Locking scope turrets are a thing, but locking bolt handles aren't?

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MCMXI

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Good grief, if there was ever a useless feature on a scope it's a locking turret. I have that feature on a couple of Vortex Razor HD Gen 2 scopes but it's fluff and nothing else. They're great scopes but I could care less about a "feature" that has no real-world benefit. I've dragged scoped rifles all over hell's creation hunting and hiking and never turned a turret accidentally. It seems ludicrous to me that people are still buying bolt action rifles without locking bolt handles but seem to want locking turrets. I must be getting old.
 
I've never had turrets move, tho I've only used a few with exposed turrets when deer hunting. More small game and varmint. I even fell on a swfa ss10 one day, gun was on my back and I was going down a very steep hill (over 45°) with snow and a thin layer of sleet under. I fell and the two turrets were ground into the frozen ground for 10 feet of so.

the marks had to be over a inch deep, I was sure my scope was done for when taking it off my back. After rubbing off the frozen dirt and grass I was surprised no damage more so my turrets didn't move. Those super snipers are real tanks.

Ill admit it was my fault, after selling the hill and how bad it was and side the deer wanted to slide down by its self. It only seemed like a good idea at the time to use said deer as a sled. PS. Don't do this, it's worse then going down the 10 landing stairs at your school lol.

a locking bolt is a must or me.
 
I'm the exact opposite, I REALLY don't like non-locking exposed turrets on scopes, as I have had them rotate and missed a shot wide because I didn't check.... What really annoyed me about it was they WERE locking turrets, or well, disengaging turrets. Up to disengage down to engage...so if you DID pop them down and spin them, you didn't know where you started...freaking Nikon with halfassed good ideas.
On the flip side I've had my bolt pop open maybe twice or so, but never cause me an issue.

Still Id PREFER to have both........
 
@LoonWulf, how did the turret rotate or had you adjusted it and not set it back to zero? I guess this is proof of the adage different strokes for different folks. I have Nightforce (2), Premier Reticles (2), Vortex (5), and Leupold (3) with exposed turrets but none of them will turn so easily such that they would move unintentionally, even if rubbing on my back while being carried with a sling. I guess if the turrets are very easy to turn they could get bumped but that hasn't been my experience. Having a bolt open unintentionally would really annoy me. I carry rifles with a round in the chamber when hunting so an open bolt would eject a round for sure. Maybe I notice it, maybe I don't.

The biggest turret error I see regularly is shooters not returning the turret to zero after a shot. I know of some friends that have missed game for that very reason, along with the magnification being too high and even the parallax/focus being set for the wrong range. I bet a lot of hunters that dial have missed animals by forgetting to dial to the proper setting.
 
@LoonWulf, how did the turret rotate or had you adjusted it and not set it back to zero? I guess this is proof of the adage different strokes for different folks. I have Nightforce (2), Premier Reticles (2), Vortex (5), and Leupold (3) with exposed turrets but none of them will turn so easily such that they would move unintentionally, even if rubbing on my back while being carried with a sling. I guess if the turrets are very easy to turn they could get bumped but that hasn't been my experience. Having a bolt open unintentionally would really annoy me. I carry rifles with a round in the chamber when hunting so an open bolt would eject a round for sure. Maybe I notice it, maybe I don't.

The biggest turret error I see regularly is shooters not returning the turret to zero after a shot. I know of some friends that have missed game for that very reason, along with the magnification being too high and even the parallax/focus being set for the wrong range. I bet a lot of hunters that dial have missed animals by forgetting to dial to the proper setting.

Probably squeezed it between my body and my arm trying to catch my balance with the rifle slung....then once the turret was down, rubbing it with my arm would turn it.
I missed a head shot wide at about 75yds, fired again and hit almost exactly the same place, held for the difference and hit with the third round. If it had been on a bolt gun I doubt id have gotten that goat.
I had it happen a couple of other times, but after the first one I TRIED to remember to checking that the turrets weren't engaged before shooting. If they were I didnt shoot because I could never tell if the turret had rotated.
I also missed at least one shot that I blamed on the scope being "off" for some reason, a bump, riding around in the back of the truck etc....... but thinking about it now its very possible it was the turret getting moved and I didnt catch it.

The scope in question was a Nikon M-223 1-4x20, which besides the turret "feature" was a fantastic scope for the money.
 
A friend of mine related shooting over a really nice sheep after one of our long-range plinking sessions because he forgot to turn down his scope to zero. I harassed him about that because I was using a BDC reticle then and hold overs so it wasn't an "issue" for me.....I promptly missed a shot by using the wrong aiming point on our next trip out.
 
I have had a turret move, I have accidentally turned one. I want covered turrets for everything but a target gun, and I like a locking turret for PRS, but it isn’t a deal breaker, we’re supposed to (should) double check them often.
 
