Scope Adjustment problem

H

homesick

New member
I bought my son a Ruger 77 Hawkeye 7mm-08 a couple months ago and have been working up loads for it, which we have. I never paid attention to the scope as it was shooting about 3' to the left and about 2" high which for testing loads is fine. Today I took it to the range to sight it in for deer hunting and the right / left windage is all the way to the right and it's still about 3" left of center. My first thought was to switch the bases but I can't do that as it's the milled reciever they only go one way. the scope is a 3.5 x 10 Leo which I have had for years and it has been on several rifles and has never been an issue.
Has any one had this problem or does any one have a solution.
 
My first thought is you have the scope maxed out to the left because most scopes to move the bullet to the left you turn the adjustment clockwise (TO THE RIGHT) and to move the bullet to the right you turn the adjustment counterclockwise (TO THE LEFT)

I guess to ask it a simpler way is the adjustment turned all the way clockwise or all the way counterclockwise?
 
That's what I'm thinking too. I'd unmount it, recenter the scope's adjustments and mount it again and see what's going on. If you still have an issue, I'd buy a set of the Burris Signature Zee rings that you can use the inserts to correct this problem.
 
I know the rings must be the issue here but I have never had a Ruger with bad rings. Now the next question is who makes good after market rings for the Ruger?
 
I never paid attention to the scope as it was shooting about 3' to the left and about 2" high which for testing loads is fine.
Click to expand...

Are we talking about 3 feet to the left or 3 inches? Does the impact move an appropriate distance to the left if you adjust it in that direction?
 
Just thinking a little outside of the box here but to confirm if the rings are bad take the rings off the scope and turn them around. That should cause you to shoot 3' to the left. If not then you are not dealing with bad rings but bad milling on the action. In either case I would not purchase anything, I would make Ruger stand behind their product and fix the issue.
 
I have adjusted the scope as far to the right as it will go. At the far end of the adjustment to the right it is still 3 inches left of center. One can not switch the rings around as they are 2 different heights and they are slot milled. In other words they go on only one way.
 
I think he's talking about taking say the back ring off an turn it so the bolt you tighten it to the receiver is on the opposite side that it is on now. Had a friend show me that with some weaver type rings just yesterday. Scope went from being off center to being centered on the collimeter.
 
I have adjusted the scope as far to the right as it will go.
Click to expand...

Okay. But if you adjust it 4 clicks to the left does the impact move 2" to the left? (assuming 100yd target and 1/2 MOA clicks) Just trying to determine if the problem is in the scope rather than the mount.
 
Don't blame the rings and/or receiver just yet.

Loosen rings at the receiver and also the screws holding the scope itself. Let scope & rings "float" just a bit as you gently jiggle the assembly/each ring and retighten those rings to the receiver (scope still slightly loosened.) Then retighten the scope.

As a range officer I've often seen that the front or rear ring mount never gets truly centered "in-the-groove" before tightening, and the scope is left physically off-center when all the dust settles.
 
Me havey I" ve tried that twice and the first result was about the same as orgional set up, 3rd time was worse. Heres a good one I went to a gun shop today to buy another set of rings. The guy wanted to see the rifle which is OK but would not sell me rings till he looked at rifle. I sold retail for years and never turned down a $75.00 sale. Take the money then offer to help.
This guy looked me right in the eyes and said no I want to see the rifle.
The scope has been on a couple 77 rugers as well as many other rifles, its a Leo 3.5X10 in the past Loe did have a a reputation of not having a lot of adjustments in their variable scopes.
Guess I have to go to the big box store to spend my money:)
 
There's no guarantee that new rings will fix it.

Try another scope on it. If that one won't zero, you know it's the rifle, and you can call Ruger and tell them that.
 
If you Absolutely know it's not a scope issue then here's what I'd do.

1. Dismount scope.
2. Recenter the windage and elevation turrets to dead center.( you do this by taking the windage all the way left or right, then count the clicks until you come all the way reverse.)same for elevation.
3. Get a scope mounting kit (wheeler) that contains alignment bars and lapping tool, and torque driver.
4. FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS, and remount bases and rings.
5. remount scope and boresight.
6. (this is my favorite step) Go back to range and resight to your zeroe!!


If these steps fail to get you where you want to be,,, then we where mistaken about the condition of your scope!!;)

I use leupold bases and rings, the rear base and ring has a windage adjustment also, but make damn sure you torque these screws to specs!:)
 
I don't know if this will help or not, but a number of years ago, I put a used scope that was zeroed from one rifle on another and had some issues with windage. I made gross changes and ran out of adjustment. I just could not believe it as I was SURE I was moving the adjustments in the right direction.

An oldtimer at the range suggested that I dismount the scope and recenter the adjustments and start over.

This was on a M77 Ruger.

I did that. Moved the knobs all the way to one side and then counted the number of turns to get to the other side and divide by two and move the knobs back that number of turns.

I slightly loosened the mounting screws on the scope and put the scope back on the rifle and tightened the rings to the rifle.

One thing I have noticed about the Ruger system: If the rings are even slightly misaligned, the screws feel "spongy" when you try to tighten them.

When you mount the rings by themselves, the lockup feels secure and there is very little give.

Anyway, I went through this drill and got the rings secure and then the scope, and sure enough, I was on paper at 25 yards and had plenty of adjustment for a 200 yard zero.

You might want to give it one more shot before you call the factory.

Hope this helps you as much as the old timer helped me.

Geetarman:D
 
The easy fix will be to get a set of Leupold type bases with gross windage adjustment in the rear mount to compensate for your issue.
 
IMO those rings that have windage adjustment suck if your holes on the receiver are drilled correctly and the bases are made correctly then why should you need an adjustable base it just adds one more variable that can go wrong.
 
Does Leopold make such a critter for Ruger?

I have the Leupold bases you describe on my 700P and they are rock solid.

The Ruger ring design is pretty solid but if not set into the mounts on the rifle carefully, there can be problems.

Geetarman:D
 
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