Scope Zero Check Thread

[solarshooter]

Tikka 284 with a Tenmile.

 

[solarshooter]

Tikka 6CM with a Tenmile

 

[Hondo64d]

I had previously relied on a ten shot group for zero, but decided to see what a 20 shot group would reveal. Rifle is a Jon Beanland built Zermatt Origin in a McMillan CF Game Hunter stock with a 20” Bartlein 3B chambered in .308, with a US Reaper suppressor. Scope is an Athlon Helos BTR Gen 2.



1st shot was encouraging.



Next 19 were fired five at a time, letting the barrel cool long enough for me to walk down and check the target.


Indeed, the higher sample size, though close, is not a perfect match to the 10 round zero. I adjusted .1mil up, slipped my turret to zero and called it good.

John

 

[Castle Rock]

Are you sure the image displacement from a hot barrel creating mirage didn’t cause the downward trend, we see this all the time here shooting f class and compensate accordingly.

 

[Hondo64d]

I don’t think so. IIRC, the second shot was close to the center of the group. It wasn’t a gradual trend downward, just random dispersion.

John

 

[Castle Rock]

I don’t think so. IIRC, the second shot was close to the center of the group. It wasn’t a gradual trend downward, just random dispersion.

John

I really like these scopes, you may find this interesting
Tall target

 

[ResearchinStuff]

did a zero check on my 6.5 for the first time in a year, last time out showed 1 click low and I wrote that off as shooter error. this time it was 1 click low and 1 click right shooting prone off my pack + bino harness. I'm gonna call it a loss of zero and take it apart to make sure everything is still good to go, mildly disappointed since I have put a lot, a lot of effort into making this setup bullet proof and it did fine on the drop tests in ~2023.

factory tikka stock heavily modified, area 419 rail jb welded on, burris xtr signature rings (likely the culprit, pretty sure the caps are only at 18 in-lb, SWFA 5-20, CGS hyperion.

 

[Castle Rock]

did a zero check on my 6.5 for the first time in a year, last time out showed 1 click low and I wrote that off as shooter error. this time it was 1 click low and 1 click right shooting prone off my pack + bino harness. I'm gonna call it a loss of zero and take it apart to make sure everything is still good to go, mildly disappointed since I have put a lot, a lot of effort into making this setup bullet proof and it did fine on the drop tests in ~2023.

factory tikka stock heavily modified, area 419 rail jb welded on, burris xtr signature rings (likely the culprit, pretty sure the caps are only at 18 in-lb, SWFA 5-20, CGS hyperion.

View attachment 1019828

Lateral shifts wit those rings are not uncommon, the key to eliminating that is to lightly lubricate the angled camming surfaces so that they pull down evenly, running them dry will often make those surfaces offset.
Lateral impacts will then re seat them.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

Thanks for the tip. Maybe just time to get a different set installed.

 

[Castle Rock]

Yeah , I would, I have gone off them a bit.
These days I work out exactly what cant I want and bed it into a good set of rings.

 

[Jordan Smith]

Yeah , I would, I have gone off them a bit.
These days I work out exactly what cant I want and bed it into a good set of rings.

The XTR Sigs are phenomenal rings if installed correctly.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

The XTR Sigs are phenomenal rings if installed correctly.

I've had a couple pairs in service for the past few years, this is the first issue I've had. Still debating replacing vs troubleshooting this set

 

[Nine Banger]

Zero Check: 30 shots

Maybe next time I'll try 3 shot intervals over a day or a couple days.

42.5 gr H4381sc 2.680” 88TMK 22 Creed PVA 1:7 14.5” bbl 2750 fps

1030am 5 shots, light rain, mirage on shot 5

1115am 5 shots, light rain, breeze, mirage on shot 5

1150am 5 shots, rain, breeze, mirage on shot 5

5PM 5 shots, wind, mirage and smoke on shot 5

526PM 5 shots, rain, mirage and smoke on shot 5

613PM 5 shots, still, mirage on shot 5

 

[PathFinder]

Couple zero checks on a Tikka 243 Improved. Heavily modified and bedded Manners EHT, but it was bedded to a different Tikka action and is a smidge loose on this one. It has shown minor shifts like the one below with this action before. UM Tikka rings and a SWFA 5-20, which both previously passed drop tests on the action this stock was bedded for.
Zero check on the right was before a bear hunt. Some riding in the truck, one day out hiking and shooting for practice. Probably 100 rounds since the prior check.
Shifted check on the left was after dropping off the hood of my truck onto soft/muddy ground, then 4 days of spring bear hunting. It was .2 mil high. Going to swap everything back over to the SS action this stock was bedded for after bear season.

