Rifle Scopes scope tracking test tool advice

[Benjaminwill80]

After reading through so much on here and other places about testing the tracking on a scope decided I wanted to give it a try on my new leupold vx5hd 3-15x44. Looked to buy the device From targets USA but was more than I wanted to spend so made my own. Ordered the box 2 bench targets and should get it all out to test this week. I am a complete amateur but hope to have some interesting info to share on the leupold. Have seen great reviews and less than great reviews. Figure this way I will know if it is tracking true.
Any advice on the testing from those more experienced?

 

[DownhillFromHere]

I am about to assemble a few pieces of 2x6" framing lumber in a somewhat similar configuration to what you have done. I'll use a 25-pound bag or two of #9 shot to anchor that puppy in place on the bench. No way I'm spending $275 for the Targets USA tool - I'm sure it's very nice, and there's no doubt mine will be rough and ugly as sin, but it doesn't have to be pretty to run the test. In Frank's case - where he tests many many scopes in his classes - the tool is awesome.

To insure continuity of cheapness, I created my tall targets with a large framing square, cardboard, marker, 1/2" orange stick-on dots, and a Brown & Sharpe caliper (which wasn't cheap - but that caliper gets used constantly...).

Yes, it will be interesting to see how my four scopes track and what sort of difference adding the truing data to my ballistic calculator wl make.

Thanks to @Lowlight for a very useful post on scope truing.

 

[Lowlight]

advice would be,

Anchor in place, the system has to have as little movement as possible as it will move a bit when dialing the scope, but you want it to move as little as possible

our tool weighs 30LBS

 

[TXSGFmrCWO3]

After reading through so much on here and other places about testing the tracking on a scope decided I wanted to give it a try on my new leupold vx5hd 3-15x44. Looked to buy the device From targets USA but was more than I wanted to spend so made my own. Ordered the box 2 bench targets and should get it all out to test this week. I am a complete amateur but hope to have some interesting info to share on the leupold. Have seen great reviews and less than great reviews. Figure this way I will know if it is tracking true.
Any advice on the testing from those more experienced?

View attachment 6924962

Nice looking rig. What are you planning? Sandbags on the front and clamp the rear down?

As long as it's solid, you should be good to go.

The only hitch I can think of, making sure that the grid on the target matches your scope; inches for MOA, centimeters for MIL.

 

[Killswitch Engage]

The OG humbler that broke so many peoples hearts a few years ago...lol

 

[whatsupdoc]

OP, building it out of wood will work but your design is going to have too much flex.
The plywood bottom "T" should be one piece and double the thickness. (cut two identical T shaped plywood pieces and glue and screw them together.
A "T" shaped from 2"x6" or 2"x8" lumber glued and screwed on top of the plywood to screw the picatinny rail to.

 

[DownhillFromHere]

Here's my setup. A piece of Magpul rail, couple of pieces of 2x6" scrap framing lumber, one of 2x4", eight 3" deck screws, two 1 1/4" panhead screws (for mounting the rail), one 3" lag bolt (fixed support), two 1/4x3" hex-head bolts with nylon-collared locking nuts (allows leveling, the locking nuts are press-fit into the wood).

Fold a 25-pound bag of shot over it and it's solid. In fact, I stood on it and bounced a little. It ain'taGonna flex none. Only potential issue is the leveling "leg" heads could slip on a smooth bench; easy enough to add something non-slip.

 

[Bulldog10]

if you have a solid bench i.e. concrete or steel. You can set your rifle on a front and rear rest and then use a ratchet strap or winch to tighten it down. You can buy one for around $24.

 

[Frog05]

Just need to get my pic rail installed to finish mine up. Im not sure how much it weighs but it is a tank!

 

[Frog05]

 

[ShtrRdy]

Aside from a stable fixture, I found that it's VERY important to get the distance correct. Get as close to 3600" as you possibly can. ( 100 yd )

 

[Frog05]

Aside from a stable fixture, I found that it's VERY important to get the distance correct. Get as close to 3600" as you possibly can. ( 100 yd )

To the center of turrets, correct?

 

[Benjaminwill80]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Good advice to reinforce the plywood. Will do that. As for weighing it down, I have a few dumbbells or sandbags that I plan to sit on it to keep it steady.

Lowlight, appreciate the advice and the informative videos/posts. Have watched your video 4 or 5 times.

Regarding matching the grid matching moa/mil. Since the box 2 bench is mil and the leupold is moa I have a conversion table that I was going to work off of. May take a ruler out and make some additional markings before taking it to the range.

Fun to see the pics of other home made devices. Jhorseman, that thing is a beast!

 

[Frog05]

Fun to see the pics of other home made devices. Jhorseman, that thing is a beast!

@Benjaminwill80 it is! I’m guessing it’s well over 30 lbs lol. Let us know how your test turns out. I’ll be doing my first fall target tests here in a week or so. I really appreciate all of the info that @Lowlight and everyone put out on this.

 

[Killswitch Engage]

if you have a solid bench i.e. concrete or steel. You can set your rifle on a front and rear rest and then use a ratchet strap or winch to tighten it down. You can buy one for around $24.

so do tell how you index and level the optic on target if your shit is ratcheted down to a bench???

 

[Benjaminwill80]

Turns out testing was a little more difficult than I expected. Getting perfectly horizontal and perfectly 100yds and perfectly level, etc. I know it wasn’t perfect so don’t take this as gospel.
On the positive, the vx5hd tracked consistently. Went every mil, up and down about a dozen times and was the same clicks for each mil every time and returned to zero perfectly each time.
The click values did not match up exactly to what the mil to moa conversion chart show but pretty close. I blame user error not the scope.
Results were:
1 mil - 3.25 clicks/moa on the scope chart says should be 3.44
3 - 10 chart says 10.32
5 - 16.75 chart says 17.20
7 - 23.5 chart says 24.08
9 - 30 chart says 30.96
10 - 33.5 chart says 34.40

Was fun to test it out and look forward to fine tuning with more experience. Thanks to those here for the advice.
I am curious, does anyone have any special insight based on the data?

I don’t know what I don’t know, so always appreciate learning from those with much more knowledge than myself. Thanks
Ben