Leupold M8-4x rimfire special

[cabellero59]

I mounted this on an R7 and had terrible accuracy inconsistencies.  It would tantalize and then let you down.  Factory parallax set to 60 yds by Leupold.  It was unusable under 20 yds and marginal at 25yds.  Leupold reset the focus to 20 yds and the scope now splits the difference between 10 and 30 which is the far range for an R7.  There is a little parallax at 10 yds but will shoot one-hole groups and you can see the target clearly.  Target is perfectly clear at 30 yds with almost no reticle movement.  I was considering setting the focus to 30 yds but am very glad I didn't.  It doesn't make any sense to set the focus to the farthest reasonable range of the rifle, leaving the close range problematic at best.  15 yds perhaps would even be a better focus.  I think a 4x with 15 yds focus would produce very small aiming error at 25-30 yds.   The aiming error of a too long focus is much greater than the aiming error caused by a focus shorter than the range of your target.  I have a Leupold 3x9 EFR on an Hw30S and I almost prefer the extremely light, compact, quick 4x for removing pest and plinking.  This setup is ultimately useable.