In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.
Options
Scope gone bad
PA Shootist
Member Posts: 689 ✭✭✭
Has anyone had experience with a good-quality rifle scope going bad (L... brand), by that I mean adjustments seem to be inconsistent, and there seems to be a shifting zero. Mounts, rings are tight and are not the problem.
Comments
Has anyone had experience with a good-quality rifle scope going bad (L... brand), by that I mean adjustments seem to be inconsistent, and there seems to be a shifting zero. Mounts, rings are tight and are not the problem.
Anyone who has used scopes have some go bad no matter who made them. We had a situation in the early 90's when we put three new Leupolds on customers guns and they all went 'bad' . We contacted the manufacture and they found that one of the torque wrenches on the line was set wrong. It can happen to any one no matter what you pay for the glass, but the high end glass is less likely to have problems. [:)]
He ask what I thought was wrong when he was trying to zero #3. I ask if the mounts were tight?. "Oh, heck yea - I made sure of that" Turns out he was crushing the scope tube by over tightening the rings. I put it on correctly and the rifle zeroed normally.
I have seen scopes where someone wrenched the knobs past the stops trying to adjust for crooked base mounts or the wrong height on one base.
My 5# 45-350 Rem mag has 10 or 12 size screws for the scope mount. Previous owner sheared regular 6 size screws in just a few shots even though the bases were put on with epoxy, so they kept moving up a size until the screws held. I use full peeps for it.
? otherwise, you'll find an excuse.
I have substantial experience in correctly mounting rifle scopes, and am positive that aforementioned crushing of the tube, incorrectly aligned mounts (Leupold type, front swiveled into position with a 1" diameter steel rod for alignment), over-adjustment past limits (Leupold mount base at rear with windage adjustment available), etc. didn't happen. I just don't know what are the working parts inside that could allow a wandering zero, or inconsistent adjustments, and wondered how a quality manufacturer would have this sort of problem. The rifle is a modest-recoiling Browning A-Bolt Medallion .260 Remington caliber. I would have imagined springs pushing against something like a small ball bearing as adjustments are made, pushing with the screw threads, and it should rest on the bearing surfaces. The scope is a 2-7 variable that was on 7x only, not changed. The ocular focus was adjusted for clarity for my eyes before the start of things. There appeared to be a very minimum of parallax error at 100 yards. I have installed a different scope this morning for the next trip to the range. I just wondered what happens inside a scope to "go bad". And if many have had similar experiences. It sounds like some, or many, have had this.
Yes they can be inconsistent with adjustments or shift. The erector tube adjustments are spring loaded. You can review such online to see the innards. Burris has some scope with posi-lock. I've never used or been around one but sounds like a good idea for hard kicking guns. It lock the erector tube in place after adjustments are made.
I've also seen scopes shift up/down or left/right erratically on hard kicking guns, especially the older redfield low pro type scopes. If you suspect a L/R or Up/Dn is a scope you can turn the scope 90 degrees on the rings and see if the erratic shift in point of impact goes 90 degrees, if so it's the scope. I've never seen a Vari X III or VXIII act erratic but I've also seen lots of the cheaper Bushnells shift Point of Impact and have severe parallax, enough of them that I just can't trust any Bushnell scope. Bushnell's customer service sucks big air also. I've returned scopes to them and the exchanged scope would be worse than the one I sent in and some of them were $300 scopes. I just casually went elsewhere for scopes. Once a company leaves a bad taste in my mouth I don't go back for a second taste, kinda like waiting for clabbered milk to get better tasting. The Baush and Lombs were good scopes. I've had top of the line customer service from Leupold, little slow on-line answers sometimes but once they start answering they come thru. Send it back to Leupold labeled as erratic accuracy and if they cannot fix it they will offer you a replacement free of charge of maybe a slight upgrade at reduced costs, your option. Attach your phone number, email address, and keep your tracking number so as to confirm delivery. I had to use a tracking number to prove to Bushnell that they had received my scope 8 mo's before. They finally found it buried in their trash scopes waiting on someone to build me a new one. (probably China because the one they sent was no god either)