Maximum Scope Adjustment Problem (kind of long)

[biblefreak]

I took my new Savage Mdl 10 .243 down to Academy Sunday to have my scope bore-sighted. I didn't look very closely at the mount until I was at the range yesterday. First two shots high and right, but touching! Feeling pretty good about the situation so I went to adjust the scope, and this is where the trouble began.
First, the toe on the base of the rings was not in the slot on the mount, rather the clamps were tightened down onto the angled edge of the base. Second, the windage and elevation adjustments were maxed out, literally you could not have gone up or left any, and it was not just at the edge of adjustment, it was tight!! Took the rifle back to Academy and made sure I had somebody who knew what they were doing fix it. They put new bases, aligned the scope and bore sighted.
Back at the range finally, shoots appx. 2.5" left and appx 1" low. Move the elevation up 8 clicks and its on. moved the windage 20 clicks right and it is still appx. 1" right. I ran out of daylight and ammo so I dont know what adjustment is left, but does this seem normal? Did the first Academy yahoo mess up my scope?

 

[jmr40]

Possibly. What kind of scope? If it is also possible you got a bad scope. Either way I would take it back. Mount it yourself next time. That way you will know it is right. Bore sighting yourself by looking through the barrel will be more accurate anyway.

 

[dakotasin]

it sounds about right, but no way of knowing without shooting it, really. depends how many clicks they re-adjusted it out.

the first guy didn't do anything good for your scope and it was pretty poor business practice to not point out something was wrong - he had to know. but i doubt there was any damage done to the scope.

concur w/ jmr about mounting it yourself. i don't let anybody mount scopes for me - don't trust 'em, and if i do it myself i find these issues before i get to the range and get a nasty surprise.

 

[biblefreak]

Scope is a Burris Timberline that I have owned for sometime now, bought it to put on a Remmy Mdl 5 last year. I most certainly will mount it myself next time. It seemed a matter of conveniance to have them do it since I was buying rings (Millet medium windage adjustable) from them and I figured they have the proper tools. The second guy knew what he was doing as I stood there and watched! He adjusted the scope back to somewhere in the middle of the adjustment range and used some 1" pieces of metal stock tapered to a point to verify alignment between the rings, then put some kind of optic at the end of the barrel to adjust the scope.
I will try to get back to the range this week/weekend and see what happens.

 

[Art Eatman]

You likely already know, but: Adjust the vertical and horizontal movement all the way to the limit of travel. Go back the full limit of travel, counting clicks or dial-increments. Then return half the number of clicks. That centers the crosshairs. Make sure you write down the total number of clicks for the travel.

Since you have a windage adjustable setup, use that to get the vertical crosshair fairly well centered by bore sighting. Finish bore sighting and then shoot at 25 yards for a zero. Write down the number of clicks of adjustment needed. Then go to 100 yards. Again, write down the number of clicks. That tells you how far from center you are, should you ever have to start from scratch once again.

I sight my .243 for two inches high at 100 yards. Zeroed a bit beyond 200 yards. That setup works well for shots to 300 yards.