Eye relief for magnum rifles

[BeeMaa]

Setting proper eye relief on a scope.

You will need a friend to do a portion of this.

Put a piece of painters’ tape along the top edge of the stock of your rifle, from the comb to the heel.

Mount the rifle as if you are shooting in whatever position the rifle is to be primarily used (prone, bench, sticks, off-hand...etc). Do this several times. Have your friend make a mark with a marker on the painters’ tape parallel to where your eye lands on the stock. Do this over and over until the mount and eye placement is consistent.

Now you are ready to mount your scope. Everyone has their own way of setting up rings (with and without lapping...etc) and I’m not getting into all that. This is just to set the eye relief, but your scope needs to be ready to be mounted in the rings for this next step.

Set the scope loosely in the rings. Using a flashlight, shine it backwards through the scope at low power (longest eye relief). Using a ruler at the back of your scope, focus the beam of light until it comes to a pin point. Now you will compare the mark you have made with where your eye lands, to where the ruler is. Turn the scope to high power (shortest eye relief) and focus the beam again. Move the scope so that your eye position marked on the tape falls in between the high and low power focus points. Level the scope, tighten the rings and remove the tape.

Your scope now has proper eye relief. This is the easiest and fastest way I have to do this.

 

[Tra3]

@BeeMaa i believe you have some photos of this which I found helpful. Can you dig them up?

Another concept to keep in mind is if you can cycle the bolt while your face stays on the rifle.

 

[Jfet]

Setting proper eye relief on a scope.

You will need a friend to do a portion of this.

Put a piece of painters’ tape along the top edge of the stock of your rifle, from the comb to the heel.

Mount the rifle as if you are shooting in whatever position the rifle is to be primarily used (prone, bench, sticks, off-hand...etc). Do this several times. Have your friend make a mark with a marker on the painters’ tape parallel to where your eye lands on the stock. Do this over and over until the mount and eye placement is consistent.

Now you are ready to mount your scope. Everyone has their own way of setting up rings (with and without lapping...etc) and I’m not getting into all that. This is just to set the eye relief, but your scope needs to be ready to be mounted in the rings for this next step.

Set the scope loosely in the rings. Using a flashlight, shine it backwards through the scope at low power (longest eye relief). Using a ruler at the back of your scope, focus the beam of light until it comes to a pin point. Now you will compare the mark you have made with where your eye lands, to where the ruler is. Turn the scope to high power (shortest eye relief) and focus the beam again. Move the scope so that your eye position marked on the tape falls in between the high and low power focus points. Level the scope, tighten the rings and remove the tape.

Your scope now has proper eye relief. This is the easiest and fastest way I have to do this.

The beauty of AH. BeeMaa, thanks for the great description on how to set eye relief on your scope.

 

[BeeMaa]

This is also where rifle fit is important.
As @Tra3 stated, cycle the bolt.
Having your head in the right spot for the scope...
Won't mean much when the bolt smacks you in the nose.

Here is a (recreation) picture of Mrs BeeMaa's rifle with the tape.
Scope is on high power and I've focused the beam and made a mark.
Originally when I did this, she was not so thrilled about it.
Accompanied by the obligatory eye roll and reference to my Germanic heritage.
Now that she's shot this a bunch, she realizes the importance of it.

 

[gbflyer]

The beauty of AH. BeeMaa, thanks for the great description on how to set eye relief on your scope.

X2

 

[Philip Glass]

I am looking to scope my new 338 win mag. Not really looking for scope recomendations per say (lots of threads on that) - my question is regarding eye relief lenght.

I am probably looking for a 3-9. While there are some outlyers, most of what I'm seeing are 3.3" or 3.5" (at 9x). My 3.3" on my 7 mag has never popped me good but has touched me a few times over the years. Obviously posture and fit helps determine that.

What is the eye relief you consider a safe minimum for the 300 win mag, 338 win mag, and 375 type rifles? 3.3 or 3.5" ok?

My Swaros have more eye relief than others I own. Knock on wood I’ve never been scoped. I’ve hunted all my life and been in many different situations and I suppose I don’t understand it. I guess I am truly ignorant of how so many including our TV hero’s get scoped all the time. I do have a long length of pull and have my guns fit to me so maybe that helps. I really don’t know but I understand it is a big concern for many. I’d love to hear others thoughts.
Philip

 

[curtism1234]

My Swaros have more eye relief than others I own. Knock on wood I’ve never been scoped. I’ve hunted all my life and been in many different situations and I suppose I don’t understand it. I guess I am truly ignorant of how so many including our TV hero’s get scoped all the time. I do have a long length of pull and have my guns fit to me so maybe that helps. I really don’t know but I understand it is a big concern for many. I’d love to hear others thoughts.
Philip

I think for standard cartridges (maybe the 30-06 excluded) it doesn't matter what scope you have. It seems almost all of the eye cuts i have seen or heard about comes from 7mm rem mag on up. I think its just the case that folks don't think of eye relief when buying scopes. They like the magnification, weight, brand, price, etc and they just buy it. Same probably goes for the TV people - they have to use a specific scope as part of the sponsorship.

