Why Is It So??

[Rifle realist]

I have to agree with happyhunter, huge difference in performance & quality between VX1 & VX111 I have both. The VXI does not have the same precision in the adjustments there is no audible or tactile click when adjusting, unlike the VXIII they are positive as you adjust enabling counting.not to say the VXI is a bad scope, just a bit cheaper and you get what you pay for. I run VXIII on my center fires & VXI on my rimfires, I am happy with the way they perform.

[Oldbloke]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7nX-yMr0__Q

Ha Ha like most, parts are made in china

[Strikey]

Last week I zeroed my scope and it was shooting within 1/2 inch of the red dot in the center of the bulls eye at 100 m. At 200 m was 3.5 inch low as per the ballistic table for the Federal ammunition. Rifle was transported home cleaned and stored. No bumps or falls.

Today I fired 3 shots at 100 m same ammo all shots were 3 inches high at 100 m and 6 shots 5.5 inches high at 200 m.

The scope is a Leupold VX1 recently serviced. Any suggestions as to what might cause this change?

I have never used scopes in my shooting life prior to renewing my licence and taking up shooting again. I am at a loss to explain this.

Whats happened here is the erector tube in the scope has moved to where the turrets have been dialled, if the spring inside is a bit weak or the internals of the scope are a bit sticky then after a period of time everything will move to where the turrets are adjusted ( which may not be where you want the rifle sighted to ), if this makes sense, an old Bushnell scope of mine, if it has been sitting for any length of time I need to wind the turrets in and out before it will track reliably. I have several Leupolds, Sightrons, Nightforce scopes and after many years shooting various competitions I have learnt to always wind the turrets past where you want them and come back, the adjustments are much more precise and reduces the effect of any backlash in the turrets/erector tube assembly

[Wm.Traynor]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7nX-yMr0__Q

Ha Ha like most, parts are made in china

I like the comment by rusty nuts.

[p3seven]

Thanks all. This topic has opened a can of worms as to personal preferences and experiences,etc. I will pay attention to the movement of the recticule when adjusting and make sure it is settled and repeatable before I lock it down.

When I returned to shooting it was a decision to help with feral control on the rural properties I tend to be invited to farm sit. I can't walk far anymore so I tend to set up a hide and lurk by a track or waterhole. Ranges between 50 and 200 m, 243 W was caliber of choice.

The scope choice was for something that would be within my budget and do the job at the ranges chosen. 3-9 x 40 seemed suitable and, had settled on a new NikoStirling when I noticed a second hand Leupold on this forum for more money but offering better clarity and quality. I will persevere. Once it is right I will not touch the turrents and just lead or lift to adjust for the distances to the target animal and their movement.

[happyhunter]

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[bigfellascott]

Got M8 Leupold that's around 30+ year old that's still going fine, same with a cheap and nasty Jap Tasco's they've never let me down despite the cheap pricetag, I do also have a readfield or two and they work fine (not my favorite scope by a long shot) glass turrets aren't as good as my Nikons and cost twice as much.

My mate who owns all high end equipment has used my cheap scope (Nikon) and wondered where the $$$ really was between them - he was amazed at how good the Nikon was in comparison to his Swaro we were using the same night.

Infact the cheap little Nikon/Howso outfit well and truly outshot the Swaro/Sako outfit that night not the first time that cheap scope has been compared to the more expensive euro scopes either with all amazed at how good it goes for the $$ they go for.

Oh yeah it comes with a lifetime warranty too (obviously a bad sign I guess of impending failure) so does the the 30+yr old Tasco (I wonder when it will finally give up the ghost?) I wonder if I got value for money or not when purchasing that little jap tasco all those years ago for around $20 I feel I've blown my money

[happyhunter]

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[bigfellascott]

Did I mention anything about Chinese Rubbish? Nope. Just the fact that the Jap Tascos were a cheap scope compared to others of the day and the cheap one's still going as strong as the day it was bought.

I hate buying anything that''s made in China, usually that means it will fail sooner than later no matter the brand name on it. I refuse to buy Sony products anymore because they are made in China now and it is rubbish compared to the Jap made Sony products of old which lasted years and years and never gave trouble unlike the TV, Laptop and Vid camera that are all Chink made and have crapped out after a year or so.

I know of a pro shooter who only buys the cheap chinese scopes (Tasco) because they have a full lifetime warranty, he runs a few at a time and when one fails he puts a new one on and sends the other one back and they send him a new one

If I had to buy in the cheap end of the market I would only buy the Nikons now, they are way better than the Redfields I own (clarity is way better and the turrets s**t all over the Redfields by a long margin) the redfields are mushy and the clarity is very poor in comparison to the Nikon which I have found to be slightly better than my Zeiss Conquest which cost 6x as much! Go figure.

My way of looking at scopes is if you want to turn the dials all the time and shoot things at long long ranges, buy something quality it will handle it better, if you're a set and forget type person who only hunts at average ranges, some of the cheaper ones will do fine for the most part, especially if they have good clarity and work well under the light.

