Leupold parallax service and general parallax question

idek · February 9, 2019, 12:08 AM

I recently purchased a Leupold VX-2 1-4x20mm. I believe its parallax is set at 150 yards (someone please correct me if I'm wrong).

But I plan to mount the scope on a 10/22 that will rarely be shot at distances beyond 50 yards and usually closer to 25. I know Leupold will change parallax if I send them the scope, but I have two questions before I do that...

1) What does Leupold charge for this service?

2) Will having them change the parallax to 50 yards make a meaningful difference? The gun will NOT be used for competition of any kind. It is mostly for plinking and a little hunting.

NoSecondBest · February 9, 2019, 03:31 AM

It's not worth doing for what you're using it for. For many years (many, many years) people bought scopes and never considered parallax when using them. For anyone who keeps their cheek on the gun in somewhat of a repeatable manner, they'll never notice any POI shift due to parallax when "plinking" and hunting. Over on Rimfirecentral.com a while ago someone said they wanted to send one in and it was around fifty bucks which included return shipping. I seriously doubt you'd see an eighth of an inch difference in group reduction by doing this on a high end target rifle. On a 10/22, I'd defy you to see any difference. The gun itself, even with good ammo, in its stock configuration just isn't that much of a real tack driver. I own Anschutz's, CZ's, and a few other very accurate target rifles and I'd be hard pressed to see a significant difference if I use good shooting techniques. I wouldn't put the money into it. FWIW, I have a Rem 541 target that will shoot almost ragged holes at 50 yards with a 4x scope on it and it doesn't have an adjustable objective and is probably set for 100 yards. It's so old I never considered it when I bought if about forty-plus years ago.

jmr40 · February 9, 2019, 07:24 AM

Quote from Leupold on parallax.

Quote:

UNDERSTANDING PARALLAX Parallax is the apparent movement of the target relative to the reticle when you move your eye away from the center point of the eyepiece. It occurs when the image of the target does not fall on the same optical plane as the reticle. This can cause a small shift in the point of aim.Maximum parallax occurs when your eye is at the very edge of the exit pupil.(Even in this unlikely event, our 4x hunting scope focused for 150 yards has a maximum error of only 8/10ths of an inch at 500 yards.)At short distances, the parallax effect does not affect accuracy. (Using the same 4x scope at 100 yards, the maximum error is less than 2/10ths of an inch.) It is also good to remember that, as long as you are sighting straight through the middle of the scope, or close to it, parallax will have virtually no effect on accuracy in a hunting situation.

We worry too much about parallax. The absolute most it will effect your rifle is about the diameter of one 22 caliber bullet at 100 yards. Every scope I have ever had on a 22 rifle was a big game scope with parallax set at 150 yards. I've never had a problem.

LineStretcher · February 9, 2019, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by idek

I recently purchased a Leupold VX-2 1-4x20mm. I believe its parallax is set at 150 yards (someone please correct me if I'm wrong).

But I plan to mount the scope on a 10/22 that will rarely be shot at distances beyond 50 yards and usually closer to 25. I know Leupold will change parallax if I send them the scope, but I have two questions before I do that...

1) What does Leupold charge for this service?

2) Will having them change the parallax to 50 yards make a meaningful difference? The gun will NOT be used for competition of any kind. It is mostly for plinking and a little hunting.

If a 1-4 scope is not in focus at 25 yards then send it back, it's defective. Perhaps you need to adjust the diopter in the ocular lens.

idek · February 9, 2019, 10:09 AM

Quote:

If a 1-4 scope is not in focus at 25 yards then send it back, it's defective. Perhaps you need to adjust the diopter in the ocular lens.

It's comments like this that confuse me. Some descriptions of parallax suggest it's ONLY about reticle movement. Then other descriptions imply that it also corresponds with focus, and that setting the parallax closer would also improve focus at closer distances. Can someone definitively say which is true?

RC20 · February 9, 2019, 11:26 AM

I can say that I have several high power scopes with parallax adjustment.

