Why Having a Rifle Scope With Long Eye Relief is Important

If you’ve ever wondered why having a rifle scope with long eye relief is important, we’re going to cover the various benefits in this blog. 

Eye relief for a rifle scope refers to the distance from the outer surface of the eyepiece lens to the position where the exit pupil is formed. At this distance, whether it’s one or four inches, you should still be able to maintain a clear and unobstructed view of the target and reticle. Long eye relief – 3.5 to 4 inches is ideal – is important because it ensures a comfortable and safe shooting experience while allowing hunters and shooters to attain the optimal sight picture. 

Having a Rifle Scope With Long Eye Relief

All of the advantages of having a rifle scope with long eye relief work together to increase accuracy. A comfortable shooting position allows you to properly settle into the rifle and scope. Faster target acquisition is important to competition shooters and hunters alike. As is peace of mind in knowing there is plenty of space between your forehead and the scope. A kid getting hit in the face by his rifle scope is probably not going to shoot well and definitely won’t enjoy time behind the rifle. 

As a kid, I unfortunately experienced a couple bumps and bruises using my father’s old deer rifle and scope, the brand which I’ll keep to myself (even though I think they’re out of business now). And it was not until years later that I truly began to appreciate something that sounds so simple as eye relief. 

So, for both kids and adults, hunters and shooters of various disciplines, there are many benefits to having a rifle scope with long eye relief. The first of which is safety and knowing the chances of a scope-induced injury are greatly reduced.

 

Learn why having a rifle scope with constant eye relief makes all the difference.

Safety

Having a rifle scope with long eye relief is important for all shooters, but especially if you’re using a high-recoil, magnum caliber. A greater distance between your eye and the scope reduces the risk of recoil-related injuries. 

Having a rifle scope with long eye relief is highly beneficial for competition shooters who may find themselves on a clock and need to acquire targets faster. Also, there’s usually a station where an awkward shooting position may be required, forcing your scope’s placement to be a little closer to the face than usual. But with enough eye relief, your margin for injury is still slim. 

 

Whatever the stage may bring, PRS competitors know that having a scope with proper eye relief improves consistancy.

 

Shooting Position

When settling into a standard shooting position, such as a bench rest, bipods, or prone, having a rifle scope with long eye relief enables you to maintain consistency with your shot placement. It allows you to comfortably position their eye behind the scope without straining or contorting the body. This stability and comfort are vital for accuracy and precision, especially during prolonged shooting sessions. 

It’s also necessary for hunters who may need to quickly acquire targets in various shooting positions or find themselves in the mountains shooting at angles that may otherwise be restrictive with “traditional” eye relief, as mentioned above with competition shooters. 

Target Acquisition

Speaking of animals on the move, or standing still for that matter, rifle scopes with long eye relief allow you to acquire targets much faster. For starters, having a rifle scope with long eye relief maximizes field of view. It also provides a much more clear sight picture. 

 

 

Quickly acquiring close range targets can be trickier than you think…Especially during the heat of the rut when things happen fast.

When the eye is positioned at the appropriate distance from the eyepiece, you can achieve a sharp, focused view of the target and reticle simultaneously. This can aid in target identification, acquisition, and accuracy. This is a major point of importance when hunters are waiting for that buck or bull to step out in low light. Or during a stage in a competition when you’re required to move quickly from station to station. 

Those With Eyeglasses

Those who wear eyeglasses often struggle with achieving a proper sight picture due to the limited eye relief offered by some scopes. The same is true with binoculars. 

On a side note, our binoculars have a minimum of 19mm of eye relief. And they also come with multi-stop eyecups so that you can adjust the distance from the outer surface of the eyepiece lens to the position where the exit pupil is formed depending on whether you wear eyeglasses or not. 

A rifle scope, on the other hand, doesn’t give those who wear eyeglasses an option to adjust eye relief. That’s why it’s so important to select a scope with a long constant eye relief. And all TRACT rifle scopes are built with a minimum 3.5 inches of constant eye relief thanks to the large eye box design of the quick focus eyepiece. 

 

The large eyebox (ocular lens) design of the TRACT rifle scopes make them a pleasure to shoot.

 

So whether you’re plinking steel with a rimfire or dialing in a magnum cartridge for western big game, we want you to experience maximum accuracy. Having a rifle scope with long eye relief, you can take comfort in the fact that the result of the shot is going to be on the target, not your forehead!