my scope is mounted, but it's not very straight.

McCoolium

McCoolium

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I recently bought a new rifle that came with a scope that was already mounted. I've got a simmons bore sighting kit that I have used with red dot sights before with fantastic results. If you are not familiar with it, basically you fit this thing onto the muzzle and when you look through the optic on your rifle you see a grid with a center point of 0:0 and 10 squares in every direction away from the center point.

Right now when I have my elevation and windage turrets set so they are at 3 (centered) I show up on my boresighter as right 11 and up 8.

The borsighting kit says that one grid square = 4" (I am assuming that means at 100 yards) either way, according to my bore sighter, I have to adjust my windage 250 clicks to the left. That doesn't leave me much room for play if I actually need to go further left to get an actual zero.

So my question is this; is this scope/base mounted poorly? or is this a pretty typical adjustment that is made to scopes after they have been mounted.

If this is a poor mount job, how do I go about fixing this problem?

Thanks.
 
There is something weird about that 250 clicks at 100 yards thing......

point the gun at a target at 25 yards, then look through the scope. Cant be 60 clicks off unless that scope is completely angled to one side.
test fire it. I don't know.

That thing doesnt make sense. UNLESS you have a windage adjustment screw on the mount that is completely off.
 
Given that you have experience with the sighting kit I'd tend to think the scope has been slapped on at the store for display purposes and needs remounting. Improperly mounting a scope can have ramifications beyond zeroing issues.

I'd expect a scope mounted by a smith at a specialty store to be properly done but if you purchased from a big box, the stock room boy could have mounted the thing using his Leatherman.
 
What rifle / scope combo? Canted xhairs can cause grief, but I'm thinking off centered mounting screw holes. Thats a lot of clicks. Without seeing the rifle, its only speculation. A roadtrip to a 'smith for sure.
 
If I'm installing bases and rings and things look out of whack, I try reorienting the components - turn front base 180 degrees, turn rings around, etc. It's about "de-stacking" the tolerances.
 
looch said:
If I'm installing bases and rings and things look out of whack, I try reorienting the components - turn front base 180 degrees, turn rings around, etc. It's about "de-stacking" the tolerances.
Click to expand...

^^^^ This has got me sorted out a few times.
 
Is it a bolt action? If so remove the bolt and sight down the bore at a target while resting the rifle in a cradle of some sorts and then look through the scope and see where you are.....
 
Sounds like the Simmons set up is like the one Bushnell offers.
Is the arbor the right one for the caliber?
When I bore sight, I pull the bore sight at least three times and
re-install it to check the last adjustment.
When it gets close, ie, two out of three, then I know the 25 yard
bull's eye isn't too far off.
 
If it came from the factory with the scope mounted, it is probably poorly mounted. The bases are usually good, but the rings are made to meet a price point and may not work well. I would definitely remove scope/rings/bases and start over by mounting everything properly.

If the factory box was not specifically designed for a mounted scope, look for a bent tube.
 
I just fixed a friends .22 that had the same problem. His scope was actually stuck to the bottom front ring and was twisting when the bolts were tightened on the rings. Take everything apart and reassemble yourself and the problem will probably go away.
Kim
 
9 times out of 10 when you purchase a factory mounted scope on a combo gun you are going to have issues. The biggest culprit is that there are loose screws somewhere in the set up. Either the scope bases are loose, the mount is loose to the base or the scope itself is loose in the rings. I would suggest removing the scope/rings, checking the bases to ensure they are tight then basically remounting the scope and then applying your boresighter. Even some shops will mount a scope to get a sale, doesn't mean that the guy behind the counter knows or actually cares about the work he is doing, especially at closing time....
 
Hey guys,

Thanks for the responses.

Before I made my initial post I had taken this rifle out the to range and fired off about 30 rounds through the gun. For the most part my gun was shooting all over the place. I fired my buddy's .308 the same day at the same distance and was hitting a 2" grouping so I know that it wasn't me.

I came home and took apart the whole optic assembly and yes everything was pretty loose. I think the biggest problem was that the rings were clamped down tight on the right side of the scope and the other side had almost a 1/4" gap.

Anyways, so my initial post had been made after I took the rings off, the scope off and the base off and started from scratch.

Here are some pictures please tell me if anything raises any alarms.

P3270097.jpg

Note the gap between the rings (it's about 1/16th of an inch on every joint) is that bad? or does it not really matter so long as they are screwed down tight
P3270096.jpg

Here is a picture of the grid I was talking about earlier. You can see how far off to the right I am. When you pull the bolt out and sight that way it's the same story. I am far right (200 clicks-ish).
P3270091.jpg

P3270095.jpg


ohh and it's a mossberg 100atr .308

Thanks!
 
Ring spacings I try and keep the same distance apart.
Just seems logical and looks like someone knows what the
heck they are doing.
I don't think you're 200 clicks on scope adjustments.
I have had bore sight readings like that.
Any base adjustment to be had with your set up?
Click the scope cross to align with the bore sight cross.
Count the clicks from right to left then go the other way from center and
count the clicks that way. See how far out you are?
Take the bore sight out after you line up the cross hairs and re-install it.
Does it line up with the scope cross hairs or close?
It should.
 
208 click to bring me to center. when I look through the barrel to bore sight it, it looks good. When I remove the bore sighter and re insert it I maintain "zero" If I knock the scope around I don't lose the adjustment.

However it did take 208 click to get me there and there is no adjustment that can be made for the base. Soooooo... what does that mean. ####ty gun?
 
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say the grid for the bore sighter is wrong. Most I've played with are set at 1" inch values at a hundred yards. So your setup looks to be 8 inches right. With 1/4" clicks you're looking at 32 clicks. The 200 clicks is bullsh*t. A lot of optics don't offer that much travel. I'm also gonna say, a factory offered optic is most often a piece of sh*t. Same goes for rings and bases. In your case, the base is a single piece and I doubt it would be that horribly out of alignment. Your rings are serviceable but not ideal. I suggest simply shooting the rifle/optic setup and zero it properly. Bore sighters are over priced tools of frustration. The only honest way to zero is to shoot it, which also happens to be much more enjoyable.

TDC
 
How tight can the scope rings be? I don't have a torque wrench but I tightened those things down pretty hard. I could probably go further but I am worried about bending/breaking something. Is this a legitimate concern or should I just go to town on those rings?
 
No need to go to town......just torque them all snug not as tight as you can!
It depends how strong your hands and wrists are but I find it best to choke up on the tool a bit and then go by feel....no need to get out on the end of the tool using full leverage and then turn till you can't anymore or the tool slips/strips out of the bolt.

Does the base look straight when you eyeball down the rifle without the scope on?
Have you checked the base screws to make sure they aren't loose?
 
Some of those cheap package rings can be made pretty far out to lunch, try turning one ring around so the tightner is opposite of the other, if it mkes a huge difference buy a decent set of rings
 
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