Scope Trouble
Ambrose
Member Posts: 3,209 ✭✭✭✭
I have my late brother's Springfield sporter (actually a Remington A3). I took it to the range a few days ago and it spattered shots all over the target. It shot quite well in the past. I blamed the scope and knew I needed to change it which broke my heart since I wanted to keep the original rig together. When I took the scope off the bases, I was surprised to find that one of the screws that held the front base was sheared and the other was loose. For those who are not familiar with the old Weaver V8 scope, the front ring/base takes all the force of recoil. The rear ring contains the adjustments, the scope being externally adjusted. 180 gr. loads and 59 years finally overwhelmed those two 6-48 screws. I put in two new screws and the next range session will tell the tale. I guess the moral of this story is: check the base (and ring) screws at frequent intervals. Come to think of it, I believe I've read that somewhere!
Comments
Cool. I hope it works for you.
good luck !!!!
It is possible that a sharp rap did more damage than the firing. Glad you desire to keep it "as is" I've always tried to discourage folks from refinishing family firearms. Their parent's or grandparent's sweat or blood is in that wood and steel.
Wise advice. When I was working the gun counter and someone brought in their rifle to buy and have a new scope installed, I always asked what was wrong with the old scope. If they said it suddenly was shooting all over the place I would ask if they had checked the mounts. Most of the time they said no and 50% of the time when we checked that was the problem. Sometimes the customer would get a hostile attitude when asked and I would drop it and just sell him a new scope. About half the time I found loose or broken screws when we put the new scope on. Never did tell the hostile ones that they just spent a bunch of bucks on a new scope they didn't need. Bob
Blue loctite
Anytime I miss I always blame the scope.
And torque'em 20-25 inch pound.
Ambrose, if you're concerned they may break again I'd recommend having a competent smith change the 6-48 to 8-40. Solid peace of mind for a base as you describe.