Purging a scope

D

DeadeyeLefty

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I bought a Savage 111 package gun about 10 years ago that came with a low-end Bushnell in place of the Simmons that was apparently spec'd on these.
On opening morning last fall, I was eyeing up a mulie about 200m out on a powerline. I could see that it would fit in the freezer but was having a hard time seeing if that was an ear or a spike. At first I thought it was because of the typical rain mist of a west coast dawn, but it was the scope fogging up.
Long story short, didn't take a shot...and didn't see another buck all season.
Before I left my spot that morning, I dug out my phone and ordered a Vortex I'd been looking at (which has been great).

I recently took the Bushnell out of the box to figure out what had happened. I unscrewed the eyepiece because I could hear that lens rattling. It appears the locking ring that holds the lens had become cross threaded, presumably from the recoil of probably a thousand rounds of 30-06. I backed out the ring and the threads appeared to be fine. I threaded it back in by hand until it tightened against the glass without any signs of the splinters that normally indicate blown out fine threads in aluminum.

Now that it's physically back together, I'm thinking I'd like to give it an easy retirement onto a 10/22 that I use for grouse.

TL DR:
Is there somewhere (preferably in or around Vancouver) that can purge the scope with nitrogen to get the humidity out ? Bear in mind this is a cheap scope.
The threads on the retaining appeared to be dry. Is there a downside to putting blue loctite on them ? That .22 rides on the front of the quad whenever chickens are open.

Thx all.
 
I would leave it disassembled and put it in a large ziploc bag with a fresh package of dessicant for a week. Then reassemble. I am not sure I would bother to have nitrogen released into the tube .... likely will leak out anyway and some scopes (without nitrogen) are pretty resistant to fogging if you avoid bringing them into a warm humid room after being cold soaked,
 
It belongs in the garbage.
First clue was losing the chance on the buck.
That scope isn't worth the freight to Bushnell and any warranty
is null and void as you tampered with it.

If you don't wish to toss it, send it to Phil @ Trace scope repair.
He may be able to use the parts.

I'd bend it in half so there would be no second thoughts about it.
 
Thanks for the input, all. I did do the dessicant thing before I put it back together so hopefully it'll be fine - humidity is a big problem here.
I'll just use it on the .22 till the quad finally rattles it apart then toss it.
 
Bushnell's warranty is pretty much no questions asked. Just send it in saying it had moisture inside and you'll get back a new one. Which at that point you can sell if you're not fond of it anymore
 
*MALICE* said:
Bushnell's warranty is pretty much no questions asked. Just send it in saying it had moisture inside and you'll get back a new one. Which at that point you can sell if you're not fond of it anymore
Click to expand...

This seems the wisest course of action.

Aside from that the entry path for an moisture that was in there, may or may not be fully sealed by your ministrations, negating the benefits of going through the trouble, like as anot, there is now a deposit on the surface of some of the other lenses in the tube, so unless you can take the whole scope apart in a clean environment, and clean the lenses, like as not, you will not ever get back to factory clarity.
Maybe you can live with that. In which case scrounging up some desiccant packs or buying a jug of Cat Box Crystals (silica gel, same as desiccant packs)

As for how to do it, you would pretty much need to build a small inert gas environment or the work to be carried out in. Like a small sandblasting cabinet, usually of plexiglass, with sealed gloves to work with. These are used by folks welding active metals with TIG, filled with the shielding gas.
Place all your tools and materials in to the box, seal it and purge with Nitrogen until there is a high confidence of having removed all contaminants. Then assemble and seal inside this environment.

Really, it totals up to being a thousand dollar fix for a hundred dollar scope.

Send it for a free replacement! :)
 
Thx, maybe I'll give that a shot. I've sent their wty dept a couple emails through the website with the part number but never heard back.
 
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