View Full Version : Need some scope/mount help
I just installed a 20x scope for my 300 win mag. All looks nice and straight; mounts, rings, scope. I can hit paper at 100 yards, but my windage is cranked all the way to the right and still hitting 1/2 left of center. WTF? 20 rounds and $40 later my shoulder is killing me. Any ideas? I've set up alot rifles/scopes without ever having a problem. Another trip to the range like this and the 300 will be able to shoot around corners.[Bang][Bang][Bang][Bang][Bang]
theGinsue
10-02-2010, 22:48
Was it at least bore sighted FIRST? The bore sighting is supposed to get you on the paper without the windage adjustments. Windage adjustments are supposed to be for fine tuning. Or so that's teh way I understand it.
No, not bore sighted I got it on paper at 25 yards first then moved to 100. I've done this several times, I'm just missing something. I'm gonna change the rings and start over tomorrow. Now it's better than bore sighted, but the windage is out of adjustment. I think something is screwy with the mounts/rings. The muzzlebrake that I'm picking up from GhostRider should help with the shoulder pain..[Beer]
Byte Stryke
10-03-2010, 00:55
The muzzlebrake that I'm picking up from GhostRider should help with the shoulder pain..
Sled
It also removes allot of the BRM "Variables". :D
gcrookston
10-03-2010, 07:18
What type of rifle? Mount? Scope?
Bore sighting will save ammo, but it won't resolve an alignment problem -- which is obviously what you have.
The most frequent problem I've encountered is the scope is torqued in the rings when the rings are not trued. - I had steel rods of 1" and 30mm diameter specifically made for this purpose.
If the rings are mounted correctly, then it will be one of 3 things: 1. the holes in the receiver are misaligned, 2. mount could be whacked or otherwise misaligned or malformed or 3. the scope itself could be miscalibrated.
Though rare, I have encountered errors in alignment of the holes in receivers from the factory, flawed scope mounts and/or rings and defective scopes. These problems are more common with the less money spent on the set up, but they can and do occur with even the more expensive setups.
Last year I mounted a VariXIII my friend he'd got back from Leupold after having mildots installed. Same problem. It was only resolved by a trip back to the warranty department for repair.
Limited GM
10-03-2010, 09:06
I had this problem once. I cured it by swapping the rings front to back. Will it work again? Don't know, only needed to once.
Sore shoulder? Is that lace on your t-shirts? [ROFL1]
Byte Stryke
10-03-2010, 09:15
I had this problem once. I cured it by swapping the rings front to back. Will it work again? Don't know, only needed to once.
Sore shoulder? Is that lace on your t-shirts? [ROFL1]
[ROFL1][ROFL1]
Swiped
BPTactical
10-03-2010, 11:02
What type of rifle? Mount? Scope?
Bore sighting will save ammo, but it won't resolve an alignment problem -- which is obviously what you have.
The most frequent problem I've encountered is the scope is torqued in the rings when the rings are not trued. - I had steel rods of 1" and 30mm diameter specifically made for this purpose.
If the rings are mounted correctly, then it will be one of 3 things: 1. the holes in the receiver are misaligned, 2. mount could be whacked or otherwise misaligned or malformed or 3. the scope itself could be miscalibrated.
Though rare, I have encountered errors in alignment of the holes in receivers from the factory, flawed scope mounts and/or rings and defective scopes. These problems are more common with the less money spent on the set up, but they can and do occur with even the more expensive setups.
Last year I mounted a VariXIII my friend he'd got back from Leupold after having mildots installed. Same problem. It was only resolved by a trip back to the warranty department for repair.
This- although generally with modern ring manufacturing and CNC machining they are good out of the box I have seen some out of kilter. I use alignment bars and check the ring alignment before the scope gets mounted but I use a magic marker on the rings and LIGHTLY snug the caps and rotate the bar. Look for indicators of uneven removal of the magic marker. If there is then lap the rings. While the bar is still in place I back away from the rifle and eyeball the overall axial (lengthwise) alignment, you would be surprised what your eye catches when you back away from it.
Make sure that the rings are torqued evenly. Snug them up slowly and make sure that the split is even on both sides of the ring. Uneven clamping can distort the tube.
Is it a separate rail/ring or one piece set up? Swapping rings is a good plan if you can.