 

[Nine Banger]

I had a crash checking wobble zone in offhand supported position. This is the rifle 2 posts up from May 2nd.

SWFA 3-9x42 in UM gen 1 rings. 65lbs at dovetail and 35lbs at rings.

Gun hit the rock road bed from offhand height, magazine broke off at the mag well spilling follower and ammo to and fro, rear scope cap bumped back 3/8" and elevation turret was ground up.







Smushed the scope cap back into position, switched mags, verified that scope held zero at 542 yards and kept trucking.

 

[2-Stix]

Confirmed zero over 2 years that had about 60 days of hunting with 3k miles in road, 500 in dirt and 100 on foot...and this was after I took it down, cleaned it up a bit, ran a few dry patches, added a little more free float, retorqued it all. This rifle has always been a stand out for me after years of chasing my tail with Savage and Leopold I learned here and got it right. Tikka Veil 7RM, UM rings, NF NXS 3x15 shooting factory Barnes 139 LRX. Very happy!

 

[brucemt]

This is my Tikka .223 with the factory stock that I free floated, raised the recoil pad and installed the adjustable cheek riser. It has a bonded srs rail, seekins rings and a swfa 10x.

Last year I was shooting it while working on my Tikka 7:08, about early October I decided I was going to hunt with the .223 so I swapped it into the rokstock and swapped scopes to the swfa 3-15x. The 10x was just put on a shelf until this spring when I pulled the barrel off the 7:08 and installed a 6 creed prefit which then got the rokstock and 3-15 back. So I put the .223 back in the factory stock and grabbed the 10x off the shelf and didn’t have to adjust the scope even a click. It’s still set on zero/zero from last year. Here is my 10” plate @ 580 from today.
My shooting position.

 

[northernlandgar]

Hiked out for some long range practice with the Tikka .223 Saturday and dropped the rifle pretty hard onto rock on the way home, along with some smaller falls while traversing deadfall. The gun took maybe five or six major bonks. The granite impact slightly bent the objective bell of my SWFA 3-9. Scope mounted in UM rings, factory stock, Scythe Ti on front.

Checked zero today with my last 8 rounds of 77 TMKs over Varget and came in a bit high and left. All screws are tight, 25 in-lbs on top and 45 in-lbs on the dovetail and bottom metal.

Not great, not terrible, but the scenery was nice.

 

[Formidilosus]

Hiked out for some long range practice with the Tikka .223 Saturday and dropped the rifle pretty hard onto rock on the way home, along with some smaller falls while traversing deadfall. The gun took maybe five or six major bonks. The granite impact slightly bent the objective bell of my SWFA 3-9. Scope mounted in UM rings, factory stock, Scythe Ti on front.
View attachment 1077525
Checked zero today with my last 8 rounds of 77 TMKs over Varget and came in a bit high and left. All screws are tight, 25 in-lbs on top and 45 in-lbs on the dovetail and bottom metal.
View attachment 1077529
Not great, not terrible, but the scenery was nice.
View attachment 1077530

25 in-lbs on the rings caps is not correct, nor is 45 in-lbs on the base screws.

It is 65in-lbs on base, 32 in-lbs on rings. Regardless- when you start bending metal on a scope- I would not be surprised if you get small shifts.

 

[RWT]

25 in-lbs on the rings caps is not correct, nor is 45 in-lbs on the base screws.

It is 65in-lbs on base, 32 in-lbs on rings. Regardless- when you start bending metal on a scope- I would not be surprised if you get small shifts.

So the rings moved to 32 in-lbs? I am still running 25in lbs. Who are the manufactures with a tube that will support the weight with out crushing. I assume NF.