Maybe people have used leupold their whole lives (normally very generous eye relief) and they found a good deal on a Vortex Diamondback which is quite a bit lower. Again, not a big deal when you shoot a 308 but a 300 win mag could maybe pop you at 3.1"

Imo its better to be safe than very sorry on these big hitters.

 

[IvW]

My Swaros have more eye relief than others I own. Knock on wood I’ve never been scoped. I’ve hunted all my life and been in many different situations and I suppose I don’t understand it. I guess I am truly ignorant of how so many including our TV hero’s get scoped all the time. I do have a long length of pull and have my guns fit to me so maybe that helps. I really don’t know but I understand it is a big concern for many. I’d love to hear others thoughts.
Philip

TV heros often use sponsered equipment....which is contrary to popular belief not always the best tool, ammo, rifle etc for the job......

 

[Philip Glass]

TV heros often use sponsered equipment....which is contrary to popular belief not always the best tool, ammo, rifle etc for the job......

Very true!

 

[Rule 303]

My Swaros have more eye relief than others I own. Knock on wood I’ve never been scoped. I’ve hunted all my life and been in many different situations and I suppose I don’t understand it. I guess I am truly ignorant of how so many including our TV hero’s get scoped all the time. I do have a long length of pull and have my guns fit to me so maybe that helps. I really don’t know but I understand it is a big concern for many. I’d love to hear others thoughts.
Philip

Phillip I believe one -if not the biggest factor- in being scoped is the fit of the gun and length of pull. Once I put a stock with near 15" length of pull on my 416 Rigby no more scoping. I am only 6"2' but with a longish neck. As a result my head ends up well forward on the stock and I have to remember to pull it back. A 14.25" to 14.5" would do me except on the real hard kickers. I get by with length of pull between 13" and 14" as that is what most factory stocks are. The Boyds stocks I use are 14"+ length of pull and suit me fine as evident by my 358/338RUM with 90+ grains of powder.

 

[Philip Glass]

Phillip I believe one -if not the biggest factor- in being scoped is the fit of the gun and length of pull. Once I put a stock with near 15" length of pull on my 416 Rigby no more scoping. I am only 6"2' but with a longish neck. As a result my head ends up well forward on the stock and I have to remember to pull it back. A 14.25" to 14.5" would do me except on the real hard kickers. I get by with length of pull between 13" and 14" as that is what most factory stocks are. The Boyds stocks I use are 14"+ length of pull and suit me fine as evident by my 358/338RUM with 90+ grains of powder.

I think you are right. I am about your height and LOP. 14” works but I also have some that are a bit more. But does most everyone have a gun that doesn’t fit? I mean most everyone I know has been scoped. I guess I’d better hush before I jinx myself!

 

[Rule 303]

I think you are right. I am about your height and LOP. 14” works but I also have some that are a bit more. But does most everyone have a gun that doesn’t fit? I mean most everyone I know has been scoped. I guess I’d better hush before I jinx myself!

just my take on this. The average height of people is increasing yet the average length of pull on stocks, in some cases, seems to be getting smaller. Is it a case of firearm manufacturers cutting cost by making smaller stocks. I could be wrong but am not aware of manufacturers increasing the length of pull on their stocks. Happy to be shown to be wrong.

 

[Nhoro]

Maybe a good plan would be to look for a scope designed for a scout rifle. Extremely long eye relief. Secondly, I think that the angle of you head is important. Some people shoot in a heads-up style which is less likely to get a little scar.

My 458 lott has only iron sights so no danger there. I would just point out that eye relief is often good on low magnification scopes and not so good on high magnification scopes. Maybe scope eye is a result of the obsession with long range shooting and the high magnification scopes that are currently in fashion.

 

[Newboomer]

I have a compound problem. I have short arms so I set my LOP at 12 3/4 to 13 inches. I set my scopes as close to my rear iron sight as possible on my 375, 9.3x62 and 7RM. I don't want to remove my irons because I might need them for dg. This puts my head a little close to the scope so I try to compensate and hold my head back a little. Gives me a halo in the scope but the eye will still center. Not a problem at low power (1-4) but much above 4 it can get a little interesting for eye relief with a short stock. I've been barely touched on a few occasions but got a good bush tattoo on my last hunt.

 

[MLindsay]

I had a Leupold 2.5 fixed on my BRNO 602 500 A2 and never had a problem with eye relief but did not like the lack of magnification. I now have a Nikon slughunter which is, I believe, 1.75x6, on it. I have only shot it at the range but it has a huge amount of eye relief. Hopefully we will see how it does in the field next August.