Lousy Scope

silent2012owl

silent2012owl

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I haven't been posting lately, just lurking :redface:
Anyway, this past May I bought a 308 Savage Axis bolt action which includes a mounted,boresighted 3-9X Bushnell scope.
I did some googling and learned that the rifle seems to be ok for the price but the scope sucks.
Well, yesterday I got confirmation that indeed the scope sucks.
I was sighting in my new rifle and even though the scope needed a lot of tweaking,everything seemed to be good. The rifle is low end but decent quality and it is all I need and want. I like the feel of it and it fits me like a glove. After firing about 20 rounds I got a decent grouping and got ready to go home.
Decided to fire 3 more rounds just for good measure when the crosshairs in the scope decided to rotate by about 30 degrees and stay there :puke:

That cancelled that sighting-in session in a hurry :HR:

Fortunately I had a 15 year old 3-9X Bushnell scope c/w mounts at home that I had kept when I sold my Remington Semiauto this summer.
I installed it and boresighted it today in my yard and all is well, although I now need another trip to the range and more ammo yet.
My point is that the scope that comes with the Axis is indeed crap. Google was right.
I'm just glad it happened now rather than during my upcoming hunting trip next week :D
 
Often these combos have the least expensive promotional scopes available.

I've had scopes fail when failure was most awkward. Learned my lesson. Better to upgrade.

Same applies to mounting systems.
 
I find the rings OK for my 223, but I also put a different(CHEAP) scope on. Probably best just to buy the rifle alone which in my opinion is a fantastic bargain. I may have just gotten lucky, but mine shoots very well.

G
 
Same thing happened to a buddies combo rifle last week. He bought a Weatherby Vangaurd in .308 that came with a Simmons 3X9. The rifle shot great with his 150 g factories but the scopes cross hairs fell apart after 15 rounds. Rifle was bought at Cabelas and they did treat him well when he returned it with an upgrade to a better quality scope.
 
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Even good quality scopes can develop problems at inopportune moments. I just had an old fixed M-8 4X Leupold with friction adjustments give up the ghost (no longer holds a zero) and those things have a pretty good reputation for longevity. It will be packaged up shortly for a visit to the folks at Korth. Luckily I could swap to a 1.75-6X, so having a spare scope handy isn't a bad idea regardless of the quality of your primary scope.
 
These are entry level scopes that will not take many adjustments.
They should be removed and used on a .22.
Having seen a number of these combos, my advice is to sight in with factory ammo and stick with that brand and loading untiol you can afford to put on better optics.
I don't think there is much wrong with the rifle but the scope is the "Weakest Link"!
 
I got my Savage 111 with the Bushnell Sportsman 3x9. What a POS, it even had a thumbprint INSIDE the lens! I have since replaced it with my Leopold 2x7 Rifleman, and while it is also an "entry level" scope, it has crystal clear optics and is of much better quality.
 
I have had a scope fail on me once as well, a target Tasco on a rimfire no less... I have come to the determination that cheap variable power scopes aren't worth the risk. I picked up a " vintage" tasco fixed power ( made in Japan) for about half the cost of the current crop of new junk and about a quarter of the cost of the afore mentioned target scope and it will no doubt function for another 30 years... P.S. wrt bushnell, I absolutely love my 6500 elite, on par with a Zeiss Conquest for optics anyway.

p.p.s. Silent what part of NS are you in, I'm in Cumberland County.
 
daroccot said:
I have had a scope fail on me once as well, a target Tasco on a rimfire no less... I have come to the determination that cheap variable power scopes aren't worth the risk. I picked up a " vintage" tasco fixed power ( made in Japan) for about half the cost of the current crop of new junk and about a quarter of the cost of the afore mentioned target scope and it will no doubt function for another 30 years... P.S. wrt bushnell, I absolutely love my 6500 elite, on par with a Zeiss Conquest for optics anyway.

p.p.s. Silent what part of NS are you in, I'm in Cumberland County.
Click to expand...

I'm in HRM :)
 
daroccot said:
I have had a scope fail on me once as well, a target Tasco on a rimfire no less... I have come to the determination that cheap variable power scopes aren't worth the risk. I picked up a " vintage" tasco fixed power ( made in Japan) for about half the cost of the current crop of new junk and about a quarter of the cost of the afore mentioned target scope and it will no doubt function for another 30 years... P.S. wrt bushnell, I absolutely love my 6500 elite, on par with a Zeiss Conquest for optics anyway.

p.p.s. Silent what part of NS are you in, I'm in Cumberland County.
Click to expand...

I'm in HRM :)
 
All manufacturers of scopews have cheapened their scope lines in the past decade or so. I have had so many problems with Leupold high end scopes that I quit using the brand, for example. I think the trend to have everything manufactured overseas has really affected the quality of every scope manufacturer. We have had Leupolds of every line fail, Swarofski's and Zeiss fail. We have even had Nightforce and March fail although those are rare. About the only line I haven't had issues with is the Bushnell 4200 series.

When I have problems with a rifle's accuracy when I am testing groups, the first thing I do is change the scope before doing anything else.

Nothing is perfect now but the higher end scopes fail less often than the cheap crap.

Steve
 
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