Scope movement by itself?

R

Recoil spring

New member
Tried using my Daisy 901 multi pump air rifle today on pests, and was missing. Bench checked it and the scope was off on windage, not sure how that happened, maybe it got bumped when I laid it on the carpeted floor while waiting for opportunities. As this rifle uses a plastic receiver, had to be gentle with it.

It occurred to me on my other rim fire and center fire rifles over the years that for some reason, despite me being very gentle with my guns, and using hard padded cases, I often will get to the range and find I have to adjust slightly the scope even though it was spot on a month before when I left the range.

Have read that hunting guides will require an elk hunter who flew into Wyoming, etc. to check his zero before the hunt as the scope could have been knocked adjare while in transit.

Can a scope move by itself, like with gravity, or other? I have used fairly expensive and cheap scopes, seems like they all do it. Very annoying and a good reason why I prefer iron sights but as I am now approaching 60 years of age had to mount scopes on all my sporting guns as my eyes are not like they were when I as 19.

Thanks.
 
Frequently, when the scope is attached to a rifle or other firearm, screws can get loose which can create an issue with respect to zero. Another issue I see is when ammunition is changed despite having similar green weeks, the Point of impact can be different from One box to another.

Even with a pistol, I noticed that the point of impact can be different from one brand of ammo to another.

Lastly, differences in environmental conditions such as pressure, humidity, wind and temperature all play a small role with regard to accuracy.


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It's not surprising that some airguns are hard on scopes.
Especially the spring powered ones.
But any rifle can lose zero if the scope and mounts aren't of good quality and solidly attached.
Probably the first thing to check would be if the source of the problem is the scope or the mount.
 
Most scope adjustments are designed using a spring on one side and the adjusting screw on the other. The adjustments can "wander" due to vibration or shock.
Many years ago, I had high quality name brand scope "wander" about 6" @ 100 yards after riding home from Montana in a hardside gun case. Had never happened before and hasn't happened since--just one of those random quirks.
Holding zero is one of the things I demand from my scopes. Failing this has caused several highly touted scope brands to be deemed unsuitable here.
 
Complexity versus simplicity?

From my readings, back in the 50's-60's the feeling was fixed power was more reliable, less moving parts. My Nikon 14 power scope has more moving parts than my Nikon 3 X 9, and the bigger scope tends to need regular adjustments, not too far off, but I do take the screw driver to it more often.

Currently the 3 X 9 Nikon is on my Daisy multi-pump, so was surprised that it changed the windage yesterday. As it is a close range gun, I find 4 X setting to be best. I have a cheap Simmons 2 X 7 that is 15 years old and has been on many rifles, it also needs minor tweaking every 3-4 trips to the range on my rim fire rifle.

I never got into Leopolds as they seem to be resting on their laurels, they do have a good reputation, warranty, and are very popular. But my Nikons seem to be better and less costly.

If I win the lottery I plan to buy a Swarovski scope and see how that goes, but way too expensive for me right now.
 
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