustments in good light?

What I'm seeing is the diopter only has an effect at the extreme ends of its adjustment. If you define the "good window" as the diopter extremes where the reticle looks sharp across the whole window, then sweeping across that window doesn't bring the target into better focus, although it will make the target focus worse going outside the diopter "good window", but that fact seems irrelevant. I thought the implication from someone's post was that the parallax can be perfect while the focus is perfect if you adjust the diopter just right also but that's not what I'm seeing on my Vortex Razor.
So its still the original issue, that when the target focus is best, the parallax marking is off. But my understanding now is that's normal, such that if I want sharp target focus I need to be aware that my pupil needs to be on axis to prevent parallax error. Or, conversely, if I use the rough parallax markings for distance the target won't be as sharp, which is probably the way I'll shoot since parallax is probably the greater source of error in the shot.

 

[JBoomhauer]

Try getting it as close as possible (parallax setting) with a far target.

Dial in to a something near the minimum parallax range on the scope. (32 yds)

Adjust parallax until crosshairs do not move when wiggling you’re head.

Now without touching parallax, adjust the diopter until the object is clear.

Now verify at multiple ranges. It won’t match the numbers perfect but should be reasonably close.

 

[Walter Haas]

Try getting it as close as possible (parallax setting) with a far target.

Dial in to a something near the minimum parallax range on the scope. (32 yds)

Adjust parallax until crosshairs do not move when wiggling you’re head.

Now without touching parallax, adjust the diopter until the object is clear.

Now verify at multiple ranges. It won’t match the numbers perfect but should be reasonably close.

Yes, that seems to work as described. I can definitely see the parallax leaving as I dial up to the correct distance. Thanks!

 

[Racer88]

Now without touching parallax, adjust the diopter until the object is clear.

I was under the impression that the diopter adjustment was to make the reticle sharp / in focus for the user.

 

[JBoomhauer]

I was under the impression that the diopter adjustment was to make the reticle sharp / in focus for the user.

It is, the image is projected onto the same plane as the reticle.

When you look at the reticle, your eyes automatically try to make it sharp, in his case it was sharp through most of the diopter range of travel.

By focusing at a close object at high power it magnifies any error you had and you can fine tune your diopter focus on that plane.

 

[PracticalTactical]

I think what Danup8520 is trying to establish is the base setting for the parallax for a person with 20-20 vision.

When you adjust the ocular lens, it affects the parallax... but it's not how to set parallax.

If you do what Danup8520 has suggested, the reticle may not be clear depending on the prescription you may or may not need for your eyes.

Scopes can be a funny thing... And it is not always possible to get everything synchronized perfectly.

Sometimes, where you are parallax free, the image is not in perfect focus. You have to decide if you want to see clearly or shoot accurately.

I would never adjust the ocular lens to establish parallax though. That just helps you see the reticle clearly and without eye strain.