If they get turned off, they definitely have a focus issue.

As there is none with a non parallax scope, then its not a factor unless your magnification is set so high you simply can't see close up.

As noted, too much is made of it, its a precision thing and most don't shoot down in the area it makes any difference (I would guess under 1/2 MOA)

BBarn · February 9, 2019, 03:08 PM

Focus and parallax are two separate parameters. Focus relates to the sharpness of the viewed image, while parallax refers to the amount the image moves relative to the reticle as the eye position is moved side-to-side and up/down (as Leupold described it in post 3).

Scope manufacturers have confused the issue somewhat by referring to the two almost interchangeably. Perhaps this is because many of the recent scope designs have a parallax (or focus) knob that adjusts both the focus and parallax at the same time. This is a very nice feature because it gives both a better focus and reduced (or nearly zero) parallax when the adjustment is set at the target distance.

For the scope on the 10/22 in the OP, there will be considerable parallax (perhaps as much as an inch or so if the eye is at the edge of the exit pupil) at 25 yards if the scope is set to be parallax free at 150 (as it would be for a standard VX-2 1-4X). For plinking it will probably be fine, especially if you keep your eye centered behind the ocular lens.

Parallax has a greater effect when the distance is closer than the parallax free setting. So if most of the shooting will be at about 25 yards, and you are going to have the parallax adjusted, I'd set the parallax to 25 yards. It will still be relatively good at 50 yards.

idek · February 10, 2019, 03:36 PM

Thanks for all the input. I set my scope in a steady place and moved my eye around to see how the reticle aligned with objects at different distances. While I could tell that there was more reticle movement at closer distances, it seems pretty insignificant unless I was purposely getting my eye far from centered.

I think I'll pass on sending the scope in for parallax adjustment unless something changes my mind later on.

I've also seen claims online of how to adjust it yourself (supposedly using the same method Leupold does and that it doesn't void the warranty). https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...pics/4867983/1

Again, I don't plan to bother with changing the parallax now, but has anyone here done parallax adjustments themselves?

NoSecondBest · February 10, 2019, 05:30 PM

Do yourself a favor here. Take your scope out and shoot it. Deliberately move your eye off center at twenty-five yards and shoot a group, then just shoot it like you normally do without spending any undue amount of time concentrating on centering your eye. See what the difference is. I doubt you'll end up sending your scope anywhere. I doubt you'll see any significant difference in group size. It's not the demon you think it is. You'll find you have to actually try to get it to influence your group at all.

idek · February 10, 2019, 11:40 PM

Quote:

Do yourself a favor here. Take your scope out and shoot it. Deliberately move your eye off center at twenty-five yards and shoot a group, then just shoot it like you normally do without spending any undue amount of time concentrating on centering your eye. See what the difference is. I doubt you'll end up sending your scope anywhere. I doubt you'll see any significant difference in group size. It's not the demon you think it is. You'll find you have to actually try to get it to influence your group at all.

Thanks again for the input.

If you look at post #8, I'd pretty much come to the conclusion you mentioned, but I will try shooting and see how much impact it has even when trying to force parallax error. Still, if it's not too hard to change parallax myself for free, I'd maybe consider it even for minimal gains, which is why I'm still asking how easy or fool-proof adjustment at home may be.

February 9, 2019, 12:08 AM	#1
idek Senior Member Join Date: August 20, 2009 Posts: 903	Leupold parallax service and general parallax question I recently purchased a Leupold VX-2 1-4x20mm. I believe its parallax is set at 150 yards (someone please correct me if I'm wrong). But I plan to mount the scope on a 10/22 that will rarely be shot at distances beyond 50 yards and usually closer to 25. I know Leupold will change parallax if I send them the scope, but I have two questions before I do that... 1) What does Leupold charge for this service? 2) Will having them change the parallax to 50 yards make a meaningful difference? The gun will NOT be used for competition of any kind. It is mostly for plinking and a little hunting.

