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Rifle Scopes A little advise about my optics/shooting today!

WookieeLord

Private
Full Member
Minuteman
Mar 23, 2014
20
0
I just want to say Hello to everyone! I am excited to be joining Sniper's Hide and look fwd to a lot of great reads.

I went shooting with my father-in-law today. We set up a 130yrd range (130yrd is what we measured this barrel thing at so it ended up there and not @100yrds) Background Experience: I typically only handle handguns but I have owned several .22LRs and a fairly decent 5.56 AR-15 setup. I really wanted to move into some hunting possibly and a bit of longer range target shooting so I went ahead and built myself a nice Rem 700 setup. After reading this forum it sounded like one of the higher model .308 Rem700s was where I wanted to be. I purchased a Rem 700 .308 AAC-SD and shaved the tip a bit to make it truly free-floating like they "claimed" it was. I went with the Burris MTAC 4.5-14x-42mm (Went Burris because Sportsman's Warehouse made an Ut-Oh and marked it down $200 - Wrong scoped marked but my happiness haha!) Purchased the KRG oversized knob (LOVE IT!) and a couple other things. Let me get to the point of the post.

--> THE REASON FOR POST: I tried shooting but wasn't hitting anything. So I zero'd in @30yrds give or take. I ended up having to make a good bit of rotations for the windage (Right/Left) adjustment for some reason. I don't know if this was due to the mounting but I couldn't imagine it was. I have a basic 2 piece Weaver picatinny rail with Warne 30mm rings. I wanted to know a couple things. I didn't have a lot of time to make many adjustments but for a 1st time longer range shooter I wanted to know if my approx 1.25" groups @130yrd were acceptable and if the amount of adjustment I had to make with the scope was reasonable and shouldn't cause any problems in the future? I was a bit weary when I saw how far out I had to unscrew the rings. Please advise me if I should have the scope worked on or replaced asap. It is still within the 30days return policy. (Rail/Rings/Gun has been properly torqued with a 1/4" wrench if wondering)

**Pictures because THIS THREAD IS USELESS WITHOUT THEM =) ***

The Gun

<a href="http://s98.photobucket.com/user/southkhaki19/media/Remington%20700%20AAC-SD/7.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l272/southkhaki19/Remington%20700%20AAC-SD/7.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 7.jpg"/></a>

Zero'ing @30yrds after I finally figured out how far off the scope really was - It was crazy off to the right side so I adjusted accordingly and ended up to the left a bit.

<a href="http://s98.photobucket.com/user/southkhaki19/media/Remington%20700%20AAC-SD/6.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l272/southkhaki19/Remington%20700%20AAC-SD/6.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 6.jpg"/></a>

The Scope

<a href="http://s98.photobucket.com/user/southkhaki19/media/Remington%20700%20AAC-SD/1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l272/southkhaki19/Remington%20700%20AAC-SD/1.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 1.jpg"/></a>

The adjustments I had to make. Elevation out to the #1 line & Windage out to the #3 line.

<a href="http://s98.photobucket.com/user/southkhaki19/media/Remington%20700%20AAC-SD/3.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l272/southkhaki19/Remington%20700%20AAC-SD/3.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 3.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s98.photobucket.com/user/southkhaki19/media/Remington%20700%20AAC-SD/4.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l272/southkhaki19/Remington%20700%20AAC-SD/4.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 4.jpg"/></a>

The quick 3 shot group I took after a couple warm up rounds. I didn't have time to really adjust because we had no spotting scope to see exactly where I was hitting so I had to walk (private property - Not formal range)

<a href="http://s98.photobucket.com/user/southkhaki19/media/Remington%20700%20AAC-SD/5.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l272/southkhaki19/Remington%20700%20AAC-SD/5.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 5.jpg"/></a>
 
From the pics, and it is hard to really tell from those pics, the scope appears to be canted and it doesn't appear to be perfectly in line with the centerline of the bore. Could be just camera angle. Could also be the mounts. I use Spur mounts on all my guns, I'm even thinking about a 1 piece base and a Spur mount for whatever optic I decide on for my CZ 455 22 LR training gun.

I suspect the mount a bit because your windage appears dead on at 30 yds and the center of your group is off to the right at 100 by at least 1" more like 1.5". Not saying it isn't the shooter there either. The horizontal spread indicates there might be some trigger issues as well or you are muscling the gun a bit. Too hard to tell at this point. Keep shooting and adjusting. I doubt anything is wrong with the scope. Did you start out by centering the reticle before you shot the first round? Dial full left, Dial full right and count clicks, move back 1/2 the number of clicks. Hang a plumb bob by a bright yellow string out at 100 and check that your vertical cross hair is parallel to the string. That will remove the can't.
 
The scope is a bit odd.. There are "painted dashes/marks" & the "wording" for the eyepieces and the paralax adjustment but they are not center with the adjustment knob on top. From what I thought you would typically use a level on the top of the knob. I have the gun level with the knob but it appears off center if you look at the markings. The markings all line up perfect which leads me to believe that as you say, it could be not centered. I'll try the plumb bob next time I head out there to alleviate any possible canting.

As for the centering of the reticle. Should I unscrew the adjustment knob all the way out for the elevation and the windage and put it in the middle. What I did was look down the barrel (bolt out) and focused on a point. Then I adjusted my optics. My elevation wasn't bad but the windage needing a LOT of knob turning. That is the only thing that made me somewhat weary. But, the fact that the scope is primarily a hunting scope and I was able to shoot that grouping @130yrds leads me to believe my adjustments weren't too terrible.