How often do you adjust scope

Berserker said:

I was curios how much travel effected. One rifle 3/4 other 1.5. Probably me then.

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I have not noticed any changes in my 308, anywhere between Mexico and on up into Canada. But there are 6 clicks difference in the 100 yard zero with my heavy barrel 223 from a very humid Summer in Arkansas (220 ft elevation) to Summer in the Texas panhandle (3700 ft elevation) and much lower humidity. An inch and a half doesn't sound like much but Prairie Dogs are not very big. The hardest thing is to remember to take those 6 clicks out once I get back home!

I do check zero pre-season, try to hit as close to field temperatures as possible, and I've also confirmed POI in severe cold and have a click or 2 of dope depending on how severe the cold. This is for my primary hunting rifle. Only once have I had to adjust zero due to a significant shift other than the 1 or 2 clicks for severe cold, and that was after a full disassembly of rifle for a thorough cleaning some years ago. The last few years I've been working up some different bullets to use them up and see how they do on deer. I've also had some changes in expected range of contact in my hunts, so some zero changes there.

My wife's .308 Savage is ridiculous. We haven't touched the dials since we zeroed it after glass bedding and a new stock some 8 years ago.

My target rifle optic for service rifle competition on the other hand gets a workout. Changes in elevation for 200, 300, 300m, 500 and 600 yards, as well as windage if the calls are consistent. With inconsistent wind, I tend to use Kentucky windage with the hashmarks on the reticle. As my barrel has worn in, elevation zeros have also shifted .1-.2mils requiring adjustment, but the base zero and elevation has not changed outside of the gradual shift due to barrel wear over thousands of miles traveled and thousands of rounds fired in match conditions and removing the mount/scope from the rifle several times. Also a ridiculous rifle/scope/mount combination.

DM~ said:

With the GREAT mount they have, they just plain hold their zero!

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That is amazing! And an interesting mount system!

Hunting weapons I zero just before hunting season & normally it won't need it again until next season.
My range target guns I zero every time I go to the range because I take different rounds to hit different distances.

For hunting I'll check/adjust before hunting.
In competition I'll adjust every change of position especially in prone where I may adjust it several times over the course of 20 shots.

Never unless there is a perceived problem.

This depend a lot on my use for that particular rifle/scope.

My hunting rifle getting adjusted as needed, usually sometime during one of my pre-season range trips. ie I decided to change my zero on my 300 BO from 100 to 50 yards recently as that trajectory was more useful for me.

At the other extreme is my NRL22 and PRS competition guns, with their exposed target turrets. They are likely to get changed multiple times over the duration of a match, even multiple times within the span of a single stage occasionally.

I have never found travel to have much impact on my scopes. I have abuse (unintentionally) several of my scopes over the years and thankfully I have been able to afford reasonable good scopes and they have withstood the abuse though I still check them as often as I can, good excuse to do some shooting.

I like to shoot silhouette competitions, specifically Smallbore silhouette. With that said I adjust my scope back and forth for each animal target. Several times during a shooting session.

Berserker said:

My question is not how often you check, but how often you adjust.

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Only if I am missing my shot will i readjust. As long as I don't whack my scope, drop my rifle, it's stays steady zero

Berserker said:

I am only hunting deer and bear at 25-50 yards.

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Don’t overthink it.

I check my zero before hunting season. I use the same hand loads and have not had to adjust it at all. But then a 100 yd shot would be really long in the woods I hunt.

Berserker said:

What kind of mount is that? Never seen anything like thst?

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It's called a claw mount...

The front ring has a claw on it, you push the claw into the front mount,



then rotate the back of the scope down,



until the back ring locks into place,



To remove the scope, you pull back on the ears on the rear mount, and reverse the process...

One time I took the scope out of my pack, snapped it into place put a 200NP through a coyotes ribs at a bit over 300 yards... It always works perfectly...

