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Old May 7, 2013, 04:13 PM   #1
Colorado Redneck
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Rifle knocked out of aim--what to do?

The other day when trying to shoot prairie dogs in a hurricane my 22-250 got blown off of the shooting bench. Couldn't believe it, got up to get something from the truck and turned around and there it lay in the dirt. It was in a shooting rest and the swing lock screw was loose and the wind turned it so the rifle was out of balance and it tumbled off the bench. Well, the scope was knocked out of whack by the impact. Went to the hills today and shot a fouling round into the dirt, then the first shot at paper was over 6 inches to the left of point of aim. Adjusted the thing and shot 2 shot groups till it was kind of where it needs to be. Adjustments seemed to move the POA appropriately, but the wind was again blowing about 13-15 mph and gusting, so a good sight-in was not going to happen today.

I did check the scope to be sure that the mounts weren't loose, and there was no visible damage to the exterior of the scope---it is an old Luepold that is a really nice piece of glass.

Is there anything that should be done to assure the set up is ok? This kind of thing has never happened to me, so some advice would be appreciated.
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Old May 7, 2013, 05:43 PM   #2
hunttheevil
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Unfortunately I've had it happen. Re-zero the scope and shoot enough rounds you are confident it will hold zero. It will either hold zero or it won't. I will say the few incidents I've had, my scopes are still working good.
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Old May 7, 2013, 06:15 PM   #3
allaroundhunter
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Re: Rifle knocked out of aim--what to do?

If you're worried you can shoot Leopold an email. They might ask you to ship it to them and they'll test it to see if it has any problems and then ship it back. Their customer service is usually pretty good.
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Old May 7, 2013, 07:09 PM   #4
Colorado Redneck
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Turn around time at Leupold

Are they usually pretty prompt with turn around? Heck--Prairie dog season is coming on and it would bring a tear to my eye to go without this old blunderbus.

The two shot groups were looking good---out of 4 there were two of those two shot deals that the holes were touching---which is usual for this old beast.
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Old May 7, 2013, 07:20 PM   #5
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Re: Rifle knocked out of aim--what to do?

Turn around can be anywhere from a week to a month or two. The best you can do is send them an email and see if there is anything that they can do. Heck, they might be able to give you a time frame estimate as well.

*You could call as well and probably get the same information faster.
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Old May 7, 2013, 07:20 PM   #6
big al hunter
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If it holds after you get it sighted in right ( without wind) you shouldn't have problems. I would say give it 20 or 30 rounds after sight in for testing. That should show any problems. If it does fail I would get a cheap replacement to keep hunting while waiting for repairs, but I'm betting you won't have to.
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Old May 7, 2013, 07:34 PM   #7
Colorado Redneck
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That is a good suggestion, Big Al. The thing that kinda gets me is, how does a scope get knocked out of sight like that? Does the adjusting mechanism slip? There is no indication that the rings or base have moved, and they are still nice and tight.
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Old May 7, 2013, 07:38 PM   #8
allaroundhunter
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Re: Rifle knocked out of aim--what to do?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Colorado Redneck View Post
That is a good suggestion, Big Al. The thing that kinda gets me is, how does a scope get knocked out of sight like that? Does the adjusting mechanism slip? There is no indication that the rings or base have moved, and they are still nice and tight.
If the groups only moved 6", you will not see the damage. I do not think the internals of the scope were damaged, I think the mounting hardware was altered ever so slightly. Again, it isn't enough to be noticeable, but it is there.

If the adjustment holds up, then that would be further evidence that it is not the scope, but indeed the mounting hardware, that is damaged.
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Old May 7, 2013, 10:13 PM   #9
Doyle
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This is exactly the reason my primary deer rifle wears Leupold QD rings and the barrel has iron sights. If I'm on a hunt and I drop my rifle, I can pop the scope off and toss it into my backpack and still continue the hunt. My range with those irons (with my 54 year old eyes) is about 75 yds - not great but better than going back home for the day.
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Old May 8, 2013, 11:11 AM   #10
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I've only put one scope thru a big knock (numerous smaller knocks though). Had a nasty deer season a few years ago, couple inches of snow opening morning, followed by drizzle in the afternoon followed by 10deg temps for the rest of season. Covered every thing in a nasty ice. Slipped and fell more than a few times that season but in one case I had my shotgun in my right hand, slipped, had to use the hand with the gun to TRY to break my fall, came down hard right on the scope. Resighted it in an hour later and it hasn't lost POA since.

