Recently had a new 22 creedmoor that was shifting zero. Scope was a swfa 3-9 that is supposed to be one of the reliable, passes drop tests kind of scope. I immediately blamed the scope. After re-torqueing the action, remounting rings, swapping scopes around…found out it was actually my barrel not torqued enough to the action (prefit barrel nut setup, didn't torque it on enough). Scope was/is fine. The gun system now stays zeroed on 12-18in drops. Personally 36" is more than I feel like risking a total breakage of something.
My biggest take away from following along with these drop tests (other than just start with a model that seems to pass) is how to trouble shoot and identify a zero shift.
All of my rifles now have a baseline 20 shot group and perfect zero. Periodically I will check a 100 yard zero and if the round falls outside my 20 shot expected group..I know there has been a shift somewhere.
I've since identified weak points in my bedding/torque, rings/mounts, and my buddies leupold scopes..so far none of my scopes have been the culprit since switching everything over to bushy LRHS and SWFAs. And now all my systems are rock solid as they can be.
Everything in a rifle system can fail, my goal is to know what that point of failure could be and correct it before it has a chance to ruin a hunt.