I had a S&B pm2 5-25x windage knob rotate on me at the rifles only (bash?) match in south Texas the year before prs started. It happened as I was crawling through a culvert on my way to the mousetrap barricade. Had to shoot on a paper target at about 70 yards. One round from several different positions. I basically zeroed the stage despite printing a 1” group about an inch left of the target. I was pretty pissed after driving 23 hours and paying quite a high entry fee.

I think the vortex razor gen2 turrets are excellent design and implementation. However given a choice I will actually cover the windage knob like my NF

I’m less concerned about locking elevation cause I change it so often and am in the habit of checking it. But I am not in the habit of checking wind because I always hold wind. I actually don’t even zero my windage knob. I just dial it on and cover it cause I’m lazy.
 
This is interesting. My NF ATACR has a capped windage turret but that's the only one that has that feature. Didn't Bushnell have locking turrets 10 to 12 years ago?

So clearly there seems to be an advantage to locking or capped turrets, windage at least.
 
my USO SN3-TPAL 5-25 also has capped windage but exposed erek knob for elevation.

i'll also add that probably 90% of the instances i have heard of involve someone with a suboptimal personality being antagonized by others at a match. i.e. someone walking down a line of rifles at a match and purposely spinning a knob. i suspect covered windage makes that more trouble than it's worth (and half of those were iron sights on service rifle at CMP/NRA HP matches; not unique to scopes)
 
i leave bolt open as my "safety". as a lefty, i have a few rifles with no safety. and running matches, "bolt open" in PRS is like "slide down hammer down holster" in USPSA/IDPA.

i really wouldn't ever lock a bolt down, even walking around in a field or hunting, but that's just me
 
i really wouldn't ever lock a bolt down, even walking around in a field or hunting, but that's just me
I like to have locking bolts because when im hunting alone I do leave a round chambered, and as often as not im being a lot more sneaky....well as sneaky as a chubby guy on lava rocks can be.....

When im hunting with a other people tho, I dont leave a round in the gun as falling isnt a possibility, its an guarantee. As safe as guns are.....i still prefer to not risk it.

The other issue isnt a round popping out, its a handle getting lifted just enough to slow the striker and not be noticeable to the user. Again if your chambering and firing not an issue, but during carry I think thats probably even more common than popping it all the way open.
 
I like locking windage, don’t care about locking elevation. Don’t really like locking bolts, but HATE a locking bolt on a 2 position safety - and don’t really like most 3 position safeties... so I suppose I dislike rifles which lock the bolt.
 
Last NRL22 match one of the better shooters nearly zeroed a stage due to exposed turrets getting turned accidentally got about 2/3 of the way through the stage before he figured out why he was missing. I have two scopes with exposed turrets and I wish they had locks, I would use them. Knowing my luck the one time I forget to double check my adjustments will be the time they got moved accidentally.
 
Good grief, if there was ever a useless feature on a scope it's a locking turret. I have that feature on a couple of Vortex Razor HD Gen 2 scopes but it's fluff and nothing else. They're great scopes but I could care less about a "feature" that has no real-world benefit. I've dragged scoped rifles all over hell's creation hunting and hiking and never turned a turret accidentally. It seems ludicrous to me that people are still buying bolt action rifles without locking bolt handles but seem to want locking turrets. I must be getting old.
It's one thing that drives me nuts too. My RAR is often jostled around in the woods and the bolt handle comes up way too easily imo. I pretty much like the rifle, I feels like what it is, a well made entry level rifle, with room for improvement. People often praise them for outstanding accuracy for their price but that bolt handle thing drives me a lil nuts.
 
It's one thing that drives me nuts too. My RAR is often jostled around in the woods and the bolt handle comes up way too easily imo. I pretty much like the rifle, I feels like what it is, a well made entry level rifle, with room for improvement. People often praise them for outstanding accuracy for their price but that bolt handle thing drives me a lil nuts.
The one time Ive seen bolt handle actually cause a missed shot, it was a buddy with my RA Go wild.
We all heard a click and just stared at the gun.....so did the doe he was aiming at.
 
I wonder if there's a reasonable solution for those of us that have turrets without a locking feature. It seems that turrets do move accidentally but I've been lucky thus far. I guess electrical tape on the windage turret could work and just hold for wind. Sound reasonable?

Thanks everyone for educating me on this topic.
 
I wonder if there's a reasonable solution for those of us that have turrets without a locking feature. It seems that turrets do move accidentally but I've been lucky thus far. I guess electrical tape on the windage turret could work and just hold for wind. Sound reasonable?

Thanks everyone for educating me on this topic.
I considered drilling a tapping a hole thru the knob on my Nikon, then using a thumb screw to keep it from engaging unless the screw was losened.....but i didnt trust myself not to bust it.
Ive got two Meopros with turrets coming in, and im going to have to figgure something out, electrical tape sounds less risky than some of the options ive considered. Kenton offers turrets that seemed like they had a lock option, but again I dont know/didnt look too hard yet.
 
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