multiple68 wrote:So was able to try the rifle out with the new Leupold scope today shooting Federal Gold Medal 168 Grain Match BTHP. I was finally getting some decent groups...anywhere from .45" to .85" at 100 yards depending on the shooter.
Now another issue. The groups were decent, but it was shooting a little high and left. We would adjust the windage, but it didnt really seem to make much of a difference, despite pretty drastic changes. Then all of a sudden it would be shooting low and right. It never seemed to settle where we wanted it despite having tight groups between scope adjustments.
Could this be another issue (sticking turrets?), with a now different scope, or do I just need to put more rounds through the rifle? Overall, it will be fine for the hunting I will be doing this season, but I know this rifle is capable of more.
Could be that the scope isn't level, like Mojo said. It could also simply be a factor of how large the adjustment increments are in the knobs at a given range. You mention a Leupold, but
which Leupold, with
which reticle and
which knobs?
A rifle like an SPS wants a tactical scope with some sort of milling reticle. It wants a scope where the adjustment increments match the stadia on the reticle. If you have Mil-dot reticle, then you want a scope with .1 mil adjustment increments on the knob. If you've got a reticle with stadia lines in MOA, then you want adjusters that click in MOA. Not all scopes, even some very expensive scopes, are set up that way. But the ones that are set up that way are MUCH easier to zero (see below).
A scope with adjusters that match the reticle will never change the number of clicks necessary to move POA at any given distance. Example: My tactical scopes use .1 mil adjusters and mil reticles. I put the crosshairs on the target and fire. Bullet impact lands .2 mil left, and .3 mil high, I crank in 2 clicks right and 3 clicks down, and the second shot should land right on the bullseye. And this works whether you're at 100 yards, 368 yards, 894 yards, or 1,132 yards. No fuss, no muss. Ditto for a scope with 1/4 MOA adjusters, and 1/4 MOA stadia lines on the reticle.
ALSO.... How much is "a little high and left," and how much is "low and right?" EXAMPLE: if your rifle has 1/4 MOA adjusters at 100 yards (the MOA value will be different at different distances.....1/4 MOA at 100 yards = 1/2 MOA at 50 yards, etc.), then each click of windage or elevation will move the bullet impact 1/4" left, right, up, or down, depending on which knob is being turned in in what direction. So you haven't told us how far the bullet impact travelled to get from "a little high and left" to "low and right." If that distance from the center of the first group to the center of the second group is 1/2", then you're about as close to spot on as you're going to get it because the minuteness of the adjustment necessary is outside the capability of the adjusters to deliver. If your adjusters were 1/4 MOA at 100 yards and those two groups were only 1/2" apart, then you would have had to use 2 clicks down and two clicks right to move the group center that half inch right and half inch down. HOWEVER, if the first group is 2-3" high and to the left, and the second group is 2-3" low and to the right, that's a 4-6" transition in both planes, and that is really significant. If that's the case, then something ain't right, because even a
cheap Leupold should be better than that.
SO.... if you want a more specific answer to your question, please provide these three pieces of information:
1. Exactly what model of Leupold scope are you using?
2. How far apart were the two groups, center to center?
3. How many clicks on
each of the adjuster knobs did it take to move the second group that far from the first?
Also, one last thing to consider......are you using the scope cranked all the way up to full magnification, and what power of magnification is that? (I'm thinking of parallax errors here....)
