leupold vxIII shift POI 7" to the right?

[DMS1]

I am a long time bushnell elite fan, but bought a vx3 4.5-14x40 over a 6500 because of weight (13ozs vs 17 ozs) and the alumina flip up caps which is worth 1000x more than butler creek IMO.

I have shot the rifle 4x and considered it sighted in. I missed a jack rabbit sitting at about 150 yards on saturday, saw the bullet hit right, so I shot it last night and it was off 7-8" to the right. Adjusted, everything is good now. Is this normal with leupold? I have never experienced this with elites. I am using leupold DD 2 pc mounts with low rings. They seem very sturdy. Everything is tight. I don't want to get paranoid and think the scope is off all the time. I have slid down some 70 foot cliffs and bumped some elite scope pretty hard and they did not lose their settings.

The rifle is a remington VTR, and this is the first time I shot it off the bipods, the other times I shot prone resting on a log. Is there any chance that the 2 fingers that contact the barrel would cause this shift when shooting off the bipod?

Also to note, the vx3 does not shine at all compared to the 6500 scopes. It seems to lose clarity at high magnification, and is just as tough to stay centered with the sight picture at high mag also.

 

[KDX]

I would go back to shooting it as you did originally and see if the POI is the same. You introduced a variable which could have change it.

 

[sir_springer]

One thing to check for is that it's not shifting point of aim between 4x and a higher setting.

Had this happen to me some years back, was caused by a bent tube...which was caused by misalignment of drilling for bases on the rifle. (Bushnell still repaired it no charge.) It's why I now only use Burris Signature rings, too.

That said, check the mounting rings and bases, no loose crews. And if you have single dovetail with the windage adjustable rear ring, check it to make sure it hasn't come loose. (Had this happen once to me.)

And all that said...

Last season had my VX-III version of yours, same power, shift about 4" right and 2" high after the rifle got knocked over and hit the carpeted floor. (It only cost me a nice whitetail buck......my reward for not checking it out after the fall.)


Also: The reason it's not that clear at the 14x setting I suspect is because, like mine, you don't have the adjustable objective to compensate for parallax. This isn't much of an issue until you get to around 12x and higher. If I did it all over again, definitely would not buy a high power variable without the AO feature...with which the 6500 Elite comes standard.

 

[hunter89]

I have seen mounting a bipod after sighting in a rifle change the point of impact a few inches.Try shooting with the bipod then take it of and try a couple more shots.I have also noticed a bipod can make some rifles shoot tighter groups and others shoot all over the place.The bipod changes the barrell viberations.

 

[sir_springer]

I have seen mounting a bipod after sighting in a rifle change the point of impact a few inches.Try shooting with the bipod then take it of and try a couple more shots.I have also noticed a bipod can make some rifles shoot tighter groups and others shoot all over the place.The bipod changes the barrell viberations.

I do all my shooting, range and hunting, with a bipod. Yes, they definitely can alter point of impact...which is why all my rifles have the barrels free floating.

 

[DMS1]

Thanks, I will try shooting it again without the bipod and see if it has any effect. I did not think to shoot at both high and low power either.

The scopes are set for parallax at 100 yrds aren't they? If so, I shouldn't notice out of focus shooting at that distance.

 

[sir_springer]

Thanks, I will try shooting it again without the bipod and see if it has any effect. I did not think to shoot at both high and low power either.

The scopes are set for parallax at 100 yrds aren't they? If so, I shouldn't notice out of focus shooting at that distance.

With the bipod, keep your free hand away from it, instead use it at the rear of the stock for added stability. Temptation is to hold on to one leg of the bipod to prevent barrel jump. In doing this you can easily transfer any flinching to the bipod and result in tossing the shot. Let the barrel jump as it will, the bullet is already long gone anyway.

Parallax is generally set to something around 150 to 200 yds. You won't notice anything out of focus out to beyond 300 yds when set at 4x to 10x, maybe even 12x. It's at 12x and higher that parallax can start to affect things. That said, at 100 yds you shouldn't notice hardly any difference at 14x. I do all my 100 yd range shooting at that setting.

I have a VX-II 6x18x40 AO on my 25.06. Without the AO it would be virtually useless at the top end.