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

[DSMITH1651]

Ok guys, Thank you for all the help. IT HAS REALLY helped her to talk through the problem with me and for us to get on the road to a solution.

She is right eye dominant.

I built a 5/8 " riser last night and we went shooting today and she was much more comfortable.

She is taller then me and needs another 1/2" added to the LOP.

One of the main problems is she has no consistency in her gun mount.

She has her own rifle for hunting in the woods and this is her first hunt out west so she decided to just use mine to see if she likes hunting out west... she will LOL, then we will build her a custom.

I still would really like her to get some training from someone other then me LOL

 

[Sid Post]

A REAL INSTRUCTOR is money well spent in most cases. $500 or $1K seems like a lot of money but, when you factor in travel costs, tag fees, etc., a bad scope or rifle choice, etc. and the cost of good qualified instruction is pretty minor.

Then there is the crushing sadness (or frustration) of missing your animal because the scope 'went black', you flinched, or ...

Marital relationships don't make for good training or instruction in the vast majority of cases. Ask any pilot who tried to teach his/her wife/husband to solo an airplane!

I did some firearms instruction a long time ago. It was amazing how fast the women came up to a pretty good level of proficiency. Almost always about a third as long as the men. The women who I did not know otherwise would ACTUALLY LISTEN TO ME. When I spotted a problem and pointed it out, they accepted it as fact and immediately changed. I also had experience and knowledge shared from other instructors so I was able to diagnose things many people never noticed or saw on their own.

 

[Vann Kirkland]

Just my opinion, but she doesn't appear to me like she wants to do this. She seems reluctant.

 

[DSMITH1651]

Just my opinion, but she doesn't appear to me like she wants to do this. She seems reluctant.

You are not totally wrong, she loves to hunt and goes eaven with out me.... the sitting at the table trying to figure out whats wrong with the setup and working on form sow we can fix the problem...well she thinks it can't be fixed it is just how it is

 

[emtyhopper]

My wife had the same problem with her rifle. It didn't fit her well and the scope had a lousy eye box.

The length of pull has been cut down and I added an adjustable cheek riser that is basically a neoprene sleeve that uses foam pads of different thicknesses to get the desired height. I mounted a leupold vx3 1.5-5x20 and she now loves it.

 

[LouEl]

If the problem is not being able to find the animal or target in the scope, have her look at the target keeping her eyes on the target while bring the gun up to her shoulder and to the shooting position. To practice this use a light weight 22 rimfire so you can repeat this many times with little effort.

 

[JGRJR]

I am going to suggest as others have, letting a third party work with your wife. As a husband I found it was tough to try to teach my wife something. She is very athletic. I tried to teach her to fly cast. This made for a very high friction time. The fact that I was her spouse was enough to make things get bad fast. I went with third party instruction and no problems. She even apologized. I am patient and she is smart and athletic. Just a spouse thing. I learned this lesson 30 years ago.

When I say independent I mean independent. Without you even being there.

Also unless you are hunting elk that is a lot a lot of rifle for her. I do not think caliber is the problem though. She really needs a rifle fitted to her with a good brake and then practice. Just get a third party to fit a rifle for her.

 

[rbTanzan]

This may be late in the game.
However, my wife enjoys her Nikon P3-shotgun 3-9x40 scope. It has 5" eye-relief and allows her to see clearly with her head relatively far back.
With any scope, a shooter must adapt so that they see clearly. Too far back or too far forward and the image will disappear.

 

[DSMITH1651]

I am going to suggest as others have, letting a third party work with your wife. As a husband I found it was tough to try to teach my wife something. She is very athletic. I tried to teach her to fly cast. This made for a very high friction time. The fact that I was her spouse was enough to make things get bad fast. I went with third party instruction and no problems. She even apologized. I am patient and she is smart and athletic. Just a spouse thing. I learned this lesson 30 years ago.

When I say independent I mean independent. Without you even being there.

Also unless you are hunting elk that is a lot a lot of rifle for her. I do not think caliber is the problem though. She really needs a rifle fitted to her with a good brake and then practice. Just get a third party to fit a rifle for her.

I'm will happily not be there, and yes just being a spouse adds lots of frustration to the mix. I just want her to be happy. She looks forward to hunting season every year its her favorite hobby and was before we were together.

We are going elk hunting, she has a 308 of her own for deer and she has the same problems with it. Actually any scoped rifle.

 

[lenk7mm]

Look at a Boyd's at one stock.They are completely adjustable.

 

[CpaHunter]

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

Do you have the lowest rings possible? That is also a key point in addition to the eye relief, lowest magnification and the cheek weld.

 

[Model12boy]

I would try this 1st before making any changes to the gun setup.. Get a eye patch an place over the eye that's not looking through the scope an see if that helps

 

[Snowboy]

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.

What size is the exit pupil?

 

[Gone Ballistic]

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.

My wife experienced the same problem and because we also enjoyed shooting bows, I borrowed something from archery and applied it to her rifle's cheek rest. I glued a small piece of plastic that I sanded into a small, smooth bump, just large enough to feel with placement of her cheek every time she staged correctly to see the sight picture through her scope. After a few rounds of practice, she was dead-on every time she placed her rifle to her shoulder, just like she was when she placed the release shooting her bow. This assimilation brought it home to her and she has never had the problem since.
I am a strong believer in " if it works, use it!" You might give it a try. Sometimes our ladies have a problem comprehending what we are trying to explain to them. By doing something that they are familiar with, it's easier for them to understand what you are trying to get across to them.