DM

DM~ said:

One time I took the scope out of my pack, snapped it into place put a 200NP through a coyotes ribs at a bit over 300 yards... It always works perfectly...

DM

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They should, both due to cost and being made by "Tutonic Elves" deep in the black forest that know what they're doing. The mounts and bases are a lifetime (of the gun) investment, but then again, they view their guns the same way. My FIL is a retired Austrian Forestmeister, and has a rebuilt Steyr split bridge with an older Swarovski scope in a set of claw mounts in 6.5x57 that I've reloaded ammo for him. Fantastic workmanship, very accurate.

I've got a couple sets of the Steyr "modern" versions, which also have fantastic RTZ, but probably a 1/4th of the cost of the hand fits.

Berserker said:

Is there an advantage to mount like this, or just something you have to do with that rifle? Looks like the eyepiece is pretty far back compared to the action.

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The advantage is, it works EVERY time, and to me that's a HUGE advantage!

The scope is in the exact place it needs to be, for proper eye relief...

DM

That is the traditional mounting system for that firearm...

Some guys do put bases ect. on guns like that, but I think they ruin the usefulness of the gun. I don't mind paying more, to get higher quality, I'd MUCH rather have fewer "quality guns", than a pile of lower quality guns.

Mine has the mount set into the rib, instead of on top of it, but it could be made to fit pretty much any firearm.

DM

I had a custom 280 Rem. built back in 1980.I used Leupold dovetail/windage screw mounts and the rifle was bedded into an H-S Precision synthetic stock.After the rig was sighted in,I used it for 28 years with no change in POI.It just didn't move.Today,I have the action from that build bedded into a Magpul Hunter 700L stock with a very good shooting 280 Ackley Improved barrel on it.It gets adjusted almost every shooting session due to the fact that I shoot it at ranges that vary from 100 to 1,000 yards.With some of my more accurate rifles,I've been able to see what the ever changing weather conditions do to a rifle's zero.They usually drop something like half an inch at 100 yards at 40 degrees when they're set up in the summer temps in the 90's.As far as a rifle getting bumped around goes,if it has a good mount setup,it takes a hard hit to change the zero.

I check zero on my hunting rifles before season or after traveling. Target/long range rifles get "adjusted" all the time for range/wind, but always put back to the same"zero"

I missed 2 bucks on one hunting trip a few years back because my scope had moved. I always check now

DM~ said:

It's called a claw mount...

The front ring has a claw on it, you push the claw into the front mount,

View attachment 952792

then rotate the back of the scope down,

View attachment 952793

until the back ring locks into place,

View attachment 952794

To remove the scope, you pull back on the ears on the rear mount, and reverse the process...

One time I took the scope out of my pack, snapped it into place put a 200NP through a coyotes ribs at a bit over 300 yards... It always works perfectly...

DM

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Had I not seen the explanation, I would have guessed crack, some other drugs were involved in the mounting of that scope! Never seen anything like it! Very unique to say the least

OP, if your only shooting 50-60 yards in the thick woods and swamps of MI's UP, and your off only 3/4 to 1 1/4", I believe your going to put meat in the freezer.

I've never had a centerfire rifle's scope go off-line, but my son did. He was getting ready to go hunting and had his rifle leaning on a counter. When he came back from finding a piece of gear, it was laying on the thin rug. He didn't think anything about it and went hunting out back. He saw a nice buck, crossing his access road and fired. It didn't go down, so he kept shooting as the deer disappeared on the other side of the road. Then, he reloaded and the deer came back out farther down the road. He fired again and missed again!

He brought the rifle to me and when we took a look at it, it was obvious the the objective was bent down toward the barrel, so he figured that his dog knocked it down when he'd left it leaning on the counter. I quickly installed a spare scope and we sighted it in. That replacement scope is still on the rifle, and after a few days I decided to straighten the other one, so laid it on a padded surface and whacked it a few times with a rubber hammer, 'til it looked straight. I mounted it on another of my rifles, sighted it in, and it's still working fine today.