Is my scope bad or user error?

yow

yow

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Hey y'all. I purchased a Cabela's Covenant 5 FFP Riflescope because the price was just too good to pass up. It's mounted on my Savage B22 with the stock bases and Vortex pro series rings. I took it to the range to zero for the first time yesterday and ended up having to use all the adjustment just to get it zeroed at 50 yards - meaning I can't actually move the reticle up any more to shoot at 100 or 200. I tried re-mounting it, I even tried switching the rings in case one was taller than the other and got the same result each time. I previously had whatever scope came bundled with the rifle and didn't have this issue. At 50 yards it was pretty close to the middle of the adjustment range, and I could easily dial it up for 100 yards. Is it possible I got something wrong or should I be calling up Cabela's trying to warranty this? Or do I just need to buy an angled base for the rifle? Appreciate any help/advice, except shaming me for buying a cheap rifle and scope. I'm not made of money :).
 
Different scopes have varying adjustment ranges, so it is entirely possible that both scopes are within spec. Suggest you look into it a bit deeper. If you want to improve your understanding of possible mis-alignment in the rifle itself, use the mirror trick to zero your scope(s) and than boresight at 50 y to see how far off things are.
 
Are the scope bases the same ? Seen scope bases with build in 10 moa +..not common but they are out there.
Tall one goes in the back if they are different.
Check with a caliper. To shoot at 200 you will need a 10-20 Moa bases - rail most likely.
 
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Not familiar with those scopes, but does it have an adjustable zero stop? Those will limit the range, but it should limit on the low end of travel and it sounds like you're running out on the top end. Just wondering if it's maybe not set up correctly if it has one.
 
Just a thought - Did you check to see that the mounts are tight? When I bought my B22-FV the mounts were loose, cost me most of a box of ammo to determine the prob - shots all over the place. I have the Covenant-4 6-24x50 FFP-SF and thought it was the scope,too, until I found the scope 'wiggle' a bit.
Do you have another scope to 'test' the cant of the mounts? That's a possibility, too.
 
Probably just not enough elev in scope.

get a 20moa rail and a set of burris zee rings with the offset inserts.

Guy at club bought a sav mk2 22lr and a mid level bushnell. Bushnell had minimal elev adj. Couldnt get on tgt at 50m either. He got a set of burris zee rings with inserts which was good for 100y
 
I have no firearms but some hightech PCP airguns for long range shooting.
It is a very common airgunners to use adjustable height scope mounts, and for example now (mine speeds are considerably lower then an ordinary rimfire),
my scope is a 50 MOA reticle, and I adjust a rear ring in a way that on a scope turret
I can sight in at 100 meters and have the distance from 20 to 200 covered with clicks. Your folks the firearms speeds are much higher you shall cover even bigger range.
I am using the INS-30:
https://eaglevisioncam.com/product-category/scope-mount
 
yow - I just realized you didn't say what mag your scope is. I looked online and can't find the 'Actual' Vertical MOA available, you'll have to look at your papers. My Cov-4 6-24x50 Only has 40MOA TOTAL AVAILABLE. You might be in the same position, limiting your adjustments. I have mine Z'd at 50 and then hold for 100, so I don['t know if it will go up enough. 100 yds s/b ca 6" so that would be 24 cliks for me - Not there unless I'm lucky.
I ran into this with my 457 and an Athlon Argos which also had low MOA avail. I had a 419-30MOA rail and couldn't get Z'd at 100. I ended up getting a Burris Sig EXP kit (ca $180from Stoeger) to 'reduce' LIFT to 20MOA. YOu may need a rail to get the MOA you need.
Good luck figuring this out. I spent hours trying to get it right b4 MY mistaken "Avail MOA" was pointed out. Another friend went thru the same thing until he asked me and I cleared it up for him.
 
PS - I can do 200 with my 457 by reducing my mag to 20x, then holding ca-19 MOA to get hits about 4" groups. I've only done a few since my SK ammo isn't cheap enuf for 'playing'.
 
Holy smokes thanks everyone for the replies. I'll try to address everyone's points.

Janeau said:
Are the scope bases the same ? Seen scope bases with build in 10 moa +..not common but they are out there.
Tall one goes in the back if they are different.
Check with a caliper. To shoot at 200 you will need a 10-20 Moa bases - rail most likely.
Click to expand...

Yes, bases are the same. The bases have been mounted on the rifle from the factory.

Jon87 said:
Not familiar with those scopes, but does it have an adjustable zero stop? Those will limit the range, but it should limit on the low end of travel and it sounds like you're running out on the top end. Just wondering if it's maybe not set up correctly if it has one.
Click to expand...

Zero stops prevent you from going too far down, I'm running out of adjustment going up.

boxhitch said:
When dialing top to bottom, do you have the range that the scope claims to have available? Full # of rotations?
Click to expand...

Yes, scope does adjust all the way up and down, just seems to point down too far as it's configured.

Buck1950 said:
Just a thought - Did you check to see that the mounts are tight? When I bought my B22-FV the mounts were loose, cost me most of a box of ammo to determine the prob - shots all over the place. I have the Covenant-4 6-24x50 FFP-SF and thought it was the scope,too, until I found the scope 'wiggle' a bit.
Do you have another scope to 'test' the cant of the mounts? That's a possibility, too.
Click to expand...

The mounts are indeed tight, as are the scope rings. I'm trying to find a second scope to test with, but was hoping to see if this was a common issue or if it's more likely I messed something up.
 
I suggest trying another brand of rings, or another brand of rail mount (if they can be removed from the receiver, I am not familiar with the B22).

I had a similar issue (centerfire) with a very high-end scope where, at first mounting on a different rifle (also high-end), with a different brand picatinny rail, there was not enough range in the windage turret. This was bizarre because I had used the scope on another rifle and different pic rail with no problem with the same rings. So what was happening?

Turns out it was the new pic rail that was either badly out of spec, or it was just a spec disagreement between different brands.

The ring's gripping edge was too rounded and thick to grip properly in the rail's rather narrow longitudinal slot, and the rings were climbing out on one side when tightened. These rings worked fine in other brands of pic rail.

In my case I changed the pic rail and problem solved, all issues with the scope's turret range disappeared.

It may be that your ring's spec is just not matching the spec of the savage bases?
 
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