Help....my wife cant see consistently through th scope.

[Warbird2006]

My wife love to hunt but she has been getting very frustrated because she can't see through a scope consistently. She missed the opportunity on a buck last year because she couldn't see through the scope. Its bad enough that she's not eaven excited about our elk hunt next week.

Is there a somewhere she can take some shooting classes and get professionally fitted so she can enjoy going again.

I have tried to help but I dont know how and it normally ends in a fight, from what I can see she is shouldering the gun to low and can't get a check weld but she says its comfortable there. I'm going to make a foam riser for the stock at work today.

Obviously, she needs higher cheek rest.... Also more time spent on the gun range.

 

[Mike D Texas]

I do t own a Nightforce scope so my question is, how is the eye box on that scope? Most "precision" scopes have a smaller eye box to help get your head position more consistent. Leupold VX scopes typically have a more generous eye Box and is more suited for a hunting rig.

Just spitballing a bit but may be something to consider.

 

[ejg]

I agree, she has her own rifle for deer but she has the same problems with it. I am trying to figure out how to get it set right for her. I want to have a custom built but I want it built right for her

Sorry I have not read the whole thread.
I have a friend with a similar problem. Solution was for him get comfortable behind the rifle and close his eyes, then I shone (shine, is shone a word?) a torch from scope objective. The light on the head of my friend showed where his pupil should have been. In his case it was more than an inch away. Changed the stock with an adjustable cheek raiser and all was well.
Most normal stocks were made for open sights. Another issue is that the comb should be so high for scope use that bore sighting would not be possible as well as cleaning rod issues. Only proper solution with larger scopes is the adjustable cheek raiser.
edi

 

[Sid Post]

Lots of redundant comments here.

We still don't know for sure what her dominant eye is.

The likelihood of both of you shooting the same rifle properly is pretty low. The anatomical differences mean the rifle isn't really built for her since you had the rifle built for yourself. I don't mean this negatively or harshly, it is just a fact. Do you share shoes too? How about jackets, do you both fit the same jackets?

Proper eye relief and stock position is more than just length of pull.

I couldn't hit a school bus with a Glock 17 at 50 feet after shooting revolvers from about 6th grade through high school where I routinely hit beer cans at 50 feet or more (what can I say, I was in rural Oklahoma on a farm with my father ). In college, I got the new hotness, the Glock 17.

When I graduated, I took some formal training before developing a lot of bad habits. When I was done training that first summer (excellent instructors), I could hit the "X" on a 50' pistol target in 110F heat with sweat making my eyes burn while watching the slide go back, the brass eject, new round from the mag, muzzle drop when the slide locked up, and bang another X!

If you are going to share your rifle, you will likely need to get a new adjustable stock for the rifle, assuming it isn't an eye dominance issue. A fixed power 4x or 6x scope may be needed as well if she has eyebox issues or leaves the scope on too high a magnification. Heck, even I have some issues with some of my scopes on MY rifles when on a very high magnification.

 

[DavidleeCole]

I have had similar problems with my kids and wife and this is what I done.

Get a cheap red dot, rings and ammo I mean cheep as not to be a permanent optic.

Mount the red dot and get her to a range and let her shoot over and over bringing the rifle up and down and changing positions focusing on her accruing sight picture and placing a shot on target. (Do not focus on accuracy or precision just basics get on target and take the shots) "it's a cheep system for this reason"

After some rounds down range and some practice with simulated field positions (standing, kneeling, prone, rest, no rest. WHAT EVER SHE IS CONFORABLE WITH AND PREVALENT TO YOUR HUNTING AREA)

Mount the hunting optic and zero the system then work on shot placement, groups and accuracy as much as she wants to.

With the added confidence from the red dot, rounds down range and time with her rifle It will develop the skills and muscle memory to get a quick clean shot on target.

I PERSONALY USE THIS SYSTEM WITH ANY ONE I TRAIN THAT HAS PROBLEM WITH A SCOPED RIFLE.

My young niece was putting rounds on steel with my .300 whby mag at 1000 yards at age 11 her under the table.

And my lil daughter with her first deer at age 8 standing supported on a fence around 70 yards

using the same method

This was my niece age 14 second deer kneeling unsupported at 236 yards the doe never moved after the .223 took her heart out.

