How often is your scope off after hunt?

[nwmnbowhunter]

I do my best to baby my rifle- scope.

If i bump it, I check zero.

Strong rings and good scopes help a ton with the soft little bumps/ rifle tipping off rest to ground type stuff.

Bedding rifle scope also helps a lot.

 

[trout004]

I run Burris XTR 3's on hunting rigs and haven't had problems with zeros even after many long days on the rough side x side roads.

 

[QuietTexan]

This is the exact reason I tell guys the scope is more important than the rifle. You can function check everything except your zero without firing a shot, so get the best you can to get your feel-goods right.

Sucks this happened with Leupolds, I really like my VX5-HD 2-10x scopes. I've found them to be solid and reliable even when getting bounced and dropped and generally beat up all over the ranch. No bedding or truing rings, and usually with no loc-tite on anything either. Just a fat wrench when I put it together the first time. I haven't driven over one yet, but dropped and fallen out yes.

My "once in a lifetime" Stratton rifle has a Tangent Theta on it. Seemed like any other scope wasn't deserving of sitting on top of something so perfect. He beds everything including the rings and I haven't touched it at all. It was within a a couple clicks of being zeroed out of the case after he shipped it to me, and that was with different ammo than he tested with. That's definitely the rifle I have the most confidence in.

 

[Barrelnut]

Never had a problem. But, then again, I use Vortex exclusively.

 

[nubraskan]

I used to use vortex vipers / razors exclusively. Had trouble holding zero over time, generally it would be fine for a hunt and then randomly one day I'd check zero and it would be off a couple inches. Switched over to nightforce and haven't had an issue yet in the past couple years

 

[toddh1971]

Just got back from a horseback elk hunt. Leupold rode over 100 miles in a scarab. Still holds zero.

 

[coop2564]

Depends on what you mean. Rare - I validate zero and dope before every hunt and sometimes there are small corrections based on where I am, this is normal.
Actually truly off? Only time I can think of is fell off a horse on a backcountry hunt onto the rifle...scope included. Yup it was off! LOL

Yeah, I've had to make small zero corrections from time to time usually. 75" or so, hunting in different elevations or completely different weather. But 2" I had I think we're more than that. I can see the ruger wood stock causing it to get off. It got soaked 2 days in a row. I can see the wood causing the change. The bergara fell right on the windage turret dial enough to dent it. So not very surprised it jumped too. Just wondering how often others had similar experiences. Thanks for your responses.

 

[Jon Bischof]

As you can see from this thread, there are a lot of factors that may cause POI shift other than the scope internals having shifted.

1. It can be the base.
2. It can be the rings.
3. It can be the bedding between stock and receiver.
4. It can be a shift in the stock itself.

Which one of these is the cause of the shift may not be readily apparent until you practice a process of elimination.

 

[lachoneus]

My SWFAs have gone through hell and back several times. Never a change in zero.

 

[ripnbst]

There is an extensive post about this very topic on another popular online forum. I am unsure of the rules here so I will leave it unnamed. However, Leupold optics are known to be problematic in this regard. I wont use Leupold on anything. Just heard too many negative experiences about them. People will say "Buy the Mk5", I'm sorry, it doesn't matter. Those are the ones that were tested in that other forum. Two of them. Both failed.

I now only have two brands of rifle scopes and only one of them goes on my serious hunting rifles, thats Trijicon. I'd be just as confident if they were Nightforce. Nightforce and Trijicon are the only two optic brands that I trust to hold their zero as of December 2024. I will use other scopes for local hunts near the house, or target shooting where I'm not out an animal of a lifetime that I hiked all day to get to and may be out thousands if not over ten thousand additional dollars in associated fees and expenses.

Something that people buying optics seem to struggle to fully grasp is the TRUE expense of when equipment fails. If you're on an outfitter backcountry elk hunt that you've got 10+ years worth or points, tags, guide fees, travel expenses, guide tip, etc all wrapped up and you take a shot and miss by a foot because your gun rode in a scabbard on a horse, or a side by side, or ATV, or you hiked it up a mountain in your pack that you set down every time to glass or have a snack or what have you. The rifle is getting jostled around no matter what your hunt mode of transportation is.

When all that is on the line, yeah man, you can keep your bullet proof warranty. I want a bullet proof product. Nightforce or Trijicon for me.

 

[ripnbst]

My SWFAs have gone through hell and back several times. Never a change in zero.

SWFA also has a great reputation for reliability. I've personally never been behind one but heard great things.

 

[OFtrash]

There is an extensive post about this very topic on another popular online forum. I am unsure of the rules here so I will leave it unnamed. However, Leupold optics are known to be problematic in this regard. I wont use Leupold on anything. Just heard too many negative experiences about them. People will say "Buy the Mk5", I'm sorry, it doesn't matter. Those are the ones that were tested in that other forum. Two of them. Both failed.

I now only have two brands of rifle scopes and only one of them goes on my serious hunting rifles, thats Trijicon. I'd be just as confident if they were Nightforce. Nightforce and Trijicon are the only two optic brands that I trust to hold their zero as of December 2024. I will use other scopes for local hunts near the house, or target shooting where I'm not out an animal of a lifetime that I hiked all day to get to and may be out thousands if not over ten thousand additional dollars in associated fees and expenses.

Something that people buying optics seem to struggle to fully grasp is the TRUE expense of when equipment fails. If you're on an outfitter backcountry elk hunt that you've got 10+ years worth or points, tags, guide fees, travel expenses, guide tip, etc all wrapped up and you take a shot and miss by a foot because your gun rode in a scabbard on a horse, or a side by side, or ATV, or you hiked it up a mountain in your pack that you set down every time to glass or have a snack or what have you. The rifle is getting jostled around no matter what your hunt mode of transportation is.

When all that is on the line, yeah man, you can keep your bullet proof warranty. I want a bullet proof product. Nightforce or Trijicon for me.

Out of curiosity which NF and Trijicon scopes you have