Is this a new rifle? An off kilter barrel can drive you crazy as well.
Put a new scope on 1 of me boys 06 yeaterday. Had alot of work to do just to mount it. Drill, shim, torque, bore sight, 1st shot on the paper all remaining shots in a 3" pattern at 100 yards.
Mx'er were you at HP range around 4:00 pm?
thats where we were for all of 45 minutes.
Put a new scope on 1 of me boys 06 yeaterday. Had alot of work to do just to mount it. Drill, shim, torque, bore sight, 1st shot on the paper all remaining shots in a 3" pattern at 100 yards.
Mx'er were you at HP range around 4:00 pm?
thats where we were for all of 45 minutes.
Yep, I was there. Went to the Buffalo Creek open house first and found out that it sucks donkey balls. I'll never go back there. At HP I was the idiot on the end with the uzi's, galil, and a few hunting rifles.
I changed out the rings to a little nicer set. Do you have a bore sight tool for a 300 WM? If so, I'll buy the beer.
Thanks for the info guys. I think changing the rings, and taking my time with it should fix the problem. And yes LimitedGM, I was wearing pink. A person would think that 250lbs of meat wouldnt get slapped around by a 300. But it does.[Beer]
You should try the Burris Signature rings and inserts. They will help you PROPERLY align the scope to the rifle. and not put as much stress on the scope when torquing the rings. I too was at the BCGC open house shooting the EIC match, I had a blast. 600 yard range with pits...what's not to like?
gcrookston:
What do you mean by miscalibrated? I fix scopes for a living and have never "calibrated" a scope. I have checked range of adjustment on elevation and windage, made sure it is within spec, recoil tested and looked for POI change. Or perhaps you mean it wasn't collimated correctly?
You should try the Burris Signature rings and inserts. They will help you PROPERLY align the scope to the rifle. and not put as much stress on the scope when torquing the rings. I too was at the BCGC open house shooting the EIC match, I had a blast. 600 yard range with pits...what's not to like?
I used those on a .06 last year and liked them alot. I was trying to go the cheap route, and .... Guess it wasnt so cheap.
The 30 min drive up a beat ass park county road had me in a bad mood, then the people at the gate finished me off with an attitude. Not very nice for an open house. The range itself was ok but not worth the drive for me.
The guys running the EIC match were awesome. A very good group of people. We even had a BBQ after the match. You should have come up to the Camp Fickes range.
gcrookston
10-03-2010, 21:08
gcrookston:
What do you mean by miscalibrated? I fix scopes for a living and have never "calibrated" a scope. I have checked range of adjustment on elevation and windage, made sure it is within spec, recoil tested and looked for POI change. Or perhaps you mean it wasn't collimated correctly?
I don't know much about repairing scopes (round can if no warranty, post office if under warranty). Collimating I believe refers to the light properties and the focusing within the scope and this can be disrupted when distorting the tube by improper installation because it effects the angles and distances of the lenses from each other.
The Leupold I had specific first hand experience with, that I noted above, had functioned perfectly prior to the installation of the new reticle and target knobs by the factory. The tech used the word "calibration" when referring to an error centering the range of adjustment. I just assumed this had to do with the final adjustments of the L/R U/D.
I feel I have a fair grasp of the physics, features, use and proper installation of optics, but I'll be the first person to admit the internal mechanics should be left to the professionals such as yourself.
Ok, now I understand a little more. They probably set parallax after installing the new reticle. And after a little thought, I realized that the reticle is calibrated if it is a ballistic reticle such as a mil-dot or bdc. The power ring on a variable power scope needs to have a mark of some kind if it calibrates at below the maximum magnification of the scope. This setting is for ranging or to properly calculate bullet drop.
gcrookston
10-04-2010, 17:06
The power ring on a variable power scope needs to have a mark of some kind if it calibrates at below the maximum magnification of the scope. This setting is for ranging or to properly calculate bullet drop..
The Leupold custom shop does mark the magnification ring pretty much the same way Premier used to do it when they were still friends with Leupold. Here is my premier VXIII showing the 'index' marks for magnification for proper distance judging. After getting a laser range finder a few years ago, I quit installing mildots, though I do still rely quite heavily on the dope books I've put together for each of my longer range rifles.
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj19/gcrookston/MVC-103F.jpg
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