Optic for my wife with forgiving eye relief

C

Calgary

New member
Everyone, my wife enjoys coyote hunting with me but has a very difficult time picking up targets in the scope. This makes it less fun. She has practiced and can’t get the hang of it. Most of the time she just sees “black” in the eye piece. Our targets are normally 150 to 250 yards on open hilly ground. Uses a Burris 3x9x40 now.

Are there any solutions for her? I’ve thought about red dot but not sure that works at 200+ yards? She does ok with open sights to 100 yards, but not 200? Thoughts?
 
Leupold has always been known for generous eye relief and lower power gives field of view.
Many Leopold VX2 models are close out priced and have a good warranty.
A 2-7 or 3-9 leaves room to grow after she learns how to better acquire the target, assuming it is setup correctly on the gun.
 
There are better guys on here to answer this, but I think you have two issues, 1) eye relief 2) exit pupil size.

setting up for proper eye relief should be straight forward after ample practice.
That's a 3 dimensional positioning problem that attempts to get a full picture of the scope image - but no more.
An adjustable cheek rest helps in getting a consistent cheek weld - worth considering. More practice will help too.

exit pupil is predetermined by the current zoom setting (like 9X) and the objective diameter (like 40mm).
exit pupil narrows as the zoom power goes up, also, the exit pupil is larger for a bigger objective lens.
She may do better with a 3-9x 50mm than a 3-9x 40mm.
The larger the exit pupil, the easier it is to find the full scope image.

Red dot (1x) is not enough for 200 yard yotes and a casual shooter, imo.
 
If she is seeing black in the scope, the gun doesn't fit her. With proper gun fit when she throws the rifle to her shoulder and her cheek hits the stock her eye should be aligned with the scope. If she is having to move her head around to see out of the scope the rifle need to be fitted to her.

I have to raise the comb of my stocks to get good fit to use a scope. Sometimes I use Neoprene from old waders glued to the comb to raise it or butt bags with Neoprene inserts. See link.

The butt bag is there to raise the comb not to carry stuff
https://imageshack.com/a/img924/7516/xGZlAI.jpg

Another butt bag to raise the comb
https://imageshack.com/a/img924/8676/AxVnvZ.jpg

Here an ammo cuff is stretched over a couple layers of corrugated cardboard to raise the comb.
https://imageshack.com/a/img923/1262/mF8Jow.jpg

The higher the power on a scope the less FOV you will have, at 1x you can see an area 100 feet across at 100 yards, at 4x only 26 feet so it is easier to find a coyote with a lower power scope. Almost all my calling rifles have 1-4x20mm or 1.5-6x40mm scopes on them just because I find the larger FOV more effective for me than higher power scope, and 4x or 6x is plenty of power for 300 yard shots.

Leupold scopes seem to be more forgiving as to eye position when looking through a their scope(larger eye box)
 
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Thx aws. So her problem is most likely with the rifle rather than the scope. She does end up bobbing her head around trying to see anything.
Can a good person at a local gun store fit her to the best rifle? Is getting the right fit trial and error or science? We have a weaver 2x7 on another gun, is that a good one to let her try?
Would a savage 110 be a good choice since it comes with 5 comb risers and 4 length of pull spacers? With that many adjustments are we likely to find one that fits her? Are there better guns with high adjustability built in?
 
I just adjust rifles to fit me, can't help you with rifle selection for fit.

Being smaller of stature and strangely coupled together I need to shorten my stocks also to be able to shoot well. I've only found one factory shotgun that I could shoot as it came from the factory, I bought it used so it might have been custom built that way.

https://imageshack.com/a/img922/1961/UpN2qD.jpg

I have not used a Weaver 2-7, it should work fine if it is one of the newer models, I like there V-3 1-3x20mm scopes

Here's a Weaver V-3 1-3x20mm on another coyote killing rig.
https://imageshack.com/a/img923/1979/KEncNP.jpg
 
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AWS,
Thank you for this feedback. Obviously I'm a rookie at setting up a rifle to fit a person. In fact you have opened my eyes to a whole new world. After thinking about all your comments I took my rifle outside and practiced quick target acquisition. I discovered my rifle isn't set up right either. I have killed many coyotes over the years but I was doing it using muscle memory to get a good sight picture in the scope. As a result I'm not near as fast at getting the sight on the target as I need to be or could be. My cheek was not resting on the stock either. So, I have let many coyotes escape over the years because I struggled to get a good sight acquisition before the coyote disappeared.
So I ran to Cabelas at lunch and bought a Triple K leather cheek pad.

https://www.cabelas.com/product/Triple-K-Leather-Cheek-Pad/706669.uts?slotId=0

When I got home I slapped it on my rifle and low and behold, instant sight picture and target acquisition! The difference is amazing. I have no doubt my kill ratio to coyote sighting will go much higher.

