bamaranger
New member
I took 7 rifles to the 100 yd range yesterday and verified zero on all of them. Each year I rotate a few rifles in and out of the mix that I intend to hunt for our 2-1/2 month whitetail season. As rifles come out of "vacation" I check the zero. Interestingly, every one of the rifles with a zero shift wore a wood stock. None of the rifles exhibiting a zero shift had dramatic POI change, say 2 MOA at worst. I was aware of not to accept a "cold/wet" bore shot as true zero. Most needed a slight bump of both windage and elevation, mostly windage. My old Rem 700 ADL / .270, not hunted in two seasons, was nearly 2 MOA high. Grandad's vintage M88 Win in .308, not shot in about 10 years, was impacting right about 1.5 MOA but would have killed a deer well beyond the distances I normally shoot.
Of the three rifles that held their zero, two of those wore synthetic stocks . Surprisingly, an old Mossberg 800M (mannlicher style stock) in .243 plunked three rounds into the same spot where it shot to three seasons ago, bang on. I would have expected it to shift. The Ruger .44 carbine was problematic as always. An ammo change with the Ruger Predator in .308 necessitated some elevation change but was expected. None of the rifles that were "off" have been mishandled but had been hunted a full season at some point previously, then cleaned and put up. All have decent Leupold (1 Burris) scopes and quality rings and mounts.
The point of all this.......on the surface it might appear that a synthetic stocked rifle MIGHT hold zero a bit better over time but best practice is to verify your zeros before you hunt. We all know this, but I was reminded of it again yesterday.
Of the three rifles that held their zero, two of those wore synthetic stocks . Surprisingly, an old Mossberg 800M (mannlicher style stock) in .243 plunked three rounds into the same spot where it shot to three seasons ago, bang on. I would have expected it to shift. The Ruger .44 carbine was problematic as always. An ammo change with the Ruger Predator in .308 necessitated some elevation change but was expected. None of the rifles that were "off" have been mishandled but had been hunted a full season at some point previously, then cleaned and put up. All have decent Leupold (1 Burris) scopes and quality rings and mounts.
The point of all this.......on the surface it might appear that a synthetic stocked rifle MIGHT hold zero a bit better over time but best practice is to verify your zeros before you hunt. We all know this, but I was reminded of it again yesterday.