HOPED THIS HELPS

 

[rick7447]

Years ago I had a similar problem, I hunted rabbits all winter with my rifle and scope but left it till the deer hunt then on the first day I pulled down on a nice buck and there were no crosshairs. Everyone else could see them except me. I went to town and bought another scope with thicker crosshairs and have been using it since. Our eyes change over time and maybe that is her problem.

 

[jdyoung]

Here is one of Larry Potterfield's videos on building a pattern stock. Many of you have probably seen this, but I find some of the techniques pertinent to the OP's future custom build for his Lady.

At time mark 8:34 he addresses fitting the cheek piece to align the eye with the scope. He uses a steel bar with about a ¼" hole drilled down the center in place of the scope in the rings. I used a piece of 1" aluminum bar I got on Ebay, ( figured it would be easier on the rings, ). It had a hole already in it but I epoxied a piece of ¼" steel tubing in mine to make the hole smaller.

 

[bthemongrel]

My wife love to hunt but she has been getting very frustrated because she can't see through a scope consistently. She missed the opportunity on a buck last year because she couldn't see through the scope. Its bad enough that she's not eaven excited about our elk hunt next week.

Is there a somewhere she can take some shooting classes and get professionally fitted so she can enjoy going again.

I have tried to help but I dont know how and it normally ends in a fight, from what I can see she is shouldering the gun to low and can't get a check weld but she says its comfortable there. I'm going to make a foam riser for the stock at work today.

Have her look at those two pictures you took, her nose looks to be an inch or so back on the stock from where yours is

 

[Rflshootr]

Remove the recoil pad an let her shoulder it. If that works, cut an inch off the stock and refit the pad. Also changing the the ring height may be of some help as well.

 

[Rflshootr]

Here is one of Larry Potterfield's videos on building a pattern stock. Many of you have probably seen this, but I find some of the techniques pertinent to the OP's future custom build for his Lady.

At time mark 8:34 he addresses fitting the cheek piece to align the eye with the scope. He uses a steel bar with about a ¼" hole drilled down the center in place of the scope in the rings. I used a piece of 1" aluminum bar I got on Ebay, ( figured it would be easier on the rings, ). It had a hole already in it but I epoxied a piece of ¼" steel tubing in mine to make the hole smaller.

All he did was ruin a perfectly good stock an screwed up the forend imo.

 

[cjl2010]

Check her eye dominance as well. My wife is right handed so I never thought about it. She has always had a little bit of a tough time quickly acquiring a target. One day messing around with checking eye dominance I saw she was left eye dominant. Might be worth looking into.

 

[jdyoung]

All he did was ruin a perfectly good stock an screwed up the forend imo.

Yep, one could put it that way, but his goal was to make a pattern stock that fit him so he could use it to have a new stock turned. I see scads of used stocks at gunshows/gunshops for next to nothing that are probably destined for the trash if not sold to someone for something such as this.
Point is that the principles of aligning the eye behind the scope objective are pretty much the same. You add or remove material for proper head/eye position. I've seen some factory stocks that have had full cheek pieces grafted on to add material for proper alignment ( and we couldn't tell till the butt pad was removed, stockmaker was that good craftsman). Using that tube with hole in place of the scope makes for narrower alignment of the head /eye to scope.

 

[Rflshootr]

Yep, one could put it that way, but his goal was to make a pattern stock that fit him so he could use it to have a new stock turned. I see scads of used stocks at gunshows/gunshops for next to nothing that are probably destined for the trash if not sold to someone for something such as this.
Point is that the principles of aligning the eye behind the scope objective are pretty much the same. You add or remove material for proper head/eye position. I've seen some factory stocks that have had full cheek pieces grafted on to add material for proper alignment ( and we couldn't tell till the butt pad was removed, stockmaker was that good craftsman). Using that tube with hole in place of the scope makes for narrower alignment of the head /eye to scope.

Yeah I get the point...........I think I would have used an old tupperware stock instead of trashing a good walnut stock...........Now those are a dime a dozen.

 

[jdyoung]

Yeah I get the point...........I think I would have used an old tupperware stock instead of trashing a good walnut stock...........Now those are a dime a dozen.

Yup, but you start raspin' on da tupperware, you get holes that even if filled in with bondo, may not stand up to being traced in a duplicator. ......Might probably work to make a mold to lay up a new fiberglass stock.