Scope Bumped

[bbrown]

This spring I decided to break out my little safe queen - a Rem 700 .243 with a Burris Fullfield II 4.5-14 x 42mm for some action for my 3rd season deer tag. This gun has always been plenty accurate and I shot it several times over the summer getting it dialed in with my hunting ammo. Shot it out to 300 using my shooting sticks with 3" groups and less than an inch at 100 - more than good enough for me.

Now the painful part - after stalking in to 80 yards on a nice bedded mulie buck only to miss and then missing 3 more times at 120 - 300. Had a solid rest laying prone on a rock face and did not feel like I rushed it or had a case of the shakes but no excuses. To make things worse he only crossed the little canyon we were in and calmed down, feed and re-bedded 450 yards away - time for redemption right? Well get back into 120 yards of the buck and miss again and again and again. The area was pretty brushy so I never got a good look at where I was hitting but I was convinced the gun had to be off since I was on my sticks and felt goodthis time.

As if things couldn't get any worse, "my" buck and his does are now 350 yards out trying to figure out what all the commotion is and out of no where a bigger buck shows up hair standing on end and begins posturing and pushing my buck around. There I sit, disgusted and out of bullets (not that I would have shot anymore anyways) watching all this unfold.

Convinced somehow my gun has to be off (Kind of hoping because otherwise I was going to have a BIG slice of humble pie) get back to town and head out to my in-laws where I have a little range set up. First I had to chase this lil guy and his girlfriends out from in front of my target - more salt in the wound.

*Sorry for the crappy cell phone picture - he was just lucky he is in a different area or I may have shot him out of spite.

Here is the first 3 shots:

Had a pretty good crosswind but these where @ 18" right and 6" high. At least now I know why I missed...

After a few more rounds I got her back on - about an 1-1/2" high at 100.

So long story short, I took a fall a couple days before but did not think I landed that hard or even on the rifle and I have never had a scope get bumped off this far. I figure since its still grouping it must have just been bumped and is probably fine now but my confidence is a bit shook. I really like this scope and have the same one on my 300 win. and neither has really been off more than a bit when changing ammo. I did double check all the screws at the rings and bases and everything was tight.
What do you think - is it good to go or should I go back to my 300 that has never let me down.

 

[Matt Cashell]

What are the mounts?

Was there any chance the dials were adjusted in some way? Like did someone have access to the scope?

Many scopes have taken the blame for inferior or improperly installed mounts.

If it wasn't the mounts or a human error situation, I would personally never trust the scope again. Over the years I have banged and dropped my scopes hard on many different surfaces, and the only scope that lost zero was a cheap Bushnell many years ago. There is no room for a scope that won't hold zero in my arsenal.

 

[Browtine]

I'd drive it over to Burris and have them take a look at it.

 

[bbrown]

Not sure on the mounts I will check tonight.

Funny you mention that as it was my first thought. I was staying at our family cabin with the wife, her parents and brother who was hunting with me. I really hope nothing like that happened but..

I did mount the scope and I am by no means an expert but I have done a handfull over the years without any problems. Do you think it would/could group pretty damn good over all these years to just now have a problem now? The Fullfield IIs are not a real high end scope but not cheap either and really have treated me well until now.

Thanks for the feedback and insight

 

[Matt Cashell]

Scopes fail occasionally.

When they do impact testing on scopes, they all give out ... eventually. The psychological effect of having confidence in your scope is most important in this case I think, and it sounds like you won't get it back with this scope. I wouldn't.

 

[bbrown]

The more I think about it I think I will give the .300 the nod for the rest of this season especially since I have a cow tag coming up next week that I was planning on using it anyways. With the time change its dark by the time I get off so no way I can put any more rounds downrange but maybe this winter/spring I can get the .243 back out and see if it holds a zero and earn its place back. If not maybe a Vortex viper might be finding a new home.
Thanks

 

[a3dhunter]

I took a fall last weekend with my 30.06, I'm a big guy (275 lbs) and I landed on my back and my rifle was under my left shoulder. My pack sort of protected the rifle from full impact, but it had hit at two different points on rock directly impacting the scope. It also hit one spot on the stock of the rifle.
The 30.06 is an old mauser action J.C Higgins rifle that has been in my family for years and is known for being extremely accurate. The scope is a Nikon Prostaff 3-9x40mm.
Before taking it on another hunt, I found a place to check it. At 200 yards I was about an inch and a half to the right with a cross wind from left to right.
Despite the fall, the scope/rifle combo held true.

There's no telling what type of hit will bump a scope off, and sometimes a hard hit does nothing.

 

[bbrown]

I hear you there - a few years ago I was climbing thru some rocks and my .300 win (with the same model scope) slipped off my shoulder and landed on a rock before I could catch it. Hit hard enough to dent to turret cap and scratch/dent the scope housing near the objective but it held true.

Ended up shelving the .243 and took the .300 out for some redemption. 1 shot and he piled up in less than 20 yards.

 

[KMD]

Wise decision and Congrats on a beautiful buck!

 

[a3dhunter]

Nice buck, congrats.

 

[Shrek]

Like the rest of the guys said I wouldn't trust a scope that moved like that. I would disassemble the mounts and start from scratch with mounting and send the scope to Burris for a checkup. Springs break in erectors and they do funny things. I think burris claims a double spring setup in their erectors and one may have broken. Also check your action screws and bedding. If it has been bedded the fall could have cracked the bedding and allowed the action to shift. Lots of suspects.

 

[bbrown]

Thanks guys and good points Shrek. I was planning on drilling out a stripped action screw this winter so I might as well strip it all the way down and check everything. Hell Burris is only 1/2 hour from my house.

 

[5MilesBack]

I took my 12yo daughter on her first elk hunt this year first rifle season. On day two we came to a really steep section going down that she did not want to go down. But I took the rifle from her so that she could use her hands and better balance herself. I was traversing and had all the weight on my left leg at one point and my knee just buckled. I dropped like a sack of potatoes with all my weight on that leg. At one point I remember tumbling down the slope with the rifle held high and my head headed directly for a pile of rocks. It was the rifle or my head. My head is fine. Still haven't taken it to the range yet to check the zero. It's a Leupold VX3 so not too worried about it, but it does have a nice scrape down the side of it. Still not sure why my knee buckled. It was swollen behind the knee for a few weeks and seems to be about 75-80% now but haven't really tested it since. I see a trip to the Incline coming up.

 

[bbrown]

Little update...
I did not end up sending the scope to Burris until just after the first of the year and yesterday a package finally showed up on the porch. Inside was a brand new scope which is great but it would be nice to know what was wrong with the old one. Not to mention the 11 week turn around when I was quoted 4-6 weeks.
Funny part is I sent the Tech an email on Monday asking for an update and by some ""coincidence" got a shipping notification from FedEx on Tuesday.

Good to have a brand new scope to start over with but better communication and a faster turn around would have been appreciated.