What to do when scope won't adjust far enough

Yep. And, in fact, the first time I saw the idea was when Stoney Point was marketing a little pair of plastic V-blocks for the purpose. They discontinued that product, which is why I came up with the home-made version.
 
#1 run scope to end of adjustments. Then click all the way up through counting clicks. Do this on vertical and horizontal. Run clicks back to 1/2 way on both, then attempt to sight in.
On some scopes that be on a rifle a long time I use a piece of 1/2” wood dowel to lightly tap tube.
 
It's fascinating to me that some places say both methods work very well.

In spite of the fact that their results are not the same. Only one is correct.

The mirror method is darn near as good as the V blocks one.

If you've ever looked at the design blueprints of scopes, you'll see all the lenses are centered on the line of sight axis from the two end lens centers that's centered in the main outer tube.

https://patents.google.com/patent/US4643542A/en
 
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On some 'scopes, I can feel the adjustment range squeezing a bit tight at the end of its travel and with no exact hard stop to count from, so I don't trust half the total number of clicks to be exactly symmetrical on either side of optical neutral (on-axis), and on a few scopes the difference is substantial. I also have one old scope that doesn't have clicks; just continuous adjustment. The spinning method is accurate for both situations, but I've never actually used the mirror method—only read about it—so I don't know how it compares to spinning for resolution.
 
The first time I twisted a knob counter clockwise away from the scope watching the reticle move away from optical center, it stopped moving but the knob went many more clicks to its limit. Different amounts for each.

Twisting them clockwise toward the scope, no more clicks after the reticle stopped moving.

Several scopes behaved the same.
 
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One other thing about the LOS from the traditional scope to the target. Its angle moves opposite the direction knobs move.

Elevation knob on the top moves up, LOS angle moves down. Aiming the rifle higher puts the LOS back on target so the barrel points higher.
 
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