[Gwion]

I'm also lead to believe that if your scope is mounted such that, if by zeroing, the elevation or windage have been adjusted out to ward the extremities of the capacity, the issue of backlash and unreliable settings is exacerbated. Some thing to check; how far is your zero from the scopes mechanical or true zero?

Ideally, to zero the scope, you should only need a few MOA (at most) from the scopes mech.zero (center of it's adjustment range).

[Chronos]

Something some of you may not have heard of it to "run in" a new scope by dialling both her elevation and windage turrets through their full adjustment range a few times when you first mount them. It's supposed to help get rid of the excess assembly grease and stop this "lag" some sense to get.

I was told about this technique by a silhouette shooter after I mentioned to him that my new scope seemed to always take more adjustment than I calculated then ended up going past the point of aim and requiring a correction in the opposite direction

Since then I always wind a new scope back and forth a few times before mechanically cantering it ready for sighting in.

Chronos

[bigfellascott]

I don't even run in my rifles and now we're supposed to run in our scopes! Any scientific/solid evidence to back it up Steve or is it just some blokes theory?

[Strikey]

Not just some blokes theory, Bigfella, ask any F-class, Silhouette, Field Rifle shooter or an air rifle Field Target shooter that are at the top level of their game, these disciplines require accurate repeatable turret adjustments so they have a zero at every yardage, you need to trust your scope. I have had early model Tasco's fail, a Simmons Gold Medal varmint which are no longer available wear out its turrets and does not hold zero, recently sent back a Leupold that had done a lot of work and have seen many scopes fail during comps. I would not call it running in as such but it does pay to wind the elevation/windage turrets to their extremes, ensures everything is operating as intended, then centre them before sighting in and as I stated earlier when adjusting wind the turrets past where you want and wind back whether that be left/right or up/down

Adding to the argument about cheap scopes, I recently had to retire my 30yr old Nikko 6x40, when my 12yr old son reckons it was getting a bit blurry ( his eyes are way better than mine ) I knew it was time to let it go, bugger, but I do have another Nikko that I will not be replacing any time soon, I don't really care where the glass in it is made, it is doing the job required very well on a hunting rifle

[bigfellascott]

Yep as I said if ya fiddling with turrets all the time buy something that is up to it, if not the cheaper stuff will do fine for the average hunting situation.

I hope my Tasco's never die, the things never shift point of aim (one I haven't adjusted for nearly 20yrs or more) and only time I did adjust it was when I changed ammo brands and it needed a little tweak to get back on POA.

[happyhunter]

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[Strikey]

I think we all know you don't like anything made in China, Happyhunter, so lets give it a rest, hey, none of this is helping the OP who probably doesn't really care where parts of his scope are made, he just wants a helping hand with sighting in his scope

[nords]

Could there be a lag in the movement of the recticule after adjustment? My last adjustment was right and up. The recticule may stick then move some time after the after the adjustment is made.

Possibly by a click or so, going from zero to 3" high at 100m though would be 12, if the internals were so sloppy that things were jumping around by a dozen clicks at a time you'd notice/feel it easily on examination and shooting I'd say.

My 2c, I'd check everything from the ground up, even if something appears tight, loosen and re-tighten it, in case it's stuck on the thread or a piece of debris is stopping it from going all the way.

Start at the action, then bases, then rings.

[p3seven]

50 & 100 m 16_2_16 2.jpg (25.97 KiB) Viewed 3506 times

To hopefully finish the story. After checking everything to do with screws and mounts and rails and actions I went over everything with the torque screwdriver and equaled everything out so to speak. Nothing was really out of spec. Off to the range.

Last Friday the scope was high 3" and right an inch. Yesterday I clicked down 16 and up 4 (1/4 moa per click) then left 8 and right 4. Gave the turrents a tap and started work. 5 shots at target 50 m and I moved up 2 clicks tapped the turrent, following my new adjustment routine. Put the rifle aside for an hour.

Came back and set up a new target 50 m The results are the white patches. Put the black dot on 1.6 inches above the aim point (the black diamond) and moved to 100 m. The results above are the pleasing to me in that anything I aimed at would be dead and according to the ballistics I should be on the black diamond at 200 m. It was too hot in Brisbane to walk out to 200 m and back 4 times yesterday.

I will give everything a rest for a week and test again. Thanks all. I am I hopefully getting closer to being able to shoot and kill my target pests (with repeatibility) anything between 50 and 200 m with no real adjustment to my aim point.

[happyhunter]

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[Gwion]

Good news, P3seven. Happy days!

[MalleeFarmer]

I don't know if this is correct but was there a temerature difference on the 2 days you shot? Some ammo shoots differently depending on the temperature just something to think about. If mounts rings action screws and scope check out

[cooker]

I like that chinese dating show

Or their endurance shows where people run impossible challenges and get messed up lol