Bushnell LRTSi 3-12 issue

[texag10]

I have a 3-12 LRTSi mounted on a Barrett Fieldcraft 6.5 CM in Talley Lightweights. The rings were degreased and all screws loc-tited and torqued to spec when mounting. First time out with the rifle I was hitting out to 600 yds with ease by dialing elevation and holding wind. 2nd time out I verify zero at 100 yds, it's perfect, then the scope starts hitting ~.6mil right from 200-540yds with no wind. Even if there was wind my hits wouldn't stay at the same deviation at different distances.

Today I went shooting again, same issue. Perfect 100 yard zero, .6mil right at 200. Just for giggles I came back to 100 and left my parallax set to 200... .6 mil right at 100. I set the parallax to infinity, re-zero at 100, took it out to 200 again, dead center.

I have 4 rifle tags between now and December, I plan to just leave it as is and roll with it. This scope is already a replacement for a LRHS with non functioning elevation turret. I really like the scope but at this point I want my money back and I'll use it towards a NF NXS. I'd really love to stay with a FFP scope, but the ATACR is too much dinero and too heavy for a 5lb rifle.

Anyone see issue with just hunting it as is? Any input on how to deal with Bushnell?

 

[Ndbowhunter]

talley lightweights are extruded so before throwing ur scope off a cliff I'd put a good set of pic rail and rings on that gun.


Are you shooting groups?

And are your action screws tight?

And lastly how are you holding/supporting the gun while shooting?

 

[texag10]

talley lightweights are extruded so before throwing ur scope off a cliff I'd put a good set of pic rail and rings on that gun.


Are you shooting groups?

Yes.

And are your action screws tight?

Torqued to spec from Barrett manual.

And lastly how are you holding/supporting the gun while shooting?

Shooting from prone, fore-end on a backpack stuffed with jackets, rear end supported by a travel pillow used as a rear bag, rifle pulled firmly into my shoulder pocket with first pad of trigger finger on the trigger. I hold the trigger to the rear until the recoil is done.

I HIGHLY doubt it is the rings. I could recreate the issue at will once I figured out the parallax moved the windage. Go out to 200, adjust parallax to 200 as marked on scope, groups are as expected but right. Come back to 100, adjust parallax, group are centered. Adjust parallax to 200 but keep shooting at 100, group as right.

If it was the Talleys, wouldn't I have crap groups with errors that weren't repeatable?

 

[GLB]

There is a tendency to cant the rifle when shooting at distance. I have seen this many times teaching a scoped rifle course for my Department. The best way to correct this is with a level on your rifle/scope. You will be surprised at how much we are off.

 

[Formidilosus]

Go out to 200, adjust parallax to 200 as marked on scope, groups are as expected but right. Come back to 100, adjust parallax, group are centered. Adjust parallax to 200 but keep shooting at 100, group as right.

Are you visually removing parallax, or adjusting off the dial?

 

[texag10]

Are you visually removing parallax, or adjusting off the dial?

Adjusting off the dial. Most of my shooting is with pistols, how should I be doing this?

@GLB: If I am canting the rifle would I see perfect elevation adjustment with the windage shift?

EDIT: Just got off the phone with Bushnell customer service, got the expected reply: Send it in and they will replace or repair. Leaning more and more towards sending it in, getting the new one back, selling it without mounting, and getting a NXS 2.5-10 compact. I'd really miss FFP, but guess I could deal with it since I only use the reticle for wind.

Thanks for the help so far everyone!

 

[Formidilosus]

Adjusting off the dial. Most of my shooting is with pistols, how should I be doing this?

The numbers don’t mean anything. You need to ignore the numbers on the dial, bench the gun so it can’t move while aimed at the target, and without touching the rifle in any way turn the dial a bit at a time while bobbing your head up and down or side to side while looking at the reticle. Stop when no matter how much you move your head the reticle doesn’t move on target. Highly likely it won’t line up with the numbers on the dial.

 

[texag10]

The numbers don’t mean anything. You need to ignore the numbers on the dial, bench the gun so it can’t move while aimed at the target, and without touching the rifle in any way turn the dial a bit at a time while bobbing your head up and down or side to side while looking at the reticle. Stop when no matter how much you move your head the reticle doesn’t move on target. Highly likely it won’t line up with the numbers on the dial.

Ok, I really appreciate the help! Once I have this set up in the manner you described, can it be set and forget? Does the issue described sound like a scope issue or a user problem?

 

[GLB]

@GLB: If I am canting the rifle would I see perfect elevation adjustment with the windage shift?
Yes you will at greater distance. The windage error will usually show up early as In your case (200yards) and at greater distance it will be low as well.
Also as mentioned above the numbers on the parallax knob means nothing. You would adjust until there is no movement of the reticle when you slightly shift your head up and down while looking at the target.

