Aaaaaaaaand I killed another scope

[Wrench]

I built a 6XC this year with all the right stuff and I managed to get the 6mm TAP's to shoot really well for about 300 rounds.

I am hunting on a depredation elk hunt and had a 100yd shot broadside, standing still, on the bipod.....everything perfect.....and I 100% did not kill an elk.

I heard the shot land, although we're shooting elk #160 of 200 to walk by so the ground is mud and could have been the impact....dunno.

At the time I assumed this elk would be laying dead in about 50 yards.....but no deal. I tracked the elk for over a mile and given the number in the herd there was not much chance for a minimum blood trail to be seen.....but I figured I'd spot it on the way, nope. I went home and grabbed my Drahthaar who is a solid blood trailer......nothing.

At this point I'm faced with mental hopscotch between a bullet that didn't open, it is an unknown bullet to me, but I've sectioned and tested a few with desirable results, just never smashed one into an elk.....or my scope shit the bed.

I made sure to not touch my scope after the shot as I had a bad feeling. The two days before that rifle rode in the racks of my plush handling 1993 honda fourtrax, I felt bad for the rifle watching it vibrate like a sewing machine needle in the rack, I'm sporting a nightforce and figured if anything will take it, it will.

Today I took the rifle out to a muddy backstop and shot a clay pigeon at 100 yards. I had to be at least 15" away because I couldn't see the impact. I backed out to 4x and fired again.....low and right by a bunch. Fire a 3rd time. Center punch. I start taking apart pieces of the broken clay....absolutely hammering again. I dial up to 995 and slap our 10" gong almost dead center 2x.

Near as I can tell the erector must have gotten stuck off center. I'm sure nightforce will tell me to pound sand because it's working again, but I have zero confidence in this particular scope now.

I felt bad for the rifle given the beating it was taking in the gun rack and dug out a boot that will fit a chassis, and I will probably never use the front rack again for a scoped rifle.

Anyone ever have this happen to you? I've scrambled some scopes but never had them come back like this.

 

[Ice-kub]

Is that the next scope test? Loosely strap the rifle to the quad rack and go 4x4ing?

I feel you'd be hard pressed to find a scope that would pass that test though.

Edit: on a positive note, it did return to zero.

 

[ElDiablito]

I think I missed it… Vortex or a leupold?

 

[Wrench]

I think I missed it… Vortex or a leupold?

I've been there and done that.

 

[Wrench]

Is that the next scope test? Loosely strap the rifle to the quad rack and go 4x4ing?

I feel you'd be hard pressed to find a scope that would pass that test though.

Edit: on a positive note, it did return to zero.

I'd REALLY like to see what the erector/springs look like in the nx8 4-32 to see if there's anything that could be a potential bind point or if this was simply an anomaly.

 

[Yukon Cornelius]

I think I missed it… Vortex or a leupold?

Had to of been one of those because NF never fails.

 

[Ice-kub]

I'd REALLY like to see what the erector/springs look like in the nx8 4-32 to see if there's anything that could be a potential bind point or if this was simply an anomaly.

Did a ten minute search to see if anyone ever disassembled one with photos/video, nothing. Would be interesting to compare the guts of scopes that are "reliable VS not so reliable" and see what the similarities and differences are?

 

[Spoonbill]

Near as I can tell the erector must have gotten stuck off center. I'm sure nightforce will tell me to pound sand because it's working again, but I have zero confidence in this particular scope now.

I felt bad for the rifle given the beating it was taking in the gun rack and dug out a boot that will fit a chassis, and I will probably never use the front rack again for a scoped rifle.

I bet if you contacted nightforce and said “Ok so you won’t believe the wierd shit your scope just did” and detail it like you did in this thread,they may want it back to see if there is something wrong.

But on a more set serious note, that really sucks your scope decided to be off then back on and you missed that cow.

 

[Formidilosus]

I built a 6XC this year with all the right stuff and I managed to get the 6mm TAP's to shoot really well for about 300 rounds.

I am hunting on a depredation elk hunt and had a 100yd shot broadside, standing still, on the bipod.....everything perfect.....and I 100% did not kill an elk.

I heard the shot land, although we're shooting elk #160 of 200 to walk by so the ground is mud and could have been the impact....dunno.

At the time I assumed this elk would be laying dead in about 50 yards.....but no deal. I tracked the elk for over a mile and given the number in the herd there was not much chance for a minimum blood trail to be seen.....but I figured I'd spot it on the way, nope. I went home and grabbed my Drahthaar who is a solid blood trailer......nothing.

At this point I'm faced with mental hopscotch between a bullet that didn't open, it is an unknown bullet to me, but I've sectioned and tested a few with desirable results, just never smashed one into an elk.....or my scope shit the bed.

I made sure to not touch my scope after the shot as I had a bad feeling. The two days before that rifle rode in the racks of my plush handling 1993 honda fourtrax, I felt bad for the rifle watching it vibrate like a sewing machine needle in the rack, I'm sporting a nightforce and figured if anything will take it, it will.

Today I took the rifle out to a muddy backstop and shot a clay pigeon at 100 yards. I had to be at least 15" away because I couldn't see the impact. I backed out to 4x and fired again.....low and right by a bunch. Fire a 3rd time. Center punch. I start taking apart pieces of the broken clay....absolutely hammering again. I dial up to 995 and slap our 10" gong almost dead center 2x.

Near as I can tell the erector must have gotten stuck off center. I'm sure nightforce will tell me to pound sand because it's working again, but I have zero confidence in this particular scope now.

I felt bad for the rifle given the beating it was taking in the gun rack and dug out a boot that will fit a chassis, and I will probably never use the front rack again for a scoped rifle.

Anyone ever have this happen to you? I've scrambled some scopes but never had them come back like this.

While anything could be- that is not behavior of a bound erector. It’s much more common from shifting of actions to stocks or chassis.

What chassis is it, and is it bedded?

 

[Wrench]

Xlr.....and it's tight.

We've seen chassis bind cause 2moa shift but not 15-20.

 

[Wrench]

Not even a bit of a scratch from moving. I smacked the rifle to listen for anything loose and it was drum tight.

 

[Formidilosus]

Xlr.....and it's tight.

We've seen chassis bind cause 2moa shift but not 15-20.

Hmmm. Rings?


Usually (always that I’ve seen), if it is erector binding it’s one shot to come back, not 3.

 

[Wrench]

I went over everything. I honestly thought the TAP bullet just penciled through till I proved the rifle.

 

[Wrench]

Hmmm. Rings?


Usually (always that I’ve seen), if it is erector binding it’s one shot to come back, not 3.

This is a 12ish pound 6xc. Recoil is pretty minimal.

 

[Formidilosus]

This is a 12ish pound 6xc. Recoil is pretty minimal.

Would you be willing to send it to Ryan? I want to see what it does in the drop eval.


This is not me saying it isn’t busted- quite the opposite, I want to see one that may have an issue and see what it does.

 

[Wrench]

I can probably drop it off after the holidays. I have another identical one that will be getting swapped on.

 

[Wrench]

Well there’s always the chance you gut shot her and just couldn’t find her.

Strong possibility. It hit something hard. I couldn't watch the exact animal since there were 200 together walking off.