I don't think fixing my wife's problem will be as simple because she is much smaller than I am. So the largest cheek pad will not be high enough. But at least now I understand the issue and see what it takes to fix it.

Thanks again for the education! It helped both of us a lot. Look out yotes!
 
Originally Posted By: AWSIf she is seeing black in the scope, the gun doesn't fit her. With proper gun fit when she throws the rifle to her shoulder and her cheek hits the stock her eye should be aligned with the scope. If she is having to move her head around to see out of the scope the rifle need to be fitted to her.

That's my thought too. She will need to be able to look directly through the scope, so proper fitting will help. But also, she needs to learn how to look through the scope. An experienced shooter can see through a scope even if the fit isn't perfect, so there is a learning curve to it. Many, if not most new shooters have the same problem.
 
I think I plan to buy her a new gun, one with adjustable comb and LOP. Her current gun is a very old mini 14 and the accuracy just isn't there. The Savage 110 storm is high on the list. Are there any other stock bolt guns with an adjustable comb and LOP? Preferably one that is light weight.
 
Calgary]I think I plan to buy her a new gun, one with adjustable comb and LOP. Her current gun is a very old mini 14 and the accuracy just isn't there. The Savage 110 storm is high on the list. Are there any other stock bolt guns with an adjustable comb and LOP? Preferably one that is light weight.[/quote]
Don’t know of a adjustable one. Weatherby Vanguard Camilla is a real nice wood stocked lady’s rifle, and there’salso the Savage Lady’s Hunter.
 
My girlfriend and sisters always had to "search around" in the scope when shooting with me. Most women seem to have higher check bones so they usually have to hold their head off the stock. When I was trying to fit a gun for my girlfriend. I started layering socks on to the comb masking taping each layer on. Then I would remove the butt pad, cut several out of plywood and double side tape them on. She'd close her eyes, mount the gun, open them and tell me what the reticle looked like and I'd make adjustments from there. Once we got it to fit good, I made more permanent adjustments the the LOP and adding shooting bags for the comb.
 
The Vortex crossfire ii have a lot of eye relief , so much that I've even used one on a slug gun. Very good entry level scope. I have 4 diff ones and have not seen too much of a need to upgrade for normal calling/huntung
 
I agree with AWS. I think the big issue is that the scope is mounted too far forward for her. As much as I love Burris scopes, they do have a short eye relief at higher power. Since women are typically smaller than men, they tend to have to crane their neck way forward to get a full view in the scope. A rifle with a shorter stock and higher comb combined with a scope set for her proper eye relief should solve the problem.
The Savage Lady Hunter would be ideal, but it is pricey. A standard rifle with a shorter stock and high comb should be sufficient.
 
Make sure what ever you get for her, that they know all sales are final and they aren't allowed to return her.

Sorry, couldn't help myself.
 
Ladies have longer necks and are narrower across the shoulders then we are. This usually means they need more drop in the butt to accommodate a better fit into the shoulder so as not to hurt some tender areas but consequently a higher comb to compensate. I have worked with a ton of ladies on shotgun and its always pretty much the same.

Get the pad and some neoprene repair material or the neoprene or gel stick on cheek pads and go to work with her. Her length of pull will also influence how and where the pads go. There are also after market adjustable combs that can be installed by almost any decent gunsmith. Its not impossible but it will take some stuff, tinkering and some range time. As with you, when it happens she is gonna be a happy camper.

EDIT:

OK, I left out the scope and then you brought up a new gun. The best way to do this would be the gun to start with. There are a number of suitable lighter rifles with adjustable combs on the market for you to choose from. Remember, keep the caliber down so she does not get punished when she fires it. Bolt guns are good and weight to caliber should be considered. As to scopes.... once you have a gun that will allow her to get centered in the scope she should be able to use almost anything out there. A medium variable power scope with a large objective would be good. Lots of light and set it on like 4 or 6 power depending on your shooting distances.

Just some thoughts
 
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