Eye Relief – Everything you Need to Know.

So, you decided to go out on a hunt, and then your attention is drawn to a swift movement in the bush. But this rapid movement is a bit far away from you. You wonder if it’s that deer you’ve been tracking for a while and you adjust your binoculars to have a look. That’s it! You found that buck you’ve been tracking. So, you remain quiet, set your rifle, and adjust your scope but you just can’t get a perfect sight.

This can be pretty frustrating when you find it hard to get the ideal eye relief from your riflescope. Let’s teach you how to determine eye relief on a rifle scope in this post.

The part of the rifle scope specification that involves eye relief is probably the most confusing part. Once you get that clear understanding of the concept of eye relief as well as ways you can accurately adjust it, you should be good to go.

Overview on Eye Relief

When we talk about eye relief, we’re basically referring to a kind of optic and it is crucial rifle scope specification. Now, this type of optic is usually related to a telescopic sight, binoculars, microscopes, and even rifle scope and this rifle scope is what we’ll be looking at.

To give you a simpler definition, we can define eye relief as that distance point between your eyes and the lens of the eyepiece. This eye relief distance allows the image you’re trying to see from a distance to be viewed fully and easily.

Here are some points to take note of when it comes to eye relief on a rifle scope:

·         Apart from the distance between your eyes and the scope, it’s also imperative to properly set your body with your scope so you can achieve better performance. However, not everyone’s body proportion is built in the same way. Therefore, it can take some practice to achieve and get the perfect angle. 

·         The distant point in an eye relief is quite different for every scope. Therefore, you’ll need to have a look at the specification of the model rifle you have. This will help you determine the ideal positioning of your rifle that makes it proportionate to your eye sight.

·         Furthermore, there is usually a slight change in the eye relief on a scope base and it majorly depends on the magnification you’re using.

·         The measurement of the eye relief is in inches for rifles. However, there are a few instances where the rifle brands of European-based scope eye relief are measured in millimeters.

·         Because different individuals have various perceptions of eye relief, the manufacturers usually provide a rough range. This range is mostly given in a range of inches.

Why is it Crucial to Focus the Eyepiece Correctly

So, why is the rifle’s eye relief so crucial to know? Well, there is one major reason why you should determine the correct eye relief for you and the reason is because of firearm recoil.

The majority of rifles seen usually have recoil and they tend to produce some recoil once you fire a round. Now note that this recoil can be harmless. At the same time, this recoil can lead to a violent situation, especially in the shooters eye.

When you’re shooting your rifle, the distance you give your face and the ocular lens of the eyepiece will determine the impact you get once you fire a round. If the shooter uses a short eye relief (about 2 to 3 inches), it’s possible for the face of the shooter to get a recoil impact on their face.  A shooter that gives a longer eye relief might be on the safer side.

To further understand how this recoil can affect the shooters eye, let’s enlighten you on what a scope bite is when it comes to rifle eye relief.

Scope Bite

While in the excitement of your hunting trips, have you ever experienced a painful impact on your face when you fire a round and you even see blood gushing out of your face? Now that’s what we call a scope bite.

Scope bite occurs when your rifle recoils as you shoot a round and this presents a forceful contact with your face. The forceful contact it makes is usually in the inner part of your eyes as well as your eyebrow area. This impact can even extend to the nose part of your face. Now, this effect is caused because you didn’t give a reasonable long eye relief scope to the objective lens.

Whether you’re a professional or a newbie, scope bite may happen to you. You may simply be in the heat of the moment with adrenaline gushing out that you just pulled the trigger without giving a proper eye relief distance. This is why you need to be aware of every moment and be calculative before you take a shoot even if you don’t want to risk that deer slipping out of your hand.

Learn How to Determine The Eye Relief on a Rifle Scope

As a hunter, it’s imperative to know how to determine the ideal eye relief on a rifle scope so you can nail your shot safely. Just an inch lesser or even a centimeter lesser can hinder you from getting that full and clear picture. At the same time, you’re also trying to ensure you avoid any scope bite while doing this.

If you’re unable to get good eye relief, it will only result in giving an image that is out of focus or blurry image. Even some portion of the field of view (FOV) can block the scope tube itself.

You can get different best rifle scope in the market such as the vortex crossfire ii.  Ideally, the most industry recommends an average eye relief that ranges around 3 inches to 4.5 inches for rifle scopes. This range can vary so you’ll need to find the right value for you. Remember that since people are built differently with varying proportions, you may need to familiarize yourself with your rifle.

So, we recommend you work your way around this eye relief range to get the correct eye relief for you. If you need to increase the eye relief range, you may do that so far it can capture the full image being viewed.

Therefore, once you’ve gotten that adequate eye relief, you should be able to view the entire picture and field of view you’re trying to see.

There are different things that can determine the eye relief on a rifle scope. Let’s check out a few of them below:

·         Magnification: The magnification you choose to set your rifle scope eye relief can be a determining factor.

·         Body positioning: Also, note that your body position can be another factor that contributes to the eye relief distance. For instance, sitting on a bench will allow your face to be closer to your rifle. Then if you’re in a lying position, your face tends to be a little farther away from the rifle. Again, if you’re in a standing position, your face can be not too far and not too close to the rifle (it will fall in between).

To further understand how to determine eye relief on a rifle scope, let’s walk you through how to adjust this scope to suit your preference.

The Steps on How to Adjust Eye Relief on Your Rifle Scope

For some people, they may require long eye relief scopes or an extended eye relief to capture the whole image being viewed. But for others, they may require a short eye relief distance to achieve this. In either case, it’s imperative you know the correct eye relief distance for you.

Now, there are things you’ll need to do to determine the ideal eye relief for your rifle. Adjusting the scope ring by moving it back and forth in the rings or ring can help you determine the ideal shooting range for you. The ring screws can also be adjusted. 

Let’s further look into how to adjust your eye relief to suit your shooting preference.

Step 1 – Mount a scope

The first step is to mount the scope on the ring ensuring the scope is still capable of moving around. We recommend you put the scope in its highest power so that it can generate the smallest exit pupil size. The aim of this is to ensure the alignment is ideal with the lowest exit pupil.

Step 2 – Rifle mounting and look into the scope

The next step to getting your scope eye relief is to mount your rifle. Ensure you’re in a comfortable position and you can easily move your body in case of any readjustments. You can scope mount the rifle on a table or mount it on a stable platform. Once this is set, get ready to look into the scope with one eye.

Aim to look through a particular item. And if you’re able to view that particular thing on the entire bdc reticle but you find that there is this wide dark ring on the scope, it means you’re too close to the scope. Being too close to the scope means a shorter eye relief which can be risky because it can cause an impact on your face. So, you will to readjust the scope by moving it away so you can get the standard eye relief.

On the other hand, if you’re too far away from the scope, at the edge of the scope, you’ll notice a dark ring surrounding the edge. Also, only a portion of the reticle can be seen in this case. The shooter will need to move the scope in the ring backward to get that accurate full and clear sight.

Step 3 – Repeat readjusting the scope until you get the perfect spot

To get the standard eye relief, you’ll need to continue readjusting the scope in the rings. Once you’ve gotten the correct eye relief, your sight picture will be void of any dark ring edges. Also, you’ll be able to see a clear and full field of view.

Step 4 – Mark the point

So, once you’ve determined the ideal eye relief on your rifle scope, we recommend you mark that point where the ring meets. When you do this, it can help you determine if the scope has moved when you’re in the process of trying to level the rifle scope.