Losing zero with rifles after storage in safe over night.

[flatlower]

Rifle is a Ruger Precision 6.5, Athlon Argos 1 st gen., mount is a one piece cheap(no name)

Zero rifle yesterday day. Off 1 moa low next morning after storing it in safe. Rezeroed on target. Shot 50 more times on benchrest competition. Never lost zero. Score high(If my .22lr was up to para would have been first.) My 200 yard smoke a lot better guns. Never thought of losing zero.

Same scope and mount on SCAR 16s, did same thing from one week to another. Perfect zero off 1moa low and to the right. Doesn't lose zero rest of the shoot.

I swear i have gremlins in my safe.

Thoughts why i loose zero with same ammo and weather conditions. I'm thinking my one piece mounts are not up to para? My AK's with RS regulate never loose zero. Ever.

Thanks for an info.

 

[LoonWulf]

temperature/climate change? unusual pressure during storage? change in bench or rest? change in position.....honestly others will probably be more helpful, consistency has never been my strong suite.

 

[Txhillbilly]

Are your barrels hot when you actually zero your scope's?
You will almost always have a different POI when firing a cold or a cold / clean barrel until the barrel heats up. If you clean your barrel after you shoot, it will also change your POI when you shoot the rifle the next outing until the barrel is fouled again.

On all of my rifles - Hunting or Precision target rifles, I log where my cold or cold clean bore shots hit the target. It will be consistent as long as you're shooting the same ammo. You shouldn't need to adjust your scopes zero. If you do, check all the action, scope base, and scope rings to make sure they are tight and to the correct torque specs.

 

[Varminterror]

You will almost always have a different POI when firing a cold [...] barrel until the barrel heats up.

Not with any well built rifle.

“Cold bore” has largely been disproven by many, many shooters. “Cold SHOOTER” is the culprit.

 

[12Bravo20]

Not with any well built rifle.

“Cold bore” has largely been disproven by many, many shooters. “Cold SHOOTER” is the culprit.

And I can attest to that. My Savage Model 12 FVL in 308 shoots the same POA/POI on the first shot or the 50th shot at 100 yards. I don't notice any differences at all.

 

[Bazoo]

Sounds like a scope problem to me. Had similar when using a cheap tasco scope. Had it on a marlin 60 and sighted it in and it was fine. Took it out the next day and it was off. Odd, turned out if I grabbed the scope and gave it a little light pressure on the objective bell, it would do it during shooting. Turns out being gently rested on the back seat from my back 40 to the house was more than it could take.

 

[jamesgs4]

"mount is a one piece cheap(no name)"

I believe this is the cause of your problem

 

[CapnMac]

First off, Welcome to THR.

Secondly, it's either the mounts or the scope and how they all interact. Something is pressing on the mount or the scope on the trip from safe to range (or something is pressing on them in the trip after range to safe).

The stress involved is relieved when you adjust the scope back, so it's not something present while shooting. Which points to something present after/before shooting.

Have you tried dismounting the scope after shooting, then reassembling it at the range? That would tend to narrow the issue to just the mount rather than the combination of scope and mount.

Photos might help, too.

 

[stillquietvoice]

swear i have gremlins in my safe.

Thoughts why i loose zero with same ammo and weather conditions. I'm thinking my one piece mounts are not up to para? My AK's with RS regulate never loose zero. Ever.

Thanks for an info.

@flatlower welcome to the forum.

I've had issues with mounts loosening up, but that presents a different set of symptoms. For instance, while shooting a string first shot off, adjust the optic, second shot on, third shot off.... Or zero wanders the longer the string, usually loose optic in the rings, scope will show lines where the opic moved from.

Perhaps the problem is going from outside temp to air conditioning.

 

[JFrank]

I had a very similar problem once, the slots on the rail were not happy with the male counterpart on the scope rings, only noticeable when hand tightening to snug the rings still had a tiny bit of movement. I explained the ring wiggle to the suppler whom grabbed a set off the shelf and tried to duplicate what I had conveyed and sure enough they did the same thing, he picked out a replacement set and popped them into the mail while I checked all my rails and only found that particular one to be suspect.
That's my story and im sticking with it.
J

 

[Walkalong]

Which is the real reason some rails and some rings cost more. Precision costs money to make & sell.

 

[redneck2]

I’ve got a precision AR that has a Leupold VX-3 in Deadnutz mounts that cost about $100. I’ve taken it on multiple prairie dog hunts, bounced it around on a four wheeler for hours. I’ve never had to re-zero after maybe 20 years.