Rifle Scopes IOR 4-14x50

[tigerhunter]

I have a bit of a dilemma and I can't test what I suspect until tomorrow. I have an older 4-14X50 IOR scope that I got a pretty good deal on. So, after zeroing my rifle, I have attempted to return the ring to zero. So, according to the instructions, you back the two 3mm allen screws out 1/2 to 3/4 turn. Well, as I feared, one of the screws fell completely out of the turret. I then adjusted the ring, not the knurled knob to "0". The ring made "clicks" as the instructions said it would, but this was not changing my POI. I then, gritted my teeth as I inserted the fallen out screw and it returned back into the threads without a hitch. SO, my thinking was at this point "hopefully" the internals did not move. I re-tightened the screws and held the knurled elevation knob. At this point I realize that the ring has seated to the baseline on the elevation turret. What the hell happened with this? I have a feeling I am going to have a long day ahead of me finding my zero, or I am going to have to return the scope to a tech at IOR and who knows how long it will take to get the scope back.

First, did I lose my zero?
Second, did I lose my range of adjustment?
Third, are the internals completely screwed?

Thanks in advance for the thoughts and the input.

 

[2ndamendfan]

Re: IOR 4-14x50

You will be fine. The instructions say 1/2 - 3/4 of a turn because that is just enough to loosen the screws' grip on the internals. They are small screws and don't NEED to be removed all the way and get lost. They are a set screw used to apply pressure. Same as a gas block on a AR that has screws instead of roll pins.

 

[tigerhunter]

Re: IOR 4-14x50

Thanks for the peace of mind. It's greatly appreciated. I am going to shoot some this week anyway, but I was thinking, "man I don't want to go through the finding zero process again".

So by have the ring to the "baseline", what does this mean?

 

[ShtrRdy]

Re: IOR 4-14x50

I'm not sure how the older turret adjustments work, but the IOR scope I got last summer has 4 set screws around the turret.

You might give Val a call at IOR Valdada to see if he can help you understand what happened.

 

[tigerhunter]

Re: IOR 4-14x50

I think I will do just that. I would hope there is nothing wrong with the scope because everything seemed to fall back into its respective location, not to mention, it tightened. But I will definitely give him a call. Thanks for your input.

 

[tigerhunter]

Re: IOR 4-14x50

So, the rain threw a wrench in my mix today, but tomorrow looks like its going to be a good day to shoot. Probably going to be windy as all get out, but not really a concern as I will likely not shoot past 300 yards. Anyhow, I talked to Val at Valdada today on the phone. I told him of my dilemma and the first thing he asked was "could you return the screw to its original location with no problems?" Of course I had no issue and he indicated that had I lost my "guts" inside of the turret, I would not have been able to return the screw to its location. Evidently there is some form of thread boss inside of the turret that pairs the set screw to the internals and if you cannot mate the two, then you have lost your internals in the turret. Then I asked about the ring or cylinder (click indicator) returning to the baseline as opposed to the third line (where the turret was dialed to originally) and he said that he could not give me a definite answer but he told me to call him tomorrow when I am out shooting and let him know if the scope was having an issue or performing flawlessly. I will keep you guys posted as to what happens and whether or not this is an issue and what the plan of action is if this is an issue. If not, lesson learned and I can breathe easy.

 

[tigerhunter]

Re: IOR 4-14x50

Just a bit of an update. I did not get to shoot today thanks to the rain, again. But tomorrow is supposed to be clear as a bell and nice and cool. I have done a bit of reading today and as far as I can tell, with the cylinder reset to baseline, or bottomed out, I am going to need about 3 rotations to get the scope back to my original zero of 200 yards, or 1.1 inches high at 100 yards. I am going to fire my first shot and hopefully I am on the paper, but I have my doubts. After the first shot, I will adjust and return my scope to "0" once more. But, if I screwed up and lost my internals, I will be sending the scope back to Valdada. Updates to come.

 

[tigerhunter]

Re: IOR 4-14x50

I finally got out to shoot yesterday. To answer my original questions: Yes, I had lost my zero, by around 36 inches at 100 yards. But, I returned the turret to the 3rd rotation marking, loosened the two Allen screws, set the cylinder on the turret to zero and squeezed off another round. The next shot was dead on, so I simply held my aim point, dialed in one minute and squeezed off another. 1 inch high at 100. My windage was fine.

I did not lose any range of adjustment.
And obviously, the internals remained intact.

Finally, I called Val at Valdada and spoke with him for the second time this week. I told him that the scope was fine and that it performed flawlessly. We had about a 5 minute conversation and he told me to call if I ever had an issue to not hesitate to call. I have heard mixed reviews on Valdada customer service, but in my case, the experience was at worst, a good one.