Scope magnification doesn't seem as powerful as it should be

[Starslinger]

I experienced something that seems odd to me. When I look at a target (and this is a steel target roughly the size of a man's chest) at 50 yards, I can see it clearly and hit it easily using a red dot sight. It's easy to hit even while standing up and firing with no rest for the gun. But when I use a different rifle with a scope set at 4x magnification and I aim at the same target from a rest with the target set at 200 yards, it looks like a very tough shot. It looks like the target is still quite a long distance away, but with 4x magnification shouldn't it appear as if it was only 50 yards away making it an easy shot? I have to crank it all the way up to 8x before it looks like a reasonable shot. I do wear prescription eyeglasses and they are progressive lenses, so perhaps I did not have my head tilted correctly? The scope is a Leupold 2.5-8x36mm. The red dot is a Sig Romeo 5. What am I experiencing?

[Snoopy47]

The shot is still 4 times harder regardless right?

The crosshairs should be bouncing around more anyway, yes?

Play with it home (off the rifle of course) if think the glasses are impacting the optic.

[IVC]

The same angular movement of rifle and sights will translate to 4 times the linear movement on the target. Just with the sights and trigger control alone, you need 4 times bigger target to make it "equal."

But, the true difficulty of long distance shooting only *begins* with the target size. The core of the long distance shooting skill is bullet travel - both how it's affected by gravity and by wind. The size of the target is actually the least of the problem for true long distance shooting.

[smoothy8500]

.... they are progressive lenses, so perhaps I did not have my head tilted correctly?

Separate from the illusion of a harder shot is the issue progressive lenses can impact the scope reticle and image quality. Unless you are absolutely maintaining a consistent cheek weld, the Rx changes or shifts every time you put your eye behind the scope. Your reticle focus/diopter changes, the target image quality changes, parallax and focus are no longer even with each other, etc. A fixed Rx is a better choice when shooting.

[Preston-CLB]

Smoothy is correct: I wear progressive glasses and experienced what is described above. I was shooting at 100 yards with Leupold 4.5-14 by 40.

I took off the glasses, re-focused the scope (reticle and objective) and that made a big difference.
-P

[smoothy8500]

scope set at 4x magnification and I aim at the same target from a rest with the target set at 200 yards, it looks like a very tough shot.

You are just not used to shooting further but with practice, it will become second nature. As it gets more difficult, the fundamental of "sight focus" which is concentrating on your front sights (or crosshairs) is even more important. For those shooting ACOG or NRA Highpower and are limited to 4 or 4.5X, we're really concentrating when aiming at a 36" target at 600 yards.

[Starslinger]

Thanks, guys! I'll give it another go soon with your comments in mind.

[Skip_Dog]

Make sure you have the proper eye relief on the scope. I know it sounds simple enough but you would be surprised at how many people mount a scope or have it mounted with out checking the relief.