Light direction and ranging accuracy

[cavedweller]

Of recent I’ve been experimenting with how the direction of sunlight affects target faceplate ranging Accuracy. This issue affects the shooter - regardless of how expensive their scope is.
What I’ve learned may seem obvious to old timers, but it’s new to me, so I thought I’d share this information, in case others are struggling with the same thing.
A quick summary is:
when the light is at your back and more directly illuminating a faceplate in front of you, wow, ranging is easy And much more accurate = extreme clarity.
BUT
Put the sunlight at a right angle to the shooter or worse directly behind the object being ranged, and ranging distance accurately can become nearly impossible.

My understanding as to why this happens is because when the sunlight is coming more directly towards your eyes, your pupils are trying to constrict and if you are trying to look through the darkness of a scope, you need or want your pupils dilated to allow maximum light in for good faceplate definition.

Some shooters deal with this via ocular eyecups which don’t work if you wear glasses and some wear huge brimmed hats and I’ve seen some people throw a big towel over their heads and scope.

I certainly can’t affect the path of the sun and its a very real frustration and it causes me a lot of missed shots.

Wondering what and how the best shooters deal with this.

Chances of getting someone to follow me around with a big umbrella is probably against the rules

 

[Ranchibi]

Maybe try and range something as close to the target as possible that you can see clearly through the scope for ranging purposes....

 

[SacramentoSam]

Of recent I’ve been experimenting with how the direction of sunlight affects target faceplate ranging Accuracy. This issue affects the shooter - regardless of how expensive their scope is.
What I’ve learned may seem obvious to old timers, but it’s new to me, so I thought I’d share this information, in case others are struggling with the same thing.
A quick summary is:
when the light is at your back and more directly illuminating a faceplate in front of you, wow, ranging is easy And much more accurate = extreme clarity.
BUT
Put the sunlight at a right angle to the shooter or worse directly behind the object being ranged, and ranging distance accurately can become nearly impossible.

My understanding as to why this happens is because when the sunlight is coming more directly towards your eyes, your pupils are trying to constrict and if you are trying to look through the darkness of a scope, you need or want your pupils dilated to allow maximum light in for good faceplate definition.

Some shooters deal with this via ocular eyecups which don’t work if you wear glasses and some wear huge brimmed hats and I’ve seen some people throw a big towel over their heads and scope.

I certainly can’t affect the path of the sun and its a very real frustration and it causes me a lot of missed shots.

Wondering what and how the best shooters deal with this.

Chances of getting someone to follow me around with a big umbrella is probably against the rules

The Bisley eyecups can be hard to find but work well with glasses, even with my oversized shop teacher safety glasses. Takes some work to get the angle and eye relief adjusted but helps me block the sun without the hat causing me to sweat. As a bonus, your eye is always in the same spot and eliminates parallax errors

 

[cavedweller]

Maybe try and range something as close to the target as possible that you can see clearly through the scope for ranging purposes....

Distance Not the issue - it’s as I said, related to pupils constricting do to incoming sunlight while pupil needs to dilate looking through a darker field within the scope. The angle of the direct or reflective sunlight entering eyes is the problem; distance to target being ranged is not relative, although targets from 10-35 yards are always easier at 16x

 

[cavedweller]

The Bisley eyecups can be hard to find but work well with glasses, even with my oversized shop teacher safety glasses. Takes some work to get the angle and eye relief adjusted but helps me block the sun without the hat causing me to sweat. As a bonus, your eye is always in the same spot and eliminates parallax errors

I have some I bought from David Slade of Airgun Werks, I’ll give them a try = again.

 

[thane]

Stiff eyecup with integral side blinder and broad brim beach hat. Anything to reduce direct sunlight on my eyes.

 

[Motorhead]

Stiff eyecup with integral side blinder and broad brim beach hat. Anything to reduce direct sunlight on my eyes.

In Nevada a few weeks ago .... dark lane, dark target where illumination WOULD NOT OF HELPED !!! You needed to get your eye in scope and stare at target waiting for your eye to dilate to the low light before you could make out the edges of the KZ.
Having a Bisley eye cup fitted really helped to shade the environmental light around you in this instance.

