How to adjust a daisy bb gun scope

Even if you choose the best rifle scope on the market, the optic is useless if you don’t know how to use it properly.

If you want to shoot with efficiency and precision, you’ll need to learn how to adjust your riflescope.

Interested? Let’s get started!

The research show

Mounting your scope

Eye box

Eye relief

Leveling

Eyepiece Focus

How to Adjust a Rifle Scope

Adjusting Elevation

Adjusting Windage

Other corrections

Parallax

Magnification

Conclusion

FAQ:

Mounting your scope

There are three main areas to explore in order to properly mount your scope on the rifle:

• The height of your scope
• The forward/rear position of your scope
• The level of your scope

Some shooters prefer to have a professional gunsmith mount a scope, but you can mount it yourself so long as you carefully follow this guide.

Let’s begin with your scope height…

Eye box

Adjusting the scope to the proper height brings your eye in the “eye box” and makes shooting comfortable.

Lay the full weight of your head on your cheek rest and close your eyes. Once you’re comfortable, open your eyes.

Can you see through the scope?

If your answer is no, then you have to change the height of your scope.

You can buy replacement mounting rings that are either taller or shorter. If you like switching optics often, get one of the best quick detach scope mounts.

You can also buy a cheek riser or add layers of insulation underneath to your rifle stock to get your cheek higher:

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Magpul Fixed Stock Cheek Riser, Black, 0.50"

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I know you’re thinking: why do I need to worry when I can just lift my head up?

Frankly, you’ll end up with a tired neck and fatigue.

Having the scope as close to the barrel as possible helps with cheek weld and reduces accuracy problems due to canting and POI/POA variance.

But: make sure your scope doesn’t sit too low. If you’re looking up through the corner of your eye to the point where your glasses or contacts get blurry, that’s your sign.

On that note:

If you have an AR-15 A2, you might find that the scope sits low enough but the front iron sight will block the view. Instead of getting higher rings, go check out my AR-15 A2 front sight removal guide.

Eye relief

Adjusting the scope forward and back brings your eye to the correct “eye relief”.

Eye relief is the distance from the ocular lens to your eye.

Why is that important?

If your scope is too close, you’ll end up smacking yourself on the eyebrow due to firearm recoil. This is commonly referred to as “scope bite” or in simpler terms— a black eye.

In order to get the correct eye relief:

1. Set your scope loosely on the rings so you can make adjustments.
2. Place your rifle on a stable platform and position yourself comfortably.
3. Move your scope back until a black ring starts to show in the outside of the scope’s view. Then move it forward until the black ring disappears.
4. Keep repeating this process until you get the scope to the position where you can see a complete field of view without any black rings or dark spots.

If you need to move the objective lens further back and you already have the rings as far back as they can go, you can purchase a cantilever mount to get you a little further.

Best Cantilever Mount

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Vortex Optics Sport Cantilever 1-Inch Mount - 2-Inch Offset

• Use this cantilever mount for mounting 1-inch telescopic sights
• The 2-inch offset of this cantilever mount positions the scope in a forward location, allowing the correct eye relief and head placement
• The cantilever ring mount positions the center of the riflescope tube at a height of 1.59 inches (40.39 mm) from the base. Weighs 6.7 ounces

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When I shop around for scopes, I look for at least 4” of eye relief from the scope’s eyepiece— like the Leupold Rifleman 4-12×40.

Leveling

Leveling a scope is an easy but critical step to take.

Why?

An unlevel scope can cause diagonal or dislocated windage and elevation adjustments.

Also, if your reticle has a BDC ladder, hash marks, or a rangefinder, those features will not help if your scope isn’t level.

I highly recommend using a bubble level or a scope leveler kit. Here’s what I use:

Best Scope Leveler Kit

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You simply place it between the flat spot underneath the turret adjustments and the rail— and you’ll be set.

Eyepiece Focus

Have you ever caught yourself with either a clear reticle and blurry target or a clear target and blurry reticle?

That’s the symptom of an incorrectly focused eyepiece— a common mistake with a new rifle shooter.

Thankfully, I’m going to show you the correct way!

Crank the ocular lens all the way to one end. This will make the reticle blurry, don’t panic. While in your shooting position, slowly turn it the other way until you’re at the spot where it gets sharper and starts getting blurred again.

Continue turning it back and forth using minor adjustments until you find the “sweet spot”.

