Scope won’t track?

junk i have worked some this year in a gun shop doing bluing and repairs on guns. i do mot of the other things to, but i have seen 3 simmon bad out of the box. the 2 i have owed in the past had what u are having now, sorry or your luck. is it new maybe exchange it.

Keep it as a reminder not to buy cheap scopes. I have several that serve that purpose.

ohihunter2014 said:

Not new so no returning. I paid $30 for it new Black Friday 2016. Had it on a 44 carbine then replaced it with a Nikon. Scopes been sitting in a box since 2016. I figured see if there was any helping it but guess not.

Click to expand...

call simmons maybe they will help.

If you have a Redfield-type base, you can adjust the windage with the base.

ohihunter2014 said:

Not new so no returning. I paid $30 for it new Black Friday 2016. Had it on a 44 carbine then replaced it with a Nikon. Scopes been sitting in a box since 2016. I figured see if there was any helping it but guess not.

Click to expand...

The 8points we're the lowest of Simmons line of scopes.
They did come on savage package guns for a while, and usually lasted long enough to get pulled off, but I certainly avoid them.

There are good deals in the low cost scope market, but Imo there are only a couple models of current Simmons production I believe are worth buying.

ohihunter2014 said:

Not new so no returning. I paid $30 for it new Black Friday 2016. Had it on a 44 carbine then replaced it with a Nikon. Scopes been sitting in a box since 2016. I figured see if there was any helping it but guess not.

Click to expand...

may i recommend a peep sight on that 44 of yours, makes it fun to shot and handle better

No offense, but I pay more than 30 dollars tax, when I buy a scope. We've (most of us) all
suffered through the agony of buying cheap optics, at first. After a while, you decide that your
time, and the prospect of taking that trophy buck are both worth more than what you save on cheap glass.

Give it to your kids to play with.

carpboy said:

Give it to your kids to play with.

Click to expand...

That's a great idea, let them learn early, for themselves, about cheap optics.

Sometimes 30 bucks a fine amount of money to spend on a scope, sometimes it's not (usually it's not).
I took the 8 point off my Savage .243 and replaced it with a 1st gen Nikon prostaff (not an expensive scope), the 8 point lived on my 597 till I sold both and it did fine. While I wouldn't buy one, the one I had was a useable cheap optic that did it's job.
Outside of my experience, I've heard mostly of failures in a year or three.

I've got an "inexpensive" scope, a Burris FF2 on my .375 Ruger, and an old korean made Simmons 2-7x32 on my 6lb inline, that I run with a 120gr equivalent charge of 777, and 300gr bullets. They have both held up fine to pretty brutal recoil.

I've had excellent results with the Bushnell trophy scopes, and they are the "cheapest" new scopes, I usually recommend these days.

I did do a rather brief torture test of a 19 dollar scope I got off Amazon last month, that was fun and it survived.

I guess what I mean to say is spend what you want on optics, but do your research, especially when buying low cost.

Call Bushnell, they’ll send you to their Simmons return/repair webpage and start a ticket for you. Send it it. Most likely they will replace it, warranty or not. Bushnell replaced a crappy $50 Simmons Blazer spotting scope I had fail on me, which was 8yrs or so old - purchased before they had bought Simmons if I recall, and out of warranty - and OBVIOUSLY damaged by the user. They replaced it, no questions asked, in a couple days (sent on a Sat and the replacement was back before I returned from my business trip).

I’d echo the sentiments about the discontinued Bushnell Trophy’s. I’ll also say, the Simmons ProHunter series of scopes were/are better than the Bushnell Trophy’s. Not all Simmons are cheap/indurable. The lowest end Simmons should still hold up, and Bushnell does expect them to, so they back them up if they don’t.

Apart from severe backlash leading to an extended zeroing session, I’ve had 3 Simmons .22 scopes that have survived more than 4 years on kids’ rimfires. They don’t see any abuse or heavy recoil and all are fixed power.
When I replaced 1 with an old Japanese Tasco my dad found it and had me mount it on his 10/22 squirrel rifle. Worked fine this season.

I still buy cheap scopes almost exclusively, though my definition may differ from others’. I consider $100-$400 cheap, which in terms of optics is a fair assessment. I also feel my needs are adequately met without spending a fortune. In a recent thread on ring lapping I believe Varminterror summed things up succinctly, and I’m paraphrasing, when he said most people don’t place high demands on their equipment. Furthermore, my geography places no undue demands on my equipment so cheap has worked within those narrow confines.

I’ll echo the sentiments of others that paying more in most cases is worth the small investment. In the case of my $18 on sale Simmons scopes I’ve gotten more than I paid for.

That’s the first test on any scope I get before I install it. Mount it to rings in a vise and aim it at a known point. Move the crosshair up, over, down and back over (obviously all done the same amount). If the crosshair is not back at the same point you started at, put it back in the box.

jmorris said:

That’s the first test on any scope I get before I install it. Mount it to rings in a vise and aim it at a known point. Move the crosshair up, over, down and back over (obviously all done the same amount). If the crosshair is not back at the same point you started at, put it back in the box.