February 9, 2019, 11:26 AM	#6
RC20 Senior Member Join Date: April 10, 2008 Location: Alaska Posts: 7,014	I can say that I have several high power scopes with parallax adjustment. If they get turned off, they definitely have a focus issue. As there is none with a non parallax scope, then its not a factor unless your magnification is set so high you simply can't see close up. As noted, too much is made of it, its a precision thing and most don't shoot down in the area it makes any difference (I would guess under 1/2 MOA) __________________ Science and Facts are True whether you believe it or not

February 9, 2019, 03:31 AM	#2
NoSecondBest Senior Member Join Date: December 7, 2009 Location: Western New York Posts: 2,736	It's not worth doing for what you're using it for. For many years (many, many years) people bought scopes and never considered parallax when using them. For anyone who keeps their cheek on the gun in somewhat of a repeatable manner, they'll never notice any POI shift due to parallax when "plinking" and hunting. Over on Rimfirecentral.com a while ago someone said they wanted to send one in and it was around fifty bucks which included return shipping. I seriously doubt you'd see an eighth of an inch difference in group reduction by doing this on a high end target rifle. On a 10/22, I'd defy you to see any difference. The gun itself, even with good ammo, in its stock configuration just isn't that much of a real tack driver. I own Anschutz's, CZ's, and a few other very accurate target rifles and I'd be hard pressed to see a significant difference if I use good shooting techniques. I wouldn't put the money into it. FWIW, I have a Rem 541 target that will shoot almost ragged holes at 50 yards with a 4x scope on it and it doesn't have an adjustable objective and is probably set for 100 yards. It's so old I never considered it when I bought if about forty-plus years ago.

February 9, 2019, 03:08 PM	#7
BBarn Senior Member Join Date: December 22, 2015 Posts: 887	Focus and parallax are two separate parameters. Focus relates to the sharpness of the viewed image, while parallax refers to the amount the image moves relative to the reticle as the eye position is moved side-to-side and up/down (as Leupold described it in post 3). Scope manufacturers have confused the issue somewhat by referring to the two almost interchangeably. Perhaps this is because many of the recent scope designs have a parallax (or focus) knob that adjusts both the focus and parallax at the same time. This is a very nice feature because it gives both a better focus and reduced (or nearly zero) parallax when the adjustment is set at the target distance. For the scope on the 10/22 in the OP, there will be considerable parallax (perhaps as much as an inch or so if the eye is at the edge of the exit pupil) at 25 yards if the scope is set to be parallax free at 150 (as it would be for a standard VX-2 1-4X). For plinking it will probably be fine, especially if you keep your eye centered behind the ocular lens. Parallax has a greater effect when the distance is closer than the parallax free setting. So if most of the shooting will be at about 25 yards, and you are going to have the parallax adjusted, I'd set the parallax to 25 yards. It will still be relatively good at 50 yards.

February 10, 2019, 03:36 PM	#8
idek Senior Member Join Date: August 20, 2009 Posts: 903	Thanks for all the input. I set my scope in a steady place and moved my eye around to see how the reticle aligned with objects at different distances. While I could tell that there was more reticle movement at closer distances, it seems pretty insignificant unless I was purposely getting my eye far from centered. I think I'll pass on sending the scope in for parallax adjustment unless something changes my mind later on. I've also seen claims online of how to adjust it yourself (supposedly using the same method Leupold does and that it doesn't void the warranty). https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...pics/4867983/1 Again, I don't plan to bother with changing the parallax now, but has anyone here done parallax adjustments themselves?

February 10, 2019, 05:30 PM	#9
NoSecondBest Senior Member Join Date: December 7, 2009 Location: Western New York Posts: 2,736	Do yourself a favor here. Take your scope out and shoot it. Deliberately move your eye off center at twenty-five yards and shoot a group, then just shoot it like you normally do without spending any undue amount of time concentrating on centering your eye. See what the difference is. I doubt you'll end up sending your scope anywhere. I doubt you'll see any significant difference in group size. It's not the demon you think it is. You'll find you have to actually try to get it to influence your group at all.