Acceptable windage adjustment for zero

[308James]

When you first mount your scope and go to zero it what is an acceptable amount of windage to dial in to get a zero? At what point do you start to think there is an issue with the rail, scope, mount etc…

The reason I ask is I was playing around last weekend with a scope that I know was dialed in on a rifle but put it in a quick detach mount I had to see if I liked the height and it shot about 10 inches to the right. I knew right away something was off so put it on two other rifles and was the same 10 inches off. Since I knew it was not the rifle or scope I threw it in a spuhr mount I had and right back to center. This got me wondering at what point do you say hey, something is not right here. I would also think the “allowed” amount will change based on the equipment such as integrated rail or not, quality and type of mount, quality of scope, I am sure the caliber even plays a role.

 

[lash]

I’d say that what’s acceptable is up to you, but 10” off at 100y is a bit much. If it’s a mount that you’ve had that cannot be returned or exchanged, it’s not a hard thing to glue a thin strip of aluminum to the inside of the front right clamp part and bring that zero back in line. This assumes that the moveable part of the clamp is on the left side of your rail and the fixed side is on the right. You’ll have to experiment with thickness to get what you need.

I did this with a mount that had similar issues and it’s not lost zero since, even moving from rifle to rifle. I used a piece cut from a can, folded and hammered flat until I found how much was required. Then glued it in place. It’s not an elegant fix, but it’s unnoticeable and works well.

 

[spife7980]

If you take your quick detach and screw it on harder, does it come back to center?

If it holds zero and doesnt limit your travel then I say party on garth

 

[KnowNothing256]

10" at 100y is not a huge deal, if that's your only concern it's fine, seems to me. You already proved it's repeatable, which is more than some QD mounts will give you, and as @spife7980 notes, unless you really need those 3 mils or 10 MOA of windage travel in your scope for dialing, just zero the scope and ride

 

[308James]

I will say that 10 inches is not acceptable for me, I personally think anything more then a couple inches for the equipment I have is to much. I have put the QD mount in a bag and will mess around with it another day. Not so much worried about fixing that issue as its fixed with the new mount.
I was more asking what most people see out of the box on a new set up.

 

[RobbinsHGray]

Wow 10 inches at 100 yards what mount is this. I can’t believe the manufacturer of that Mount wood see that as acceptable

 

[308James]

Wow 10 inches at 100 yards what mount is this. I can’t believe the manufacturer of that Mount wood see that as acceptable

I don't want to say right now as it is a reputable company and could be something in the QD part with the pressure or something and when I had other scopes in it I don't think it was that off. Defiantly going to play with it some in the next month or so but as I said I put it all in a bag and will get to it later.
Again, this post was not to bash a mount or try and solve the issue with that mount but just made me start wondering what was the common amount of correction dialed in on a new set up was.

 

[lash]

In that case, I surely would take @spife7980’s advice and check/adjust the QC locking front and back.

 

[ma smith]

This video talks about mechanical and optical zeroing of your optic's erector... 38:00 min mark

 

[308James]

Neat video, that mirror trick could come in handy, will have to watch the whole thing.

Thanks for the replies and advice but no one has actually answered the question. Maybe I should word it differently. When you install a new scope how much windage is typical to dial to be centered. 1 or 2 MOA, half a Mill? I would assume that as you get higher quality equipment the amount would decrease but just was wondering what most people saw out of the gate.
Thanks,

 

[lash]

Neat video, that mirror trick could come in handy, will have to watch the whole thing.

Thanks for the replies and advice but no one has actually answered the question. Maybe I should word it differently. When you install a new scope how much windage is typical to dial to be centered. 1 or 2 MOA, half a Mill? I would assume that as you get higher quality equipment the amount would decrease but just was wondering what most people saw out of the gate.
Thanks,

The thing is, it’s not actually that simple. There could also be a barrel issue involved. I once had a 6br barrel that required 6 mils of adjustment to the left using a scope that on the rest of my rifles was within 1/2 mil windage.

 

[ma smith]

Neat video, that mirror trick could come in handy, will have to watch the whole thing.

Thanks for the replies and advice but no one has actually answered the question. Maybe I should word it differently. When you install a new scope how much windage is typical to dial to be centered. 1 or 2 MOA, half a Mill? I would assume that as you get higher quality equipment the amount would decrease but just was wondering what most people saw out of the gate.
Thanks,

Thats called deviation from mechanical zero, watch the whole video above and its discussed. Setting deviation from mechanical zero is possible, but Its not very practical or very widely done. You could collect data on this, but getting valid numbers is tricky as are valid benchmarks.