Click to expand...

Very good idea and something I often neglect to do.
It will also show the real value of a click, it isn't always 1/4 inch @ 100.

Scopes are one thing that are difficult to budget. Tracking is not easy for a scope. Even some Khales have issues tracking. My Steiner T5xi had a recall due to tracking issues and that is a $1700 scope. (Lifetime warranty though)

That said, you can get a lot of use out of a cheap scope within its limits.

If your really on a budget ,go bushnell banner

ohihunter2014 said:

Junk it or is there a trick/fix?

Click to expand...

Junk. Sorry, but you can't spend $30 on an optic and expect it to be any good. Just the way it is. It's just a toy. Maybe give it to a kid to mount on their airsoft gun. (Assuming they don't care about accuracy )

godale said:

If your really on a budget ,go bushnell banner

Click to expand...

If you're REALLY on a budget, consider if you want to piss away 100$, and a couple hours, on re-zeroing that cheap scope every so often, or if you want to pony up the dough that's going to keep you and your zero holding scope off the target range, and in the field, hunting.

Cheap scopes are the most expensive type of false economy.

bearcreek said:

Junk. Sorry, but you can't spend $30 on an optic and expect it to be any good. Just the way it is. It's just a toy. Maybe give it to a kid to mount on their airsoft gun. (Assuming they don't care about accuracy )

Click to expand...

Dibbs said:

If you're REALLY on a budget, consider if you want to piss away 100$, and a couple hours, on re-zeroing that cheap scope every so often, or if you want to pony up the dough that's going to keep you and your zero holding scope off the target range, and in the field, hunting.

Cheap scopes are the most expensive type of false economy.

Click to expand...

As VT points out Bushnell's will Warranty even their cheapest scopes. As he also pointed out that suggests they expect them to at least USUALLY survive.

My personal experience has been that if it didn't come out of the box busted, the cheap scopes I've used will usually retain zero once set, tho that might take some work.
Case in point I had a Bushnell 3-9x40 banner that survived burning out a barrel on my 1st 7mm, a few hundred rounds on the .300 replacement barrel, and lives on with a friend and his .270

I do more research on the lower end scopes I buy, but again MY personal experience has been good....except with BSA, and I know at least one poster here likes them.

Well, maybe your luck with cheap scopes will hold. I hope it does. But know this,
all of the guys getting the more expensive scopes aren't doing it because they want to look trendy
at the hunt club, or have extra money to throw around. They spend the money for the same reason
I do- they gambled with cheap optics, and that moment of truth came, and when the smoke cleared,
they were looking at their would-be trophy disappearing into the trees, because their scope tanked the shot.

Nothing wrong with using more expensive optics, guns, or any thing else actually. Like I've said before, the only time ive had an issue hunting was when I fell on my Nikon and smashed the tube.
Perhaps I'm lucky, but almost everyone I know has had more optics issues than I have. My buddy has sworn of Vortex because 2 vipers in a row failed on him, and I've sent 2 leupolds back for another friend, one stopped tracking the other was dropped hard enough to dent the objective and chip the lenses.
That isn't to say that I think any of those are poor scopes, but crap happens no mater what brand, cost you own. The more you spend theoretically the less likely a failure is, but they still happen.
Honestly I now mostly use scopes in the 200-400msrp dollar range, and I lust after a bunch of the 800-1500 (and more) scopes ive used on other peoples guns.
Anything over 200 from a major, and I expect it to hold zero and track well enough to be easy to sight, as well as having about the best glass I can actually use in my applications. Again, I love nicer scopes, but what I buy does what it needs to (and I do a bunch of research before buying).

A case in point. I bought 2 used intensity 3.8-12x44s for 35 and 50 bucks a pop, I researched them for a while before purchasing, and they are great scopes for that cost....and a bit more.

Dibbs said:

If you're REALLY on a budget, consider if you want to piss away 100$, and a couple hours, on re-zeroing that cheap scope every so often, or if you want to pony up the dough that's going to keep you and your zero holding scope off the target range, and in the field, hunting.

Click to expand...

At age 20 I purchased a Bushnell scope, 4x32AO for under $50. I replaced that scope about 3 years ago. That’s roughly $2.10/year and it never missed a beat those 20+ years. When it finally went I replaced it with a nicer scope.

Skylerbone said:

At age 20 I purchased a Bushnell scope, 4x32AO for under $50. I replaced that scope about 3 years ago. That’s roughly $2.10/year and it never missed a beat those 20+ years. When it finally went I replaced it with a nicer scope.

Click to expand...

How often and for what was that scope used? I often see people on forums talk about the durability of a product and mention the amount of time that they've owned it. No offense, and this may not apply to you, but that's really irrelevant. I've used an individual optic more and harder in a single weekend than some of my friends have used theirs in 10 years.