reticle focusing

Vegeta

Hey all,

Just wondering could you help me. I am trying to focus the reticle of my new scope and I am wondering do you have any tips for me. I can barely see the reticle at all, its driving me nuts as its a bit of a joke that i cant focus the reticle of a 1800 euro scope.

Veg

Kramer

Vegeta wrote:

I can barely see the reticle at all, its driving me nuts as its a bit of a joke that i cant focus the reticle of a 1800 euro scope.

That's a bummer but if it's any help, I'll swap you for my Hawke 3-9x40. No problems seeing the reticle with that .

Of course, there'll need to be a cash adjustment................after all, I'll be getting a "troublesome" scope in exchange for a perfect Hawke....:eek: .

Seriously, you shouldn't really be trying to focus the reticle too much. You won't be shooting the crosshair but the distant target. The retcile should be in focus immediately on bringing the scope to your eye. Look at a distant object for several seconds, then bring the gun/scope to your eye & check the focus. If it's not right, adjust the eyebell slightly & repeat. Trying to focus the reticle while "staring" at it just refocuses your eye to the near object i.e. 3"/4" to crosshair.

Hard to explain but hopefully you'll get the basic idea....

Don't forget.............that swap offer's a good 'un........always happy to help out a fellow shooter/board member .

Gerri

Vegeta wrote:

Hey all,

Just wondering could you help me. I am trying to focus the reticle of my new scope and I am wondering do you have any tips for me. I can barely see the reticle at all, its driving me nuts as its a bit of a joke that i cant focus the reticle of a 1800 euro scope.

Veg

Standard Eye Bell:
If the reticle does not appear sharp and well
defined, loosen the eye bell lock-ring. Rotate the
eyepiece in either direction two turns. Look
through the scope again. If the focus of the reticle
has improved, but is still not perfect, continue to
rotate the eye bell in the same direction. If the
focus condition has worsened, rotate the eye bell in
the opposite direction. When the reticle appears in
sharp focus, re-tighten the lock-ring.
Fast-Focus:
On models equipped with a fast focus eye bell,
rotate only the end portion of the eye bell in or out
as described earlier. There is no lock ring utilized in
this system.

Gerri

Vegeta wrote:

Hey all,

Just wondering could you help me. I am trying to focus the reticle of my new scope and I am wondering do you have any tips for me. I can barely see the reticle at all, its driving me nuts as its a bit of a joke that i cant focus the reticle of a 1800 euro scope.

Veg

From the Nightforce Owners manual.
Step Five
Focusing the eyepiece - this procedure focuses the reticle to your eye. (This has no effect on the image unless severely out of adjustment).
(1) Check that the riflescope is set at the highest magnification.
(2) Set the parallax adjustment to the infinity setting [ ∞ ] on the riflescope.
(3) Look through the riflescope eyepiece to determine if the reticle is clear and in focus instantly. Note: All Nightforce
riflescopes are factory set for an average individual eye strength, thus adjustment may not be necessary. Looking at the
reticle for an extended period of time during this process will cause your eye to compensate, resulting in false indication of
reticle focus.
(4) If adjustment is necessary grasp the eyepiece and rotate counter clockwise – loosening it away from the lock-ring while
holding the riflescope from turning in the rings. Several turns of the eyepiece are necessary to achieve any measurable
affect. Once reticle focus is achieved, lock the eyepiece by threading the lock-ring back to the eyepiece.
(5) Fast focus eyepiece. Not all Nightforce riflescopes are equipped with a lock-ring on the eyepiece. If your riflescope model is
equipped with a fast focus eyepiece ie. No locking ring, simply perform steps 1, 2 & 3 above to set eyepiece focus.

Kramer

Gerri wrote:

From the Nightforce Owners manual............................

(3) Look through the riflescope eyepiece to determine if the reticle is clear and in focus instantly. Looking at the
reticle for an extended period of time during this process will cause your eye to compensate, resulting in false indication of
reticle focus..

Exactly what I was trying to say but, obviously, explained far more clearly (pun intended ).

Vegeta

Yeah I'll have another go at this tonight but I did all the above.

The funny thing is that the manual said to turn the scope on full power set parralax(sp?) to infinity and look through it and set it. Its fine like this but when I actually tried the scope at 12 times mag and focusing at a target (wheel of a nissan almera about 80 yards away) I could barely see the reticle at all. It turned into an expensive telescope.

needless to say I was very frustrated last night so this could have been half the reason I didn't get it right. Rushing things

bullets

Vegeta wrote:

The funny thing is that the manual said to turn the scope on full power set parralax(sp?) to infinity and look through it and set it. Its fine like this but when I actually tried the scope at 12 times mag and focusing at a target (wheel of a nissan almera about 80 yards away) I could barely see the reticle at all. It turned into an expensive telescope.

