Rifle Scopes Question regarding adjustment range of Steiner Military 5-25x56

[vinogeek]

I have one of these scopes on a AI AX. 338LM with a 30 MOA rail mounted on an AI 0 MOA mount.
I can only get 17 mils of upward adjustment after zeroing. The specs say 26 mil total and the rail cant/taper should provide more of the adjustment range above zero. Using up 9 mil + the 30 MOA to get to zero seems excessive to me. Anyone have any suggestions or corrections of my assumptions? Shot out to 1780yds yesterday and had to hold over to get there.

Sure, not like I shoot that far every day, but I am puzzled why I can't get more adjustment out of the scope.

Thanks in advance!

 

[cecchino76]

I had one of those too, on my 6.5 CM ,
you should consider getting a 20 MOA mount , together with your 30 MOA base
it will give you almost all full adjustment range or at list 20 MIL

 

[vinogeek]

That is what I will most likely do. I get 20.5 from my Schmidt with a 20 MOA rail with the same 0 MOA mount on my 6.5CM AX. There must be a significant difference in retical placement between the the manufacturers.

 

[lash]

At what range did you zero?

 

[vinogeek]

100yd

 

[lash]

I agree that something does not seem to add up. Are you sure that you didn't put the 30 MOA rail backwards? JK, but it's 30 MOA, which is almost exactly 9 mil; weird coincidence.

Using roughly 18 mils to get a 100 yard zero seems...well just wrong. Unless you are shooting .22 shorts out of that thing.

Lol actually, if you make the assumption that the scope has a natural zero at level directly in the center of the reticle, your scope would have 13 mils of vertical adjustment either up or down. Adding the 30 MOA rail would make that approx. 22 mils available up adjustment. You are actually left with only 17 mils after a 100 yard zero, meaning it took 5 mils to get a 100 yd zero. So, something still seems wonky somewhere.

 

[vinogeek]

Exactly... Seems wonky to me as well. The rail is original to the rifle and I bought it new so I would be surpised if it was off. The rail is stamped 30 MOA on the side. I must be missing something... Other than this question, the scope is great.

 

[dmike]

Exactly... Seems wonky to me as well. The rail is original to the rifle and I bought it new so I would be surpised if it was off. The rail is stamped 30 MOA on the side. I must be missing something... Other than this question, the scope is great.

Does the rail look like it slopes down toward the muzzle?

 

[vinogeek]

The receiver rail and handguard rail fit together perfectly. I think the cant of the rail is correct.

 

[Das Capitolin]

The Steiner M5Xi Military 5-25x56 has 26.0 mils of range in the elevation adjustment. This means that it comes from the factory mechanical zeroed at approximately 13 mils, leaving another 13 mils of upward elevation. You stated that it was mounted on a 30 MOA rail and now gets 17 mils of upward travel, but you didn't mention how far off of mechanical zero you came to reach your 100 yard zero. While I think your 30-MOA rail should yield more than another 4 mils, your zero offset (between mechanical and 100-yard zero) might be making up the difference.

 

[vinogeek]

I will count the clicks to the bottom of the elevation adjustment range. Calcuations suggest I would have been printing low by appx 4.7 mils for the numbers to work out. I think I need to verify number of clicks to my rifle's zero and the number of clicks available. I expect to see zero at (up) 90 and 260 available clicks.

 

[jfields]

I have this scope on my .338 as well. I believe I have a 20 MOA Rail and Seekins low rings. With a 100 yard Zero I have 19.8 mils of upward travel. I am going to check this data at lunch, but I'm pretty sure that is right.

-J

I checked and I have 20.2 mils of up. Confirmed that it is an EGW 20 MOA base and Seekins low rings. 100 Yard Zero. That gets me to 1850 yards here at sea level. Hope this helps.

-J

 

[varmint slayer]

Steiner recommends a 40 MOA rail for those. Just sayin...

 

[Bronco]

The mechanical zero may not be correct. Bought a Steiner 4X-16X-50mm G2 Mil-Dot Rifle Scope MPN 5416 a few months ago and when I tried to zero it on a rifle with a 20 moa rail it lacked almost a full mil getting low enough (bottomed out 3" high at 100 yd.) Had the full 19 mil up available. Sent it to Greeley they said it was in spec, so tried it again, still high so shot a target and sent it back with target and in depth explanation. That was 4-23-14, haven't heard a thing.

 

[HOGWILD]

(888) 228-7747 maybe a local call and some good old CS is always what I use first!

 

[vinogeek]

Ok, mystery solved. The rotation indicator actuator was not in the correct position under the cap. I expected that this would cause it to stop at the end of the first rotation but in my case it was several mils into the second rotation (17). Now I have 22.7 upward adjustment.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[lash]

Glad you got it figured out and thanks for posting the fix for anyone who might have a similar situation.

Note that in post number 6 above, I mentioned that you should have about 22 mils adjustment left, so math does work after all. Good to know.

Plus, I have a new Steiner on pre-order, one of the new U.S. made ones, so it's personal that these give the adjustment range they are rated for. Mine will also end up on a salvage .338.