DIY drop tests

[Macintosh]

Obviously you're just guessing what these supposed short range shooters do, as you've got no way of knowing. The fact of the matter is 95% of big game animals are killed 300yds and under in spite of what the internet says.

I think you are misunderstanding what I wrote. It is 100% true that the vast majority of game is killed inside 300 yards. Thats irrelevant. Whats relevant, and what I know from watching, is that people at the range, by and large, do a supremely crappy job zeroing, dont quantify much of anything and “call it good”. This is the VAST majority of people I see at the range. Those people would not be able to say one way or another if their zero shifted. The fact is that they dont know that. It doesnt mean its not true, my observation is simply that based on me watching how they zero and check zero, they cant say with any certainty. This is so pervasive that I believe it to be the norm, and without photographic evidence I pretty much write off anything someone tells me that I didnt see with my own eyes. Yet those same people will recommend their scope and tell someone it’s “rock solid”, and extrapolate their methodology based on what works at short range, to someone who is trying to make hits at much, much longer range where small errors are compounded.
That is all.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

I was looking for something else and found this old post by Form.

Post in thread 'Rifle Proofing Issues'

Apr 9, 2025

The scope evals have been a really eye opening experience for me, and I happen to have a scope in my possession that I haven't seen drop tested yet (Revic Accura. With that in mind I set about setting up a proofing rifle both for testing my own equipment and being able to give back a little. After reading as much of the info already posted as possible, I purchased a SWFA 10x Gen 2 (MOA Quad), Nightforce rings, a Nightforce pic rail and got to work.

The rifle is a Remington 700 action that has had the receiver face, bolt lug recesses, and bolt lugs trued. It wears a Criterion Heavy...

• Formidilosus

• 

I think it is important to remember that if you conduct your a drop test, you are at best only going to find error somewhere within your system. You won't know whether it is the rifle, the mount, the scope, etc. which is the source of error.

 

[SloppyJ]

The one thing it takes is quite a bit of ammo. Well at least in a normal shooters mind. Get a solid zero on 30 rounds thats verified on another trip with another 30rds. Record your gun's cone of fire measurement. Then you can start your "zero tracking" experiment.

If any of the shots fall within that cone, they count as zeroed. Thats the hard part for people to get.

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

I drop test mine anytime I descend steep sandy/shale mountain faces haha. Occasionally in steep country with thick brush too. Took a 10’ header last year off some deadfall. Basically front flipped and landed on the pack/rifle onto (fortunately) a pile of slash.

Fell 3 times yesterday with the rifle in my SG carrier. Tired legs trying to get somewhere fast. Shot it when I got back to the truck today, dead on. Scope didn’t take any impacts but the rifle definitely did.

I’ve kept track of zero retention over the past year or so without intentionally dropping. Once I get the rokstoks on them I’ll continue doing that over a longer period of time. Collate the groups on one pdf. Easy to see trends that way.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

The drop test is to simulate long term, actual field use of scopes with the huge caveat being… A rifle setup that is KNOWN to not be the cause of an impact shift.

You dropping your gun on your own isn’t as telling.

How do you know it’s not…

The barrel to action shifting (looking at you Christensen arms).
The action to stock shifting.
The scope bases to stock shifting.
The scope rings to bases shifting.
The scope rings cracking and shifting.
The scope moving in the rings shifting.
The actual scope itself failing and shifting.

Get a scope that has passed the evaluations. Properly mount and torque as per @Formidilosus method.

Go shoot and hunt with it with confidence. If you aren’t shooting it enough before hunts to see potential impact shifts, that’s on you.

 

[JGRaider]

I think you are misunderstanding what I wrote. It is 100% true that the vast majority of game is killed inside 300 yards. Thats irrelevant. Whats relevant, and what I know from watching, is that people at the range, by and large, do a supremely crappy job zeroing, dont quantify much of anything and “call it good”. This is the VAST majority of people I see at the range. Those people would not be able to say one way or another if their zero shifted. The fact is that they dont know that. It doesnt mean its not true, my observation is simply that based on me watching how they zero and check zero, they cant say with any certainty. This is so pervasive that I believe it to be the norm, and without photographic evidence I pretty much write off anything someone tells me that I didnt see with my own eyes. Yet those same people will recommend their scope and tell someone it’s “rock solid”, and extrapolate their methodology based on what works at short range, to someone who is trying to make hits at much, much longer range where small errors are compounded.
That is all.

Not sure why you or anyone else cares what a bunch of random people at the gun range are doing. I sure don't.

 

[JGRaider]

The drop test is to simulate long term, actual field use of scopes with the huge caveat being… A rifle setup that is KNOWN to not be the cause of an impact shift.

You dropping your gun on your own isn’t as telling.

How do you know it’s not…

The barrel to action shifting (looking at you Christensen arms).
The action to stock shifting.
The scope bases to stock shifting.
The scope rings to bases shifting.
The scope rings cracking and shifting.
The scope moving in the rings shifting.
The actual scope itself failing and shifting.

Get a scope that has passed the evaluations. Properly mount and torque as per @Formidilosus method.

Go shoot and hunt with it with confidence. If you aren’t shooting it enough before hunts to see potential impact shifts, that’s on you.

Don't forget shooter error, wind/atmospherics, ammo quality.......

 

[Macintosh]

Not sure why you or anyone else cares what a bunch of random people at the gun range are doing. I sure don't.

There is a big difference between observing what people do and making conclusions based on the consistency of those observations, versus caring what people do. I hope you can understand the difference between observing and caring. On this topic where virtually all (maybe all?) of the folks trashing the evals have nothing more to offer people like me than “my scopes are rock solid”, I hope you are able to understand why correlating what I see the majority of people doing with the uncorroborated things people say online, could be a useful tool.

 

[5811]

On this topic where virtually all (maybe all?) of the folks trashing the evals have nothing more to offer

 

[JGRaider]

There is a big difference between observing what people do and making conclusions based on the consistency of those observations, versus caring what people do. I hope you can understand the difference between observing and caring. On this topic where virtually all (maybe all?) of the folks trashing the evals have nothing more to offer people like me than “my scopes are rock solid”, I hope you are able to understand why correlating what I see the majority of people doing with the uncorroborated things people say online, could be a useful tool.

To each their own. When I'm on the range I'm paying attention to what I'm doing, not everyone else.

 

[sndmn11]

7 shots is all it takes to run through the evaluation. I have a handful of videos on here showing it take place in under 10 minutes. Nothing should be damaged, the biggest thing in jeopardy is ego, and you will have a better understanding of how your equipment functions.

No reason not to.