How does a rifle lose sight

[rsj223]

Took my Howa .223 out and could not get a shot on paper @100 had to come back to 50 and it shot the edge of the frame, its a nikko stirling that came with the rifle any tips?

[bigfellascott]

Check the mounts are tight or it may well be the scope (have you another one you can try) Also make sure the barrels not touching in the barrel channel and see if the action screws are still tightish (I only do mine up finger tight type thing) others like to give em the Gorilla tightening treatment.

[Apollo]

Took my Howa .223 out and could not get a shot on paper @100 had to come back to 50 and it shot the edge of the frame, its a nikko stirling that came with the rifle any tips?

100m, wow....????????

Sit it on your bench, look through the Bore and centre an A4 Page on a Beer Box at 100m and you should be seeing through the scope about 100mm above centre, fire a shot if it doesn't hit then you are in big trouble.....

[bladeracer]

Took my Howa .223 out and could not get a shot on paper @100 had to come back to 50 and it shot the edge of the frame, its a nikko stirling that came with the rifle any tips?

Has anything changed since the last time you used it?
Did it shoot a nice group or were they spraying everywhere?
Did it zero okay?

If nothing has changed then I could only guess it's been knocked some how.
As long as it zeros okay there's probably not a major problem.

[Supaduke]

Give the rifle/scope a good shake and listen for any rattles in the scope. If that's all good then my first port of call would be to reseat the scope and re-zero. Also check your ring mounts, pic rail etc are all tight and seated correctly. Sounds like all the symptoms of a scope that's moved within its rings or loose bases.

[Barnard]

check the following;
tight action screws (to the stock).
tight scope 'rings' and ring 'bases'.
check that your sand bags/bipod etc are in good order.
clean your barrel and check your barrel crown for any damage.

at 50m try your rifle out on target, using the same ammo as previously.
if it shoots good groups on paper but has shifted its point of impact, then something was loose externally.
if it shoots all over the place sounds like something is loose internally in the scope, or a damaged barrel crown.

[straightshooter]

Assuming that on both occasions your rifle grouped OK then you can largely eliminate the rifle itself as the main source of your problem.
More than likely at some stage you may have bumped the scope in some way and thus changed the point of impact.
So that thus leaves the scope and/or rings and mount as the source of your problem.
Now just to be clear I am not talking about fine tuning issues but gross problems such as described by the original poster.
Picatinny rail systems and turn in mount systems with two piece bases (ie Redfield, Leupold, Burris etc) all have their own issues with robustness especially if not properly attached to your receiver or fitted together.
Some issues can be minimized or eliminated by using a scope with a one piece tube.
Unfortunately just about all the Nikko scopes I have ever looked at have had a screwed together tube with at least one joint.
The Nikko scope combined with the mount system is where I would first be looking.
Now in defence of Nikko and other brand scopes with a multi piece tube, they will work fine and be as robust as any other if they are fitted in mounts where both front and rear rings are fully supported in a one piece base. The best example is our own Hillver (Lynx,Tasco etc) stud base system.

[rsj223]

All screws/bolts tight, Caldwell rock shooting rest, grouped about inch and a half @100 after all the mucking around and thats with some left over Federal ammo, crown looks good to me does look a bit dirty (black).
This rifle came with us on our last trip around 1200klm but was never remover from the car and only used once before at the range and was fine then but had only tried 3 different ammo and all shot about the same.
My son just told me this was the rifle that had a loose scope (my poor memory or to many guns) so maybe it had problems in the past or shooting it loose stuffed it up it was tight when I got it from the gun shop ( I got this rifle used )
So I guess back to the range with another scope see what we can do from there

[heeple]

Pain in the ass to have to do but at least you'll have an answer after trying a new scope.

[rsj223]

I have a spare Nikko Stirling Target Master 4-16 x 44 whats the thoughts on this for a .223 and reliability

[Barnard]

they are what they are,..........unfortunately.
a very cheaply made scope with poor glass, poor design internally and made from cheap materials that don't inspire reliability.
I'm sure the Howa deserves a better optic.

[bigfellascott]

I have a spare Nikko Stirling Target Master 4-16 x 44 whats the thoughts on this for a .223 and reliability

I'd give it a run and see if that sorts the issue (probably will) not the world best scope but would soon show if the scope is the issue.

[rsj223]

I have a spare Nikko Stirling Target Master 4-16 x 44 whats the thoughts on this for a .223 and reliability

I'd give it a run and see if that sorts the issue (probably will) not the world best scope but would soon show if the scope is the issue.

It seems much heavier and better built than the one on the .223 might go get a Vortex Crossfire they seem ok

[bigfellascott]

I have a spare Nikko Stirling Target Master 4-16 x 44 whats the thoughts on this for a .223 and reliability

I'd give it a run and see if that sorts the issue (probably will) not the world best scope but would soon show if the scope is the issue.

It seems much heavier and better built than the one on the .223 might go get a Vortex Crossfire they seem ok

Not sure that's much of an improvement mate, maybe a little higher up the Vortex Ladder might be better.

[straightshooter]

rsj223
My son just told me this was the rifle that had a loose scope (my poor memory or to many guns) so maybe it had problems in the past or shooting it loose stuffed it up it was tight when I got it from the gun shop ( I got this rifle used )
I have a little trouble working out what you mean. Are you trying to say that the scope was loose in the rings?
In any case don't condemn the scope without a careful examination of the mount first.
What kind of mount and rings by the way?


Barnard
...unfortunately.
a very cheaply made scope with poor glass, poor design internally and made from cheap materials that don't inspire reliability.
Your statement is applicable to just about all lower priced rebadged scopes.
Your treasured $300 or $400 scope probably left the factory in China costing $30 or $40 and if it has fancy packaging then that probably cost more than the scope itself.
You are far better off buying a long term brand name cheapie from the likes of Leupold, Nikon, Zeiss etc. than from a lesser brand. At least they have a long term reputation to uphold.
Does anybody remember Barska?
Better still consider second hand high quality scopes. Unlike a lot of the modern throw away Chinese cheapies they are repairable and are worth repairing.

[rsj223]

Hmm first I'll see if swapping fixes it and keeps on target my only problem is budget would only get around 350 mark but got a few things to try before that.

[Wylie27]

Get yourself a bushel ar 223 scope for 270ish. 3-12x40 or 4-18x40.

Good scopes!

[bladeracer]

Get yourself a bushel ar 223 scope for 270ish. 3-12x40 or 4-18x40.

Good scopes!

Another vote for the AR Optics from me.
I have six of the 4.5-18x40's now - haven't been able to fault them at all.