Moral of the story....... do some shooting and let the scope tell you if it needs a trip via USPS.
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Old May 8, 2013, 11:17 AM   #11
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I've seen machinests tap a part with a small tool in a machines jaws and take a couple of thou off rather than turn the adjustments on the machine. You can't believe how much something can move even after it's "tight".
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Old May 8, 2013, 11:39 PM   #12
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That scope probably got its front end bent. Such damage will offset the target image going through the scope's lenses as their mounts up front are no longer aligned correctly.

The fall may have also damaged the internal erector tube that the adjustments move. Or cracked something and it's no longer water tight.

I would send it to the maker's hospital and have the scope doctors fix it.
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Old May 9, 2013, 12:02 AM   #13
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My dad dropped his Savage Axis with a VX3 last year by accident. It ended up landing flat on the left side. He shot 2 zeroing and never had to make a adjustment. He just got lucky. I would shoot 25-50 times to check it out and IF I still had a doubt, pull it off and send it in. Just get a Bushnell Banner for temporary use.
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Old May 9, 2013, 06:04 PM   #14
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Good feedback here--

Tomorrow (if it isn't raining or blowing over 20 mph) that gun will get 30-50 rounds to see what it does. Luckily there is a lot of 4064 and big rifle primers downstairs, so I can afford to waste a bunch of rounds to see how the scope works out. It is an older VX 3 with a dot and is a darn good scope. So if it won't hold zero then it will go to Leopold.

Nice of you all to chime in here.

If I remember to, I will post the results.
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Old May 9, 2013, 06:49 PM   #15
Brian Pfleuger
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If you have shot that gun enough to know what to expect, I can't see any reason why it should take more than 10 or 15 shots, at most, to verify that it's OK. Frankly, 3-5 aught to tell you. I can't imagine what's going to break 50 shots later that wouldn't already be broken, or break in 4 or 5.
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Old May 9, 2013, 09:16 PM   #16
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Hate to admit it, but I've dropped a few scoped rifles, and I think they all had Leupold scopes. Until recently, only one had to be rezeroed slightly. But the last 'drop' was my Ruger Hawkeye 223 with a fairly new Leupold VX2 6-18. Maybe 6 months ago I had it in the house and picked it up by the sling (cheap sling...note to self) up near the top of the sling, and the sling came loose. The rifle was in the scope down position, and I still had a grip on the sling. That caused the rifle barrel to strike the floor quite hard and bounce two more times. Only the tip of the barrel struck the floor. I grabbed the rifle up like I had dropped a child, and my wife went right to the floor to see what damage I had done (3 dents). Obviously different priorities... what can I say. Anyway, I went straight to the backyard range and I found that the rifle shot about 6 inches high, but windage was unchanged. I rezeroed and have had no problems since, and I suppose I've shot 300 to 400 times since then.
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Old May 10, 2013, 05:44 PM   #17
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Got a break today from rain---only breezy and sunny

So I shot the snot out of that 22-250. Wish I could do my part as consistently as it shoots. Had the usual tussle getting final sight in, but it looks like the scope is fine. Look out you flea infested prairie rats!!

Peetzakiller--Instead of being logical and trying 10 rounds through the gun just like it was, I started sighting it in. For some reason I get anal about that, and if the point of impact is off more than an inch or so I get all het up and have to adjust the scope. So I wasted some rounds, but since shooting is my 2nd favorite activity, and the components for this caliber are stocked up, it worked out fine. It is sighted in, and I let it set for a while and ran a bore snake through it, and shot 15 more rounds and it seems fine.

Thanks for all the support, everybody.
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