Have you checked parallax?

I don't mean clarity or turning the turret on the scope to 100, 200, etc. but actual parallax.

The crosshairs of the scope should not move when you move your head, with the rifle clamped. If it does then parallax is not set correctly. This movement means every time you shoulder the rifle the crosshair "floats" and you get a different POA (Point of Aim). As people tend you shoulder a gun the same each time it will/can account for the difference, but consistency.

If your parallax is off then any deviation from your "zeroing position" will result in a shift in POI as the crosshairs will "move" with your head/eye movement.

In a scope with a properly set parallax no matter your eye/head position the crosshairs will remain fixed.

The simple check for parallax is to set the rifle up in a locked/fixed position where it is almost clamped. Do NOT touch the rifle or as little as possible and look down the scope. It doesn't matter if your head is not in its natural shooting position, you're only checking for movement. Move your head slightly and if the crosshairs move with your movement then there is a parallax issue.

Parallax can be adjusted or eliminated by adjusting the eye relief and focus as necessary to the point where you have clear sight picture, target picture and no movement of the crosshairs. It can be easy or it can take a little time to get exactly right, but the difference will be immediately noticeable with more consistent groupings, no loss/shift of zero, and if the rifle and ammo are good a reduction (won't say elimination) of flyers.

cookimonster wrote: »

Cass,

Could you explain what you mean by moving cross hairs:

Move your head slightly and if the crosshairs move with your movement then there is a parallax issue. 

I'm confused, if cross hairs are fixed, surely moving your eye will give the impression of the cross hairs jumping off the point of aim?.

The crosshairs never actually move, which i thought was obvious, its only the impression that they do.

It's like looking at the eyes of a painting and they seem to follow you. You know full well the painted eyes cannot move but it's looks as if they are.

If you have your rifle clamped so it does not move and you make no contact with it (not vital, but i prefer to eliminate any movement of the scope by touching the rifle), look down the scope to the target. Now slowly move your head, not eye, but your head while looking at the target. If the crosshair "moves" with the movement of your head, or to be exact so there is no confusion, gives the appearance of moving then your parallax is not set.

If the parallax on a scope is correctly set then when you move you head your crosshairs will remain on the same POA you set it at when clamping the rifle. If the crosshairs can "move" with your head movement due to improperly set parallax then the crosshair will give a, suppose you'd call it, false POA.

The picture below shows what happens when you move your head and the crosshairs "move" with you. IOW improperly set parallax. Originally the crosshairs were on the target. As the shooter moves their head up and slightly to the right, the crosshairs move down, and slightly left. This is a parallax issue.