** Thane & I both were shooting together and had similar issue with waiting on our eyes to see what was a very challenging pair of targets KZ

 

[Croxton63]

You remind me of a couple of questions and thoughts i have about eyecups. It seems like it would be one more useful reference point to help in speedy repetitive cheek weld acquisition. Yet, if it were such an advantage why doesn’t everyone have one? Is there a downs(eye)d to them I haven’t heard of? Lastly, where could I get one? Not meaning to take over your thread Cavedweller. You post a lot of useful and stimulating content.

 

[cavedweller]

You remind me of a couple of questions and thoughts i have about eyecups. It seems like it would be one more useful reference point to help in speedy repetitive cheek weld acquisition. Yet, if it were such an advantage why doesn’t everyone have one? Is there a downs(eye)d to them I haven’t heard of? Lastly, where could I get one? Not meaning to take over your thread Cavedweller. You post a lot of useful and stimulating content.

thanks for the kind words.... My airgun thoughts are mostly thoughts that show up at 3:30 a.m. when my brain is busier than a one armed paper hanger. I have used the eyecups before but my dadgum glasses always irritate the piss out of me. If i was secure in my weirdness, I could come up with some type of hilarious hat to fix the problem...

 

[Motorhead]

thanks for the kind words.... My airgun thoughts are mostly thoughts that show up at 3:30 a.m. when my brain is busier than a one armed paper hanger. I have used the eyecups before but my dadgum glasses always irritate the piss out of me. If i was secure in my weirdness, I could come up with some type of hilarious hat to fix the problem...

Big Hat YES !!!
Neck drape too, as hat can be spun around and neck drape tossed up over ocular of scope further adding some shade

 

[thane]

You remind me of a couple of questions and thoughts i have about eyecups. It seems like it would be one more useful reference point to help in speedy repetitive cheek weld acquisition. Yet, if it were such an advantage why doesn’t everyone have one? Is there a downs(eye)d to them I haven’t heard of? Lastly, where could I get one? Not meaning to take over your thread Cavedweller. You post a lot of useful and stimulating content.

Fit and feel is very specific for everyone, especially for eyes and face.
I like the cup stiff and welded against my brow, makes full sight picture in an instant. It leaks light more than the Bisley's soft eye cup.

I use Shooter's Barn "Eye Enhancer" excellent 3d print and slightly flexible (TPU?): The DG Design eye cup is also very good.
https://theshootersbarn.com/product/flexable-scope-eye-enhancer/

 

[PowderBurnt]

If having to wear glasses, fold down the eye cup. It'll help.

 

[JW.]

Big Hat YES !!!
Neck drape too, as hat can be spun around and neck drape tossed up over ocular of scope further adding some shade

A big hat is like a sail in the wind...ask me how I know...

It helps sometimes, the eye cup is more effective.

 

[JW.]

You remind me of a couple of questions and thoughts i have about eyecups. It seems like it would be one more useful reference point to help in speedy repetitive cheek weld acquisition. Yet, if it were such an advantage why doesn’t everyone have one? Is there a downs(eye)d to them I haven’t heard of? Lastly, where could I get one? Not meaning to take over your thread Cavedweller. You post a lot of useful and stimulating content.

I rarely see someone shooting WFTF without one, they can be an advantage on occasion, I have not found a downside yet. Helps with easily finding the proper eye relief, can be folded back if not needed (Bisley), easy to add and remove.

I never shoot without one.

 

[Croxton63]

I rarely see someone shooting WFTF without one, they can be an advantage on occasion, I have not found a downside yet. Helps with easily finding the proper eye relief, can be folded back if not needed (Bisley), easy to add and remove.

I never shoot without one.

JW, thanks - do you use a Bisley or something else?

 

[JW.]

JW, thanks - do you use a Bisley or something else?

Bisley, I think I have eight of them...some have been altered to fit in an eyepiece scope level, some have been shortened due to eye relief, some are full length still. I've tried just about everything except the one Thane posted (only because I wear prescription glasses).