Parallax adjustment with a side focus

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Traditionally, rifle scopes had a fixed parallax set at 100 meters or 100 yards; however, with the advance of shooting sports, such an approach was not adequate anymore. Scopes with fixed parallax offered the best resolution only at one distance (100 meters/yards) at which the target was in focus. At all other distances, the picture was less sharp or even blurry. An even bigger problem with this type of scope was the fact that, when shooting at the target, not at the same distance as the scope parallax setting, the shooter had to be very careful about his eye alignment with the optical axis. If the eye is moved away from the optical axis, the reticle on the target will move, which will worsen the accuracy. Since these errors are small, the fixed parallax option is still considered accurate enough for traditional hunting. For sport shooting, though, such small error leads to poor results. Parallax errors become more pronounced with magnifications higher than 12x, and that means the majority of scopes with magnification range under this value need no parallax adjustment.

With the ability of parallax adjustment, the accuracy of the riflescope is greatly enhanced at all distances. The shooter, however, has to adjust the parallax setting before making the first shot. Such scopes usually have AO – Adjustable Objective or SF – Side focus acronym in their name.

With SF – Side focus scopes, parallax is adjusted with a rotation of the turret on left side of the main tube. Such an approach offers easy adjustment of the parallax in the prone position and is the best solution for situations when parallax must be adjusted often. Due to this reason, such scopes are usually used on tactical scopes and similar, where parallax is adjusted before each shot and distances to the targets change rapidly. Scopes, which offer parallax adjustment with a side focus, are usually bigger and heavier than counterparts with parallax adjustment on Adjustable Objective. They are also more expensive to produce. Due to the size of the internal mechanism for side focus adjustment, the majority of such scopes have a tube diameter of 30mm or more.

The easiest way to correctly set the parallax is to look at the target and gently rotate the ring on the side focus. When the target is in focus and the image offers the best sharpness, move the eye from the optical axis to any direction. If the rifle is properly supported and fixed, the reticle should not move on the target when the eye is moved from the optical axis. If it does, parallax adjustment must be fine-tuned until the reticle is still, even if the eye of the shooter is moving around the optical axis.

Do not mind the meters or yards written on the adjustable objective, since they only provide an approximate value. There is nothing unusual if these values do not correspond well with the actual target distances.

Video presentation of Parallax adjustment on the objective bell

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General properties of Low light rifle scopes

The low light rifle scopes category holds those riflescopes that are built to offer the best possible performance at dusk or dawn and when hunting during the night when the moon and the stars are the only source of light.

Best Scopes for hunting

Low light scopes are used solely for hunting and especially in Europe where hunting in low-light situations is very popular.

Low light rifle scopes - Best low light scope

Steiner Ranger 6 3-18x56 scope

Commonly associated features of scopes in this hunting category are:

50 or 56mm objective lens diameter
High-quality glass and coating of the rifle scope
Capped turrets
The illuminated reticle or thick FFP reticle
Low-intensity illumination of the reticle
1 inch or 30 mm tube or rail mounting
Fixed or variable magnification
Minimal magnification ranging from 2x to 4x
Maximal magnification ranging from 10x to 16x

What is the best Low light rifle scope?

What makes a low-light rifle scope the best?

When on a hunt for the best scope, there are many factors to be considered:

a finely adjustable red dot (dimmable),
brightness of the scope,
scope image quality,
fields of use, and many more.

Low-light rifle scope Buying guide

Due to numerous factors, price ranges, and manufacturers always producing new scopes, it is impossible to say which one is the best. However, we created a buying guide to keep you updated on some of the best buys in each price range.

Comparison of Low light scopes - information of low light scopes

Steiner and Leica low light riflescopes

Lens, coatings and magnification in best Low light scope

A good low light rifle scope is one that fits the user’s financial goals, brightness, and provides a quality image, nevertheless. A lower zoom factor means there are fewer lens in the design. And fewer lens result in less loss of light. The coatings are also important – if they are of higher quality, again, less amount of light is lost every time light travels through the lens’ surface.

As for the lens size, the bigger, the better. The magnification of the scope should also not be too high, as this results in a smaller exit pupil, which we do not want for low light use.

But the most important factor to be taken into account is that the scope performs best in low light if it has an illuminated reticle, preferably in the form of a finely adjustable central dot (if the whole reticle is illuminated, it covers up the image of the target).

Can you use a low light scope at night?

Yes, a riflescope can be used for hunting at night, if you make use of the available residual light, such as the Full Moon or starlight, but your observation will not be ideal.

However, if you wish to hunt at night and see the target clearly, you need the help of other night vision optics, such as thermal and night vision attachments, as night vision optics collect whatever little light there is and amplify it. So, without thermal optics, you would only see a silhouette of the animals and no details.

Leica Low light rifle scope

Leica Magnus 2.4-16x56 i scope

Parallax adjustment with a side focus

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