Sighting in blues

ribber@shaw.ca

ribber@shaw.ca

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We were trying to sight in a new Savage in .338 LM. Ater using a Laser-lyte down the bore, we lined up the crosshairs and went to the range,at 35 yds. the first shot was almost off the target to the left, about 5-6", elevation was good, we used up most of the adjustment getting to center, then on to 100 and all was the same,bullet srtikes on center same as at 35 yds., back home we again put the rifle in the gun vise and sighted on a fence post at 35 yds. or so and pulled out the bolt and lined up the scope, the 4" post was nowhere to be seen down the bore , we even tried a 30 mm shaft in the rings and as near as we could tell we were within .005" of true with the barrel od.The rifle has a Picatinney rail with 4 screws so not much leeway there, so how can the bore be so far off the crosshairs at such a short distance?, of course there is almost no adjustment left in the scope, what are we doing wrong?
 
I had the same issue with a couple of .338 Edges; the bore sighting didn't get me within a mile. This is with custom rifles with truck axle size barrels too.

The first time I was surprised, but thought it was a fluke. The second time ya get to wondering.

I speculate that all that torque is makeing its presence known, but don't really know for sure. The Mark 4s I favor make it a non issue anyway.
 
You may have to get bases and rings with the windage adjustment on the rear ring/base like Leupold make. Good luck Cheers Roscoe
 
You need Redfield type scope rings. These have a windage adjustment on the rear ring & the front ring is designed to pivot allowing the scope tube to remain aligned.

I have a couple of rifles that the screws for the scope mounts were not drilled parallel. This seems to becoming a more common occurrence with various rifle manufacturers. :(
 
ribber@shaw.ca said:
...so how can the bore be so far off the crosshairs at such a short distance?, of course there is almost no adjustment left in the scope, what are we doing wrong?
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You need to supply more information to better answer your questions, but the short answer is either something is damaged, made wrong, assembled wrong or incompatible.

Be specific...
~ What is the make, model and description of scope?
~ ...of the base?
~ ...of the rings?

~~~

~ You mention the scope was within 0.005" of being true to the barrel. I would ignore this data unless you really can make this measurement, parallel with the bore is what you are striving for.

~ Remember that boresighters are calibrated for 100yds. I would not use your particular boresighter in this case until it is proven true and not a problem.

~~~

Without knowing what the rings are I can't tell if they are installed or used correctly.

With the supplied info, I would:
~ Put the mount screws only in the receiver. Compare their alignment with the receiver, and the barrel.
~ Check that the barrel is straight, not bent.
~ Check that the barrel is parallel with the receiver.
~ Remount the base, check for defects and correct model.
~ Center the scopes crosshairs to the middle of their adjustments both vertically and horizontally.
~ Check the scope for bends or other damage.
~ Inspect the rings for defects.
~ Install rings, use manufacturers instructions, use the adjustments (if available) in the rings, not the scope.
~ Boresight by looking through the bore.
~ Boresight at 100yds.
~ Make sure scope is not touching barrel.
 
I can understand things not lining up properly or being loose etc., but why do the crosshairs not line up with the bore? I can see a little off but 4" at 35 yds?
 
I had my rifle bore sighted just last week. It was off the paper at 30 yards.

I set up a copper pipe at 30 yards with a golfball on top.
removed the bolt and looked down the bore until the ball was centered,
then adjusted my scope to the ball. Checked a few times, then added 4 minutes elevation and shot at the range at 100m.
It was perfect.
 
We mounted a new scope on 7mm-300WM today and had it hitting a rock at 800m in 3 shots today.

Something is definitely wrong somewhere on that rife.
 
I have a stevens 200, the receiver holes were drilled off. This was few years ago. I mentioned it to Jerry Teo and he sent me burris offset ring inserts (already had the burris rings). Problem solved.
Mine is not the only one I have heard of being drilled incorrectly. I'v only had one like this out of 5 Savages.
 
