Scope help

[stephen ingham]

Hi guys i wonder if someone can offer me some help and advice?

I have an Air Arms 410 with a Hawke MAP Pro 3-9 x 50 AO MAP and have some questions.

I did some target shooting at 25 yards to try and get my head around the way the scope works.
At that distance i was very consistent with my grouping, that was on maximum magnification and the paralax adjustment set at 25.
One of the things i noticed was that when i adjusted the focus ring although the focus changed it didnt focus it quite enough to make the target really clear, what can i do about this?

Secondly when i adjusted the paralax adjuster to 50 i expected the positioning of the grouping to change height on the target, but no matter what i adjusted it to, even to 200 the
grouping position stayed exactly the same, as if i hadnt moved it.....am i misunderstanding the way this works or is there something wrong?

I have to say i am very inexperienced when it comes to scopes and would appreciate some help if possible?

Cheers
Stephen

[bedwards1966]

Yes, you've misunderstood how parallax works.

In simple terms, you set the parallax to the distance you are shooting at.
It doesn't change where the scope aims/pellet hits, what it does is make it so that if you don't put your eye smack in the middle of the scope you'll hit the target. If the parallax is not set to the distance you are shooting at and you move your head up, down or to one side then you will be off target. You can see the effect of this by fixing the scope so it can't move and looking through it at a stationary object (with the parallax set at a different distance) and by moving your head around the crosshairs will appear to move. Setting the parallax to the correct distance stops this (in theory).
One way to 'cheat' the parallax for when you aren't sure that it is working properly, or when you have to take a quick shot and don't have time to set it where you need to, is to pull your head back from the scope so you see a black ring round your target. When you get this ring even in the scope your eye is in the middle.


As to the focus issue, when aiming at very close things the scope may not focus, and sometimes if the parallax isn't set to that distance it will also be out of focus. Try less magnification if you can't get it to focus, you're probably too close to your target for maximum magnification.
For airgun ranges 9x magnification is a lot. You probably won't need more than the minimum most of the time, and it makes it easier to shoot accurately when you aren't zoomed in too much on the target - you can't see yourself shaking the rifle as you shoot.

[Hornet 6]

The focus ring, I assume you mean the ring right at the back that focuses the reticle ?
This is something you adjust once, it's only function is to adjust the reticle to your eye, nothing else.
If you look through the scope at a plain background, like a painted wall, the reticle should be instantly in focus, if it isn't you adjust the ring and then look again, keep going till it looks clear and sharp.
Do not look through it as you focus, you eye is a wonderful thing as it can and will bring the reticle into focus on it's own, which will then make everything else out of focus.
Once you have the reticle sharply in focus (at any range) you can then play with the parallax, either AO or side focus (make no difference which) set it to the distance you are shooting, the scale is not always accurate so you may need to play, but once you have it set at say 25 yards, if you move your eye slightly off centre to the scope the cross hairs should stay on target, if it moves adjust slightly until the cross hairs stay on target, remember the actual setting for future use.
To be honest I wouldn't expect the parallax adjustment to make much difference on a 9 power scope, but it will allow fine tuning.
For an air gun at hunting range the parallax could just be set at 30 yards and left, the error would not be enough to worry about, and if you always look dead centre through a scope there is no parallax error anyway.

The biggest cause of the target being out of 'focus' at your sort of ranges is failing to correctly adjust the reticle focus, provided the reticle is clear, a slightly blurred target is a not issue really.

Neil.

[leadpig]

he is getting the focus ring and the parallax ring mixed up i think

[1066]

When it come to zero it up Stephen, you might find this helps:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwD5zu7yTeI

[stephen ingham]

Hi guys, thanks for the replies.
Are we saying that the scope i have is a little over the top spec wise for the rifle its mounted on?

Thanks for the video, that has helped

cheers
stephen

[bedwards1966]

There is more magnification available than you're likely to need, but you don't have to use it at high mag and it isn't over the top. Plus the map pro is a handy scope for something like an air-gun where there is a lot of pellet drop.

[leadpig]

Hi guys, thanks for the replies.
Are we saying that the scope i have is a little over the top spec wise for the rifle its mounted on?

Thanks for the video, that has helped

cheers
stephen

hell no,the opposite in fact
the s410 is a really really good rifle i had one
i had the scope mentioned and could not get on with it as it was really eye fussy.
i sold it and bought a less fussy scope and a second hand rangefinder ,best move i ever made
i then set out targets from 10 to 35 yards every 5 yards ie 10,15,20 ect shot them three times and wrote down the hold over/under on a small bit off card that i put inside the scope cover so when i ranged buggs i had the info straight infront of me

[stephen ingham]

thanks for all the help and advice.
i am happy the scope is suitable and will stick with it for the time being.
also, is it possible to change the crosshair or is it fixed with the scope as mine is a straight cross...?

[1066]

Sorry Stephen, it's not really a practical proposition to change the reticule on the average scope. It could be done, if, for example, you had another scope of the same make and size with a different reticule but was otherwise scrap, but not really a DIY job unless you're into rebuilding cameras etc.

Stick with the cross hairs, if you shoot it enough you will soon get used to how much holdover you need.

[stephen ingham]

cheers guys

[leadpig]

thanks for all the help and advice.
i am happy the scope is suitable and will stick with it for the time being.
.?

there are far better scopes bud

[stephen ingham]

by leadpig » Fri Jun 07, 2013 5:01 pm

stephen ingham wrote:
thanks for all the help and advice.
i am happy the scope is suitable and will stick with it for the time being.
.?

there are far better scopes bud

what would you suggest?

[leadpig]

depends on your budget bud,but a lot of people say to spend as much on your scope as you did on the gun
not quite as importent on airguns but if you cant see the target comfortably your going to struggle shooting,and there is always secondhand