I thought I’d update on this seeing as I’m the op.
My 44 sat in the safe for months until I finally decided to try a different red dot on i. I used the one from my pistol a Vortex Razor HD… different gun altogether now, I easily get 2inch groups at 50yds now so I’ve been using it for hunting with good results on pigs and goats at around 50yd
I took the Leupold 1MOA red dot back to the dealer and they sent it to the Aussie Leupold repair shop (whomever that is) and they can’t fix it do it’s gone to usa now. I’m glad to find out it was the scope and not me lol.