Nikon Scope issues.

[2footroper]

OK guys and gals. Here is my problem. I had gotten a CVA Accura muzzle load rifle as a Christmas gift 2 years ago and never fired it. A friend of mine invited me on a last minute muzzle load only deer hunt in N.E. Nebraska so I accepted. I had mounted a Nikon 2 X 7 Pro Staff Shotgun scope with a BDC retical on the rifle but never shot it until last week wednesday. This rifle is far more accurate then I expected shooting 1 1/4 MOA. I sighted the gun in at 7 X shooting 3 1/4" high at 100 yards to be dead on at 150 according to the ballistic chart for my power belt bullets. Ready to go hunt. Fast forward to Tuesday morning. Sitting in a nice heated deer blind I see that there is a substantial amount of timber and cedars so I opted to set the scope to 2 X so I might be able to pick up a deer quickly in the woods. The furthest shot would be 95 yards so 2 X would be more then enough. Shortly after I get set up I see two bucks approaching from my right. First is a small 2 year old. Next is a very healthy 6 or 7 year old 9 point with a very respectable rack. They turn and drop down an incline of 45 degrees and get to 85 yards. There are alot of rubs and scrapes and the area is open enough that the 9 point gave my a classic broadside shot. I was shooting down that 45 degree angle and I opted to put the crosshairs on the deer for a heart shot thinking the bullet is going high already and shooting down will only add to the height. I don't like spine shooting deer. Too much tenderloin dammage. This gun has an ammaizing trigger. The rest out the window is rock solid. Breath, Squeeze and pow! I see the round impact just under the deer. I'm thinking maybe the bullet passed through and that is what I saw. No such luck. Clean miss. How can this be. I can't miss from that scenario but in fact I did. Now I'm beating myself up trying to think what I did wrong. We get back to the cabin later that morning and I can't take it. I take an empty box from a case of soda and take it out to 60 yards. Load the gun and crank the scope to 7 X. Pow! About 3" high. What in the heck is going on. Perfect. Then I remembered I had the scope set down to 2X. I crank it down, reload and pow. I don't see the hole. I walked up to the box the the bullet shot 2" below my point of aim!!! Has anyone ever heard of anything happening like this before? Sorry for the long story but does anyone have any thoughts on this at all? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[ENCORE]

Sorry you had a bad experience but, when I started reading your post and got to where you said you were shooting powerbelts, I knew something bad was following.

There's no other muzzleloader bullet on the market that you'll find so many complaints about, rather its accuracy or how the bullet performs. Some shooters have good luck but, even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in awhile. I know a lot of very serious muzzleloader shooters and not a single shooter would think about putting one down their barrel.

Now I'm in now way saying that it couldn't be your scope but, my bet is the bullet. I know guys that have put up a 2'x2' piece of cardboard and tried to hit the thing at 100yds more than just once and couldn't do it. Others put 2 bullets side by side, then the next not even hit the target. For those that shoot them and have good luck, well good for you. That's the one bullet I won't shoot.

I would suggest you try a different bullet. Shoot for groups first and do not keep adjusting (chasing) your scope.

 

[2footroper]

Well I bench shot the gun today and the result is the same. 5" difference in hit. 4" high at 7 power and 1" low at 60 yards. Repeated this twice with the same results. Contacted Nikon and they want the scope so I'm shipping it tomorrow. We'll see how this works out and I will post the results. There is NO WAY there should be even an inch in variation in POI at that range just by changing the power setting. What would be the advantage of having a variable power scope at all. I don't care what focal point it is. The power belt bullets are shooting just fine and grouping super tight. It's not the ammo. Thanks for all the input.

 

[ENCORE]

Although Nikon optics are good, I just took to the post office, my second set of Nikon Binoculars to send back. Lifetime, so they'll repair or replace free. However my next pair purchased will be Leupold.

 

[2footroper]

Thinking the exact same thing.

 

[ENCORE]

I put over 4,000 rounds down using a Nikon Monarch, then that went to pot. I sent that back for repair and sold it.

 

[2footroper]

Although Nikon optics are good, I just took to the post office, my second set of Nikon Binoculars to send back. Lifetime, so they'll repair or replace free. However my next pair purchased will be Leupold.

Nikon is on it's way back for repairs and a Leupold SA.B.R. 3 to 9 is on it's way to me as we speak. I could never trust that Nikon again. It cost me a 160 class buck.
A 5" variation of POI just by changing power settings is way wrong. I don't care which focal plane it has. The power belts are grouping fantastic at 1 to 1 1/4" MOA at 100 yards so I can't ask any better than that.

 

[Elite Muzzleloader]

Sorry for your bad luck however the scope did what it was designed to do in a sense. What I mean is the low end scopes are a second focal plan verses the high end scopes which are a first focal plane. So what that means is when you adjust the power on a second focal plane it actually adjust your poi also. Of you were to have a first focal plane this would not have happened. Nikon make great scopes and once you realized this issue then it shouldn't be a problem. I actually learned this point this year.

On a side note I would recommend not using the power belt bullets. I would recommend the 250 SST or the Barnes TEZ's. Power belt are well known for failing and poor accuracy.

Getting back to the scope. I'd recommend either learning the scope and what it does each power setting or get a fixed power scope.

 

[2footroper]

I respectfully diasgree. Point Of Impact at the "cross hairs" should be consistant at ANY power setting on the scope. Even Nikon agrees on this point.

 

[Elite Muzzleloader]

Let us know what they find out, maybe I'll learn something new before the end if the year. Good luck!

 

[2footroper]

I will.

 

[2footroper]

Well boys and girls. I got the scope back from Nikon and they had to make "collimation" adjustments. I am told that is basically realigning all the optic lenses. Needless to say, I now have the Leupold scope on my CVA. Anyone want to buy a factory refurbished Nikon?

 

[pooldoc]

Fortunately I've had better luck with my Nikon Monarch Gold 1.5 x 6 x 42 with a 30mm tube. I've used it on 2 center fire rifles and for the last 6 years on my Knight .50 cal LRH. It has a great field of view and eye relief and very repeatable windage and elevation adjustments. Over a 1000 rounds of `heavy BH 209 with no problems. Their new Monarch 7 binoculars are a good value for the money as we'll

 

[speedmaster97]

Go to Nikons spot on web site and put in all the information that's required. Your POI changes with the different power changes of your scope. Your 3x will be different then the 9x setting.