You can also get a scope with a fast focus eyepiece like the Vortex Viper HS 4-16×50 for quick and easy reticle focusing.

How to Adjust a Rifle Scope

Zeroing ensures that the point of aim (POA) with the scope is the same point of impact (POI) on the target.

When a new scope is properly mounted on a rifle, it must be “zeroed.” This entails that the scope adjusts so that the center line of the reticle appears precisely with where the bullets hit.

There are two adjustments needed to zero in your scope: elevation and windage. These adjustments are usually measured in MOA or MIL/MRAD.

Let’s start with elevation adjustment…

Adjusting Elevation

Adjusting the elevation turret allows you to change the vertical impact of the bullet relative to where you’re aiming with your scope.

You can turn the top turret either clockwise or counterclockwise for up and down adjustments, respectively.

Each “click” of the turret corresponds to an angular measurement— depending on your scope’s specifications. For example: 1/4 MOA adjustments equal to 1/4″ per 100 yds.

If you’re shooting too low, raise the reticle up to meet the point of impact. If you’re shooting too high, lower the reticle down to meet the point of impact.

Adjusting Windage

Adjusting your windage turret allows you to change the horizontal path (left/right) of the bullet.

Depending on the distance, wind can have quite a bit of impact on the bullet trajectory.

For windage, turn the side turret either forward or backward for left and right adjustments, respectively.

Many shooters find it easier to work with holdover points on the reticle to compensate for wind.

But, you can also use a smartphone app and manually enter wind speed and direction relative to the shot. You should get a windage adjustment solution.

For more information on how to sight in a riflescope, go check out this quick guide.

Other corrections

Parallax

If the reticle changes position on the target when you move your head or shift your gaze, your parallax is not properly compensated for at that range.

Scopes that don’t come with parallax adjustment features are going to be factory-set to be parallax free at a specific distance. Within that distance, you won’t have issues.

In other models, parallax adjustment can be found on the left side by the elevation and windage turrets or via an adjustable objective.

It’ll take a little bit of playing around. When the image is crisp and sharp without any crosshair travel, you’ll know you’re parallax free.

Magnification

Scope magnification is a multiplication measurement in contrast to the average naked eye.

Here’s a quick example:

With the Vortex Diamondback 4-12x40mm, the 4x means that the image you see through the scope appears four times closer than it does with your naked eye. This variable scope allows you to change the magnification of the scope from 4 to 12, stopping anywhere in between.

You can adjust the magnification by simply turning the dial to the magnification you desire.

Conclusion

In order to get the full power and versatility of your riflescope, you’ll need to learn how to adjust it. I hope that you found this guide beneficial.

Now, head to the range and give it your best shot!

FAQ:

How does a rifle scope adjustment work?

A bullet’s trajectory is not a straight line. Depending on where the bullet hits, it may appear lower or higher, or to the left or right compared to what you’re expecting. Modern rifle scopes adjust for point-of-impact by adjusting windage and elevation turrets inside the sight picture. Along with that, further scope adjustments are helpful to shoot accurately with precision and overall comfort. You can find all the information needed in this epic guide.

What is scope parallax adjustment?

The purpose for parallax adjustment is to make sure your rifle scope reticle appears on the same focal plane as your target image. Without it, you’ll see unwanted movement or crosshair travel when you move your head and eyes in a different position. This leads to eye strain, inaccurate shots, and even target confusion for inexperienced shooters. Note that this only applies to rifle scopes. Red dot sights — like the EOTECH EXPS 2 or 3 — are “parallax free” devices at all distances.

Which way do I turn my rifle scope?

Here’s a helpful trick: You can think of the turret as a screw. Unscrew counterclockwise to raise it “up”. Conversely, turn it clockwise to lower the screw “down”.

What are the adjustment knobs on the top and side of the scope called?

Adjustment knobs on a rifle scope are called turrets. The top turret is to adjust elevation while the side turret is for windage adjustments.

What is the difference between First Focal Plane and Second Focal Plane scopes?

For FFP scopes, the reticle increases in size proportionate to the target image. With SFP scopes, the reticle remains exactly the same size throughout the magnification range. For more details, check out my First Focal Plane vs Second Focal Plane guide.

Do I move my scope up or down?

What are the 3 adjustments on a scope?

What does the knob on the side of a scope do?

Can you mount a scope on a Daisy BB gun?