Newtosavage
Member
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2015
- Messages
- 2,918
I've been working up loads for my new-to-me Howa Mini in 6.5 Grendel. Looking forward to my 2nd trip to the range, I wasted no time once I got home from work and grabbed my rifle and range bag to head out. I had picked up a box of Hornady factory ammo, just to see how it compared to my hand loads.
I fire the first two shots at 200 yards (I had sighted in two days prior during my initial load testing) and couldn't see any holes in two 8.5x11 sheets of paper. So I pulled the bolt and bore sighted only to discover my crosshairs were way left of the target. I was perplexed. I had never had a Leupold scope move on me like that! So I bore sighted at 25, got on the bull in two shots and went back to 200. First three shots were a nice little 1.5" group with the factory ammo. All seemed well but then I had that sinking feeling of "what just happened to my scope?"
I let the barrel cool while I thought about it, and then fired two 3-shot groups with my hand loads, only to see them walk down the paper until they missed. Now I really knew something was going on with my scope.
A gentleman who was there saw I was frustrated and asked what the issue was. I told him and the first thing he said was "you might want to check your bases and rings, I've never had a Leupold scope move on me..." Of course, I replied that I always mount my bases and rings with great care, specifically to avoid an issue like this.
So I left the range shaking my head - which many of you know is not a good feeling, and very frustrating.
Once I got home, I looked things over and like the fella suggested, checked my bases and rings. Sure enough, I had forgotten to tighten the rings to the bases. They were only finger tight.
Just goes to show that no matter how much experience you have, you can still screw up. In a way, I was happy to discover that, as that particular scope has been very good to me over the years.
Anyway, I just thought I'd share - as a reminder.
I fire the first two shots at 200 yards (I had sighted in two days prior during my initial load testing) and couldn't see any holes in two 8.5x11 sheets of paper. So I pulled the bolt and bore sighted only to discover my crosshairs were way left of the target. I was perplexed. I had never had a Leupold scope move on me like that! So I bore sighted at 25, got on the bull in two shots and went back to 200. First three shots were a nice little 1.5" group with the factory ammo. All seemed well but then I had that sinking feeling of "what just happened to my scope?"
I let the barrel cool while I thought about it, and then fired two 3-shot groups with my hand loads, only to see them walk down the paper until they missed. Now I really knew something was going on with my scope.
A gentleman who was there saw I was frustrated and asked what the issue was. I told him and the first thing he said was "you might want to check your bases and rings, I've never had a Leupold scope move on me..." Of course, I replied that I always mount my bases and rings with great care, specifically to avoid an issue like this.
So I left the range shaking my head - which many of you know is not a good feeling, and very frustrating.
Once I got home, I looked things over and like the fella suggested, checked my bases and rings. Sure enough, I had forgotten to tighten the rings to the bases. They were only finger tight.
Just goes to show that no matter how much experience you have, you can still screw up. In a way, I was happy to discover that, as that particular scope has been very good to me over the years.
Anyway, I just thought I'd share - as a reminder.