As its a High Mag scope probably for longer ranges
The Parralax may be factory default set for 200 Yards rather
than 100yard making things a little tougher to focus
on with the highest mag at very short range.

I had a similar problem with my old heap of junk.
The Reticle itself to the eye was focused, but no matter what I
did with the parallax on the sidewheel or the eyebell
the reticle and the object I was aiming on would both not be crisp.
I could focus my eye on one or the other to make it clear
but not both at the same time. I noticed if I was to look at
a rock or something bright I could see the reticle but sometimes
when I looked at leaves/green leaves it disappeared on me and I could
not see the reticle. Did not bother me too much as it was fine on
papertargets at 50/100.

it only happened to me when looking at objects at closer range though
ie under 50 yards! Try looking at something at least 100 yards away.
Maybe the high mag on the nightforce cant handle the short distance
and the lower mag is suited better.

I know with the new Leupold I have it cant focus on things at 15-30 yards on high mag. unllike my old scope, it will only focus perfectly on things that are further away.

Did ya get your rings last night ?

~B

Vegeta

yup got my rings in Lazy Dog ltd in knocklong, got the scope and rifle level and set the eye relief.

I will have another go at getting the reticle right tonight and if it doesn't work I might call in a posse of you (bullets), Kramer and CG if he's up for it. I want to get it right.

It could be the way I am using it but I don't think so. The really really annoying bit is that I got my dad, girlfriend and one of my brothers to look through it too, my dad and girlfriend thought I was nuts but my brother observed the same as me. Look through the scope, see barely visible reticle and then bam it disappears.

Oh the frustration

Gerri

Vegeta wrote:

yup got my rings in Lazy Dog ltd in knocklong, got the scope and rifle level and set the eye relief.

I will have another go at getting the reticle right tonight and if it doesn't work I might call in a posse of you (bullets), Kramer and CG if he's up for it. I want to get it right.

It could be the way I am using it but I don't think so. The really really annoying bit is that I got my dad, girlfriend and one of my brothers to look through it too, my dad and girlfriend thought I was nuts but my brother observed the same as me. Look through the scope, see barely visible reticle and then bam it disappears.

Oh the frustration

It may also be that you got too fine a reticle, a friend had one with the NP1 or NP2 reticle and had to change it as he had difficulty seeing it. He exchanged it for the Mil Dot reticle and has no problem.

Kramer

Veg,

Have you tried flipping up the Butler Creek cover?

.

Only joking . It does have a very fine crosshair but I didn't have any problem with it last weekend. We'll probably get together over the weekend anyway.......will have another look through it, now that it's mounted.

ArthurJ

Vegeta wrote:

The funny thing is that the manual said to turn the scope on full power set parralax(sp?) to infinity and look through it and set it. Its fine like this but when I actually tried the scope at 12 times mag and focusing at a target (wheel of a nissan almera about 80 yards away) I could barely see the reticle at all. It turned into an expensive telescope.

Vegeta

The condition you are describing is not an eyepiece/ocular focus issue.

It sounds like you might have a First Focal Plane scope. If you do, that’s how they work, low mag thin reticule,high mag thick one.

Best of luck

Clare gunner

One other obvious but possible thing.Get your eyes tested.It could be that your eyesight is acting up.It happened to me on my left master eye,and you can be driven nuts thinking it is your equipment,when it is your eyesight.

ArthurJ

Bang goes the FFP theory. Nightforce don’t do a FFP scope.

Vegeta

rather embarrassingly I sorted this last night.

On wednesday night when I was trying to focus the rifle something other than the target was creeping into the field of view. I was looking at a target 100 yards away but the branch of a tree was entering the field of view ( but obviously very out of focus) at 30 or so yards away, this causes the reticle to vanish almost completely. I don't know why this happens but I did tests myself then and this is definitely the case. same with all the scopes I have too.

Problem solved though and its zeroing time

Thanks for all the help folks

ArthurJ

So CG was right:D

Seriously, the best of luck with it.

Lets know how you get on with it.

Vegeta

ArthurJ wrote:

So CG was right:D

Seriously, the best of luck with it.

Lets know how you get on with it.

Yeah I should have known not to question the scope

I will post a review of it after I have zeroed the bad boy