Take on Forms Scope Test from Aaron Davidson

[Sako300]

Anyone listen to the last Rokcast Podcast with Aaron Davidson where he was saying he was seeing measurable movements in picatinny mounted scopes with rifle drops? I thought this was interesting. I wonder how Nightforce, Trijicon, SWFA, etc continue to pass?

 

[BBob]

There's already another thread on it.

Actually looks like the one I was thinking of was a Cliff Gray podcast.

Thread 'Cliff Grays Podcast with Aaron Davidson'

Aug 26, 2025

Some interesting takes on this podcast. Aaron has some great points especially on lighter calibers, negative comb stocks, and drop testing. I would love to hear him and @Formidilosus discuss/debate the drop testing and the differences they have found on a podcast.

Shout out to @Cliff Gray for having awesome podcasts.

Rifle Design, Drop Tests & Shooting Better with Aaron Davidson of GunWerks

Podcast Episode · Pursuit With Cliff - Cliff Gray · 08/25/2025 · 2h 11m

podcasts.apple.com

• wnelson14

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[Southern Lights]

Anyone listen to the last Rokcast Podcast with Aaron Davidson where he was saying he was seeing measurable movements in picatinny mounted scopes with rifle drops? I thought this was interesting. I wonder how Nightforce, Trijicon, SWFA, etc continue to pass?

I listened to the podcast and he has very valid points on many topics in terms of long range precision, rifle design, optics, etc.

Picatinny definitely has a lot of slop and you can feel it when you tighten the rings when putting pressure forward to secure the scope. I think the system was designed for a different purpose (flexible attaching of military optics and accessories in field conditions) and not ultimate precision. A simple Sako tapered dovetail seems more precise and solid in general vs. any picatinny I've used just as one example.

A scope shifting 1/1000 of an inch in the mount is going to move the point of impact 1" at 100 yards. It takes very little shift to cause a major miss if a mount isn't secure.

With the above said, some of these drop tests have shifts so bad and dialing errors so bad that I find it hard to believe it's just a mount moving.