Stamped recoil lugs are crap and cause alignment issues, never seen scope base holes off center and not sure that is possible considering th eway Savage does it with gang tooling in one operation. Until the centerfeed came out the action faces were .003" offf as well compounding the problem.

Check the inside of your barrel carefully, it may be the cause.
 
If it was mine I would:
Take the scope, and center the cross hairs in the scope (in case this is not clear as what to do, turn the adjustment dial in one direction as far as it will go, then turn it the other way as far as it will go and count the turns, then turn it back 1/2 way; do this with both dials) On most scopes it is 8 full turns end to end so 4 back gets it centered; this gives you even adjustments in all directions.

Then I do what MARKHFX does, look down the bore at something close and adjust the scope so the cross hairs are on it. Sandbag the rifle so it wont move. Use the windage screws to do most of the adjusting. (I did this one night looking at my neighbours porch light from the kitchen table, lol, and it was damn near dead on at the range)

Then it should be pretty close when you get to the range.

If you cant get it close like that, something is not lined up to start with (as in the mounts are crooked etc, or the scope is busted)
 
PEI ROB said:
Stamped recoil lugs are crap and cause alignment issues, never seen scope base holes off center and not sure that is possible considering th eway Savage does it with gang tooling in one operation. Until the centerfeed came out the action faces were .003" offf as well compounding the problem.

Check the inside of your barrel carefully, it may be the cause.
Click to expand...

In all fairness. It could be the machining on the EGW base that I used also. Perhaps they gave me a 20 MOA left cant. :)
 
RoscoeP said:
You may have to get bases and rings with the windage adjustment on the rear ring/base like Leupold make. Good luck Cheers Roscoe
Click to expand...

bobfortier said:
Base not properly aligned with the action is what I think happens, as RoscoeP suggested, try to get base that can be adjusted.
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Rod B said:
You need Redfield type scope rings. These have a windage adjustment on the rear ring & the front ring is designed to pivot allowing the scope tube to remain aligned.

I have a couple of rifles that the screws for the scope mounts were not drilled parallel. This seems to becoming a more common occurrence with various rifle manufacturers. :(
Click to expand...

Winchester 1886 said:
Get some Millet Angle-Loc steel rings.Both are windage adjustable.Problem solve.
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You guys are missing the point, this is NOT a scope mounting issue. OP got the rifle sighted in and shooting where the crosshairs indicate. He then did the standard bore sighting routine of setting the crosshairs on a target and looking down the bore to compare where the bore points with the crosshair POI. The two didn't line up at all.

Based on his description, the barrel does not shoot true to where the bore points when you sight through it.

OP, I would say you have a bent barrel or the bore is somehow not straight and true full length.


Mark
 
You guys are missing the point, this is NOT a scope mounting issue. OP got the rifle sighted in and shooting where the crosshairs indicate. He then did the standard bore sighting routine of setting the crosshairs on a target and looking down the bore to compare where the bore points with the crosshair POI. The two didn't line up at all.
Click to expand...


Thats how I read it too. I thought the OP was asking why the .338 isn't shooting where the bore is looking.
 
Yes, that's what confuses me, the rifle isn't pointing at where it's shooting, good thing we started reloading or this would be a serious dollars problem, as it is, it is very frustrating
 
mmattockx said:
...the barrel does not shoot true to where the bore points when you sight through it.
Click to expand...

Dogleg said:
...the .338 isn't shooting where the bore is looking.
Click to expand...

ribber@shaw.ca said:
...the rifle isn't pointing at where it's shooting,...
Click to expand...

C'mon guys, are you telling me that the bullets are changing course...aside from normal ballistics.

Even a bent barrel sends bullets to where the bore is looking.

If I'm missing something please enlighten me. I suppose rifling may be missing at the muzzle, but that does not sound like the case.

What kind of groups is this rifle shooting?
 
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