zeroing & parallax adjustment

[aq75]

Hello,

I am new to the hobby, i start to read & watch everything I can find on the net , the more I read the more I get confused & frustrated, one of my major confusions zeroing & parallax adjustment.

Here is my questions , I hope someone can help me to clear these up .

1- Can I zero my scope rifle without making any parallax adjustment on the scope?

2-What is the difference between Zeroing rifle scope & parallax adjustment on scope?

3- Do I need to do both Zeroing rifle scope & parallax adjustment on the scope to get an accurate shoot?

Thanks

 

[Olevey]

1- Yes, you can zero a scope without adjusting parallax, some scopes dont have parallax adjustment but can still be zeroed

2- Zeroing a rifle scope refers to ensuring that the point of impact is represented accurately by the crosshairs or dot or whatever the scope has to aim at a specific given distance, while parallax occurs when the target and reticle are on different planes within the scope and the adjustment thereof is to compensate for this. You will hear the term holdover which accomplishes the same thing in the end as zeroing but instead of using the turrets the shooter just "holds over" the scope reticle to compensate for distance variation.

3- This is a subjective question and you will find people on both sides of the fence. Personally I think parallax adjustment is overrated and have had scopes with fixed parallax at both 50 and 100 yards but was able to shoot at shorter distances succesfully.

 

[JimNM]

Parallax refers to where the main lens cast a perfect focus inside the scope. If you have a scope that cannot adjust Parallax, often times you can't get a good focus under a hundred yards. Adjustable Parallax lets you focus all the way down to 10 or 15 yards. scopes designed to be used with a 22 rimfire often times have a 50-yard Parallax. Centerfire scopes often times are a hundred yards.

 

[PigeonMan]

Been shooting airgun for over 10 years. To my understanding. Zeroing refer to point of impact. Aka where the pellet will hit. You move your cross hair to the poi and that is your zero. As for parallax adjustment, it's use to focus on your target. Think of it like a camera. When at Target is at a different distance, say 10 yards. You view will be very blurry. So you adjust it to 10 yards to see it clearly. When it's at 100, you turn to 100. Usually you can leave it at 100 yards and will see clear for most distance. Unless you shooting close like 10-20 yard you can just leave it alone.

 

[bandg]

If you look through your scope with incorrect parallax adjustment for the range and move your eye slightly then the cross hair will move relative to the target. If parallax is adjusted correctly for the range then slight eye movement does not cause the cross hair to move. "Focus" is better as well and that is how ranging is done with a scope.

 

[shoot44]

 

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[aq75]

Thank you all for the detailed replies , i will try to digest all these information.

 

[bandg]

Thank you all for the detailed replies , i will try to digest all these information.

You might want to read in the field target section as well. Probably a lot more there related to using "side focus" (parallax adjustment) for ranging a target. It's a relatively new concept to me but seems to be a standard method for field target shooters.

 

[acs]

Hello,

I am new to the hobby, i start to read & watch everything I can find on the net , the more I read the more I get confused & frustrated, one of my major confusions zeroing & parallax adjustment.

Here is my questions , I hope someone can help me to clear these up .

1- Can I zero my scope rifle without making any parallax adjustment on the scope?

2-What is the difference between Zeroing rifle scope & parallax adjustment on scope?

3- Do I need to do both Zeroing rifle scope & parallax adjustment on the scope to get an accurate shoot?

Thanks

Been shooting all my life, very impressed with AG optics precision and features the last decade or so... On my PB deer rifles a shot placed an inch or 2 left right doesn't matter much as the 308 seems to still be very effective. My pcp air rifles can earhole a nutter every time, with accuracy measured in tenths of an inch. Imo an AR with a properly adjusted AR scope gives accuracy that is incredibly precise. What a pleasure to shoot a quiet, consistent, superbly accurate rifle... A good AG scope adjusted correctly is key to AR success.

Adjustable Objective (AO) is incorrectly called the same as adjustable parallax. But for all practical purposes, they are the same.

The first thing I do before aiming at new target at unknown distance is adjust the AO till sight picture is in perfect focus, which the AO adjustment does perfectly. If i already know the exact distance of my target, will set AO accordingly and then do a fine adjustment with the AO wheel if needed.

The AO once focused for the target will tell you the range fairly accurately, which makes for an easier holdover calculation. On a side wheel AO, different colored rings/tape can be used for different shooting ambient temperature ranges that will affect the range adjustment since optics are very sensitive to temp expansion/contraction that temp swings will produce for as little as .00001" optics 'swell'... At 1 temperature, distance might be 30yards on AO scale, with a 40° temp swing it might now be 32yards...

IMO, zeroing scope needs to be done after AO is perfectly adjusted. But zeroing in scope only needs to be done correctly once. For best sight picture/accuracy, AO needs to be adjusted for every significant change in target distance, unless you are over the distance of the max infinity range of AO adjustment.

I zero all my AR at 20yards first zero and end up with second zero @35-40 yards with just a little difference in poi between the 2 zeros. I do this because 20-40yards is my normal pesting range and prefer to use center cross hairs instead of hold over/under with a 50-100 yard zero.

Yes, imo you need to do both, AO adjustment and zeroing the scope to get a consistent accurate focus/shot... But you can always go to open sights if this proves to be to complicated...?

JMO

 

[LDP]

Parallax is not the same as just focusing an object in the scope. Parallax is the relationship and alignment of your reticle and the focal plane of your target. Yes you can shoot accurately and consistently without adjusting parallax but it gets harder as you increase the power. If you dont correct parallax you have to keep your alignment of your eye to the center of the scope every shot. If you dont look directly thru the center of the scope it will cause the poi to shift. If you try shooting at 4x with parallax you will find it easier to maintain accuracy than say 16x. Try shooting a scope with parallax at 24x and 100 yds and see how well you can maintain accuracy. When you have parallax the target or object does not fall onto the same plane as the reticle. Since they are not on the same plane any movement off center of your eye will make the crosshairs appear to be lined up off target. If that happens you will shift the reticle back on target that amount thinking you moved the reticle on target. In reality you moved it off target.

 

[aq75]

Thank you all for the replies, I will do my best not to get overwhelmed by these information, and now I have just knew about new factor to consider when shooting , and that is the position you hold your gun which should be vertical 90 degree and for this I need to use bubble level scope (Anti Cant bubble level scope) , it new thing I am reading about , I don’t know how much this important.



Thank you all again