new scope (or new to me)

[ulen mn]

I have bought a used scope from a guy that needed a little money it is a cabelas pine ridge cener fire tactical turret 6-18x40 sf with 7 diferrent turrets in diferrnt bullet weight and calibers for $50.00 I figured I couldnt go to wrong with it (friday nights at the VFW cost more than that lol). Now I have never had a side focus scope so how do I sight this thing in it gose from 50,75,100,200,300 to infinity or better yet how dose a side focus scope work, if I sight it in at say 10 power at 100 yards with the side focus set at 100 and then shoot it at 200 yards dose the side focus change the clarity when turned to 200 or what you guys call the parallex (parrelex is something else I dont understand and need to do more reading on) . Also is anyone familiar whith this scope it has 1/4" clicks for horizontal adjustment and I can definetly feel and hear the click but if I turn the vertical turret it is much harder to feel and hear the clicks how can I say this better there is not as much resistance in the turret hope that makes sense could the vertical adjustment be in 1/8"? I called cabelas and no one could answer this question amagine that. thanks for all imput Ulen MN

[Critter]

Parallax is a useful tool when shooting at longer ranges.

The scales printed on scopes should be treated as a general guide.

To adjust it focus on the target at range and while looking at the target move your head up and down. If the point of impact in the scope changes select a different setting until the head bobbing shows no movement of the point of impact.

Here is a definition of parallax from one of my favorite sites:

In a telescopic sight, parallax occurs when the “primary image” of the object is formed either in front of, or behind the reticle. If the eye is moved from the optical axis of the scope, this also creates parallax. If the primary image is formed on the same focal plane as the reticle, or if the eye is positioned in the optical axis of the scope, then there is no parallax, regardless of the position of the primary image.

High magnification scopes, or scopes for long range shooting, where even slight sighting errors would be serious, should be equipped with a parallax adjustment. This adjustment of the objective part of the optical system would ensure that the target can be brought in the exact focal plane of the reticle at any distance. Tactical style scopes are not usually supplied with parallax adjustment because the exact range of the target can never be anticipated. Scopes of lower magnification are not usually supplied with parallax adjustment either, because at lower powers the amount of parallax is so small as to have no importance for practical, fast target acquisition.