Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Advice on scope focus

I have a nice old Swarovski Habicht 1.5-4.5x20A scope that I just mounted on my Ruger M7744 carbine. Seems like a match made in heaven, except for one challenge. While at my 100 yard range, I focus the eyepiece so the reticle is nice and clear but then the target is somewhat out of focus. If I focus the eyepiece for a clear target the reticle is a little blurred. Problem is more pronounced on high power vs lower powers. I have not had this particular problem with other scopes before. Any advice?

Perhaps it was setup to be used on a handgun at 50-yards.

Good suggestion but Never used on a handgun...

Think of the reticle lying in a plane perpendicular to the center line of the scope. When you've used the eyepiece to get the reticle nice and crisp but the target image isn't sharp, that's telling us the target image lies in a plane which does not coincide with the reticle plane.

Experiment a bit at other distances, I'd start with shorter, and see if you can find where the reticle and target can be put in focus at the same time.

You are not supposed to focus the reticle at any range. It should be in focus against a blue sky background.

Exactly. You focus the eyepiece on a white ceiling or a blue sky. You need to see a clear crosshair in 1 second. If you take longer, your eye will adjust and mess everything up.

Serious question, what happens if you cannot get the scope to do this? I’ve been messing with my scopes for a year or 2 and the reticles are blurry. I need -1.5 reading glasses, will I have to start shooting with glasses on?

I'm not sure. I need 2.0 reading glasses, but I have 20/20 vision. I guess you should talk to your eye Dr.

It doesn't have anything to do with reading glasses. How old is the scope maybe 50? Check the serial number if it has 2 letters followed by 7 numbers the first 2 numbers are probably the year of manufacturing. Always focus at the highest setting. You can call Swarovski but I don't think they will repair Habicht anymore. I have a 3-9x36 Habicht A that apparently was manufactured in 72. That 1.5-4.5x20 is likely older than that I can't remember Swaro making a scope with that low a power. Made in Austria do you have the box does it say Cranston Rhode Island?

You're right it is a really nice old scope and realistically it may not be capable of doing what you want to do with it any longer.

Good luck and shoot straight y'all

Some scopes struggle to achieve focus on both fronts at the same time simply due to your eyes. For you it may not focus while for someone else it may focus perfectly

The way I fix such a problem is to screw the front ring off and readjust the parallax setting manually until you achieve focus. It's easy and only takes a few minutes.


Trystan

Thanks for all the comments and advice. I did experiment with the scope at various distances, and it seems that the focus is best with reticle and image both sharp at very close distances, 10-20M or so. Can't be normal. Could that be due to something inside shaking loose?

I ran into that on a couple of three different Scopes lately.. I think one of the comments here touched on it about eyesight because my eyes are more and more suffering from this thing called age..

What's the parallax like at 20m or so?

I sent the scope off to Swarovski in the USA. They examined it, wrote me a note saying it was in need of repair, and they are currently fixing it, free of charge. Wonderful service for a third hand scope a few decades old!

I'm nearsighted. Scrip is -2.25 for contacts for 20/20 distance vision.

I was getting blurred vision looking through scopes when shooting 15-20 round relays. Eye strain. I'd have to check up, look away from scope, look at distant objects to settle eyes.

Thought I'd try shooting scopes without the contacts or eye glasses. Focused reticle against sky, etc until sharp. Eye strain gone.

When I used to shoot service rifle AR15 I requested optometrist for contact scrip -1.75. This allowed me to have fairly sharp resolution of front sight post through hooded rear aperture. Black bull was a somewhat fuzzy ball, but so what. Fuzzy ball size never changed. On front sight post I made a pencil mark diagonal across post. If pencil mark was resolved my sight focus is proper for me.

None of the above works for hunting though. But I'm not looking through scope for very long that causes eye strain.

Hope Swarovski fixes up yer scope castnblast!

Got the scope back today. They cleaned inside lenses, fixed seals, calibrated and inspected and gave it a clean bill of health. Cost to me = 0$. Focus problem is now solved. I'm a happy customer!

Can't beat Swarovski customer service!

Glad to hear you are back in business. Have fun with it.

This is how I was instructed!

I Had a 4-12 That had The Same Issue. It was Parlex. Sent it Back. and The Repaired It, And Send It Back No Charge..