 

[GLB]

Also to check for cant if you don't have a level to put on your rifle/scope, you can hang a plumb line and or draw a heavy dark line with a leveler on your targets. Line your vertical retical with that and that should tell you something. A bright rope with a rock tied to it hanging will give you a good reverence to keep the reticle straight up and down.

 

[texag10]

Update on this:

I went hunting, had a mule deer doe tag. I figured with the parallax set and me not touching it I wouldn't run into any windage shift issues. Turns out I was wrong.

I had a 178 yard shot at a doe. This should have been a cakewalk, I was shooting from prone, I watched the group of deer for 1-2 minutes to let my breathing and heart rate settle down, and had a perfect broadside shot with the wind directly in my face and elevation dialed. Steady hold on the crease behind the shoulder mid body, slowly added pressure to the trigger and got a clean break. Clean. effing. miss. I had ample opportunity to shoot again because the deer didn't know what happened and milled around for another 3-4 minutes, but didn't want to shoot again on the off chance she'd actually dropped dead and I couldn't see her in the sage.

Followed up, no dead doe, no blood. I called Bushnell and they are overnighting me a replacement. I can't ask for better service, but I damn sure would like a more reliable scope.

Debating mounting the new one and zeroing it for my 4th season cow elk tag, or eating the tag, selling the replacement as unmounted, and buying something from Nightforce.

Thoughts?

 

[Brightwhite]

Dang, I shot a deer the last weekend using a NF SHV with parallax, have a 100yd zero, had my parallax set at 100 yards, my shot was about 210, I just held a little high and center punched it perfectly. I am far from an expert at this stuff, but that doesn't sound like parallax to me. I am sure others will chime in with something more scientific. I just wanted to give you my real world scenario on Saturday and how it was not affected by not adjusting parallax.

 

[texag10]

I know what I am experiencing shouldn't be a parallax issue, something's broken in the scope.

 

[Brightwhite]

I know what I am experiencing shouldn't be a parallax issue, something's broken in the scope.

I apologize, I think I miss interpreted your post.

 

[texag10]

No worries, it can be hard to pick up everything from forum posts and I've never been accused of being the best writer!

Short version is moving the parallax adjustment on my scope was giving me a big windage shift, I verified the parallax dial was causing this by leaving it alone and immediately getting good hits at 100 and 200, so I left it alone and decided to hunt with it without touching the knob. That didn't work out. Not sure what explanation there could be from shooting 1.5 MOA groups at 200 from the prone 2 weeks ago to missing a deer completely at 178 other than something being broken.

 

[INgunner54]

Did you happen to check zero on the scope after missing the doe?

 

[texag10]

I will once I get the new scope. I'm going to re-create the shot as well as I can. Same distance, same shooting position, etc.

Decided I will roll with the new scope Bushnell is sending me and if it works reliably, I'll be fine. If it doesn't, get another replacement, sell it NIB, and hope nightforce comes with a FFP NXS 2.5-10 at SHOT.

 

[wind gypsy]

No worries, it can be hard to pick up everything from forum posts and I've never been accused of being the best writer!

Short version is moving the parallax adjustment on my scope was giving me a big windage shift, I verified the parallax dial was causing this by leaving it alone and immediately getting good hits at 100 and 200, so I left it alone and decided to hunt with it without touching the knob. That didn't work out. Not sure what explanation there could be from shooting 1.5 MOA groups at 200 from the prone 2 weeks ago to missing a deer completely at 178 other than something being broken.

Did you lock the rifle down and verify the parallax was impacting zero or are you going solely off your miss? That is a large windage shift to completely miss a deer at under 200 yards.

 

[texag10]

I verified the parallax was causing a windage shift by shooting at a target on a range from prone before my hunt. The rifle was resting on my pack and I was using a travel pillow as a rear bag. The observed shift was .9mil (looked at my notes, I had previously said .6 mil going off memory). This matches my previous shift at longer ranges at a prior range trip before I knew what was happening.

I did not adjust parallax at all for the shot on the deer. I am confident I did not forget how to shoot in 2 weeks and was calm before and after the shot.

 

[wind gypsy]

I guess why I asked is because adjusting parallax can impact your POI with a properly functioning scope if you are shooting with parallax error in your scope. 0.9 Mils seems to be more extreme than I'd think you could get with a correctly functioning scope.

Let us know if Bushnell gives you a heads up on what was wrong with it. I have 3 LRHS in use on my rifles, don't like hearing about faulty ones!