8MM Mauser
New member
Gentlemen,
I am wondering if any of you can help advise me on what sort of lifespan I might expect from a Simmons scope mounted on an 8MM Mauser sporter rifle. This is the only gun I own that I don't shoot with iron sights; and it is my primary big-game hunting rifle.
I originally mounted this scope back in 2007; and though there was a little maneuvering that had to be done later to get it to not shake loose of the base after a hundred rounds or so; it has been reliable and accurate since 2009; as a range gun and hunting rifle. A scope did take some getting used to.
Now; as of last October (my last sight in) I was landing about a two inch group off the bench at 100 yards. The field I hunt in is about 150-180 yards wide with the longest shots being right around 100 yards hence my sight-in at that distance. My whitetail hunting season didn't go particularly well last year (story in another thread) but nevertheless nothing seems to have happened to the gun or scope really. I carried it into the field about 14 separate times over two weeks or so but it was always slung to my back; in my hands or leaning in a purpose built mount next to me.
Last week I brought this gun along with me to the range to confirm it's zero. Well; that didn't go over to well. I set-up the same 100 yard shot from the same bench as last time and fired five rounds downrange. It probably wouldn't have been my best shooting ever (blistering hot day and I had fired a 100 shell trap course and then shot 100 rounds of 9MM and about 200 rounds of 22 already that day) but to my surprise when I approached the target the paper was blank... empty. Not one hit. So I walk back and take five very careful and deliberate shots; making sure to achieve a perfect stable position between each round and land crosshairs right on the bull. Blank paper again.
At this point I started thinking I was losing my mind. So I got out the unsporterized Czech Mauser that came into my possession last year and decided to fire 5 through it before leaving. I only had 5 rounds of 8MM left because I wasn't planning to shoot the rifles a lot (can't afford too really). So I line up about a foot from the bench in a kneeling position with my supporting elbow resting on my knee. I have shot maybe 20 rounds through this rifle since getting it last December. I line up those almost none-existent military sights and shoot five. Four dotted the outside of the outer left ring of the target (about a 7" circle on an 81/2 X 11 paper) and the other landed about an inch low and two inches left of the bull. Not spectacular shooting but I felt OK about it from an 80 year old rifle. In any case it was probably accurate enough to stand in for the sporter this deer season if I can't figure this scope thing out...
Now I knew it wasn't me... If I could make hits with rear sights that meet that definition only technically (milsurp guys know what I'm talking about) but not with a scope sighted in for that distance... i'm thinking I have a scope problem.
Is 8 years and probably 5-600 rounds (mixed PP, S&B and handloads) a long hard life for a $150 Simmons? I have no idea what prompted this sudden loss in accuracy; but I am worried that I'm gonna blow through 50 rounds trying to sight-in a scope that is simply broken. The last time I fired the gun it was very accurate.
So; can you help me TFL? I am just not very familiar with scopes.
I am wondering if any of you can help advise me on what sort of lifespan I might expect from a Simmons scope mounted on an 8MM Mauser sporter rifle. This is the only gun I own that I don't shoot with iron sights; and it is my primary big-game hunting rifle.
I originally mounted this scope back in 2007; and though there was a little maneuvering that had to be done later to get it to not shake loose of the base after a hundred rounds or so; it has been reliable and accurate since 2009; as a range gun and hunting rifle. A scope did take some getting used to.
Now; as of last October (my last sight in) I was landing about a two inch group off the bench at 100 yards. The field I hunt in is about 150-180 yards wide with the longest shots being right around 100 yards hence my sight-in at that distance. My whitetail hunting season didn't go particularly well last year (story in another thread) but nevertheless nothing seems to have happened to the gun or scope really. I carried it into the field about 14 separate times over two weeks or so but it was always slung to my back; in my hands or leaning in a purpose built mount next to me.
Last week I brought this gun along with me to the range to confirm it's zero. Well; that didn't go over to well. I set-up the same 100 yard shot from the same bench as last time and fired five rounds downrange. It probably wouldn't have been my best shooting ever (blistering hot day and I had fired a 100 shell trap course and then shot 100 rounds of 9MM and about 200 rounds of 22 already that day) but to my surprise when I approached the target the paper was blank... empty. Not one hit. So I walk back and take five very careful and deliberate shots; making sure to achieve a perfect stable position between each round and land crosshairs right on the bull. Blank paper again.
At this point I started thinking I was losing my mind. So I got out the unsporterized Czech Mauser that came into my possession last year and decided to fire 5 through it before leaving. I only had 5 rounds of 8MM left because I wasn't planning to shoot the rifles a lot (can't afford too really). So I line up about a foot from the bench in a kneeling position with my supporting elbow resting on my knee. I have shot maybe 20 rounds through this rifle since getting it last December. I line up those almost none-existent military sights and shoot five. Four dotted the outside of the outer left ring of the target (about a 7" circle on an 81/2 X 11 paper) and the other landed about an inch low and two inches left of the bull. Not spectacular shooting but I felt OK about it from an 80 year old rifle. In any case it was probably accurate enough to stand in for the sporter this deer season if I can't figure this scope thing out...
Now I knew it wasn't me... If I could make hits with rear sights that meet that definition only technically (milsurp guys know what I'm talking about) but not with a scope sighted in for that distance... i'm thinking I have a scope problem.
Is 8 years and probably 5-600 rounds (mixed PP, S&B and handloads) a long hard life for a $150 Simmons? I have no idea what prompted this sudden loss in accuracy; but I am worried that I'm gonna blow through 50 rounds trying to sight-in a scope that is simply broken. The last time I fired the gun it was very accurate.
So; can you help me TFL? I am just not very familiar with scopes.