cheap scope failure up for ideas

[Henrydog]

I have a Ruger m77 in .308  When I bought it I was short on cash and ended up with a "Shooters Choice" Chinese cheapo scope.  I knew it was garbage but I rarely shoot over 100 yards when hunting so I just thought I was making do until the a better scope was in the budget.  I have already replaced the scope but wanted so feedback on what failed because I am still scratching my head.

Scope was mount and lasersited, Loctite on the screws everything is tight.

Zeroed at 2" high at 100 yards and produced several groups between 1 1/4 and 3/4 an inch.  Not wonderful but expectable.  I always blamed the results on myself

2 months later re shoot for upcoming season.  Same results about a 1" group 2 inches high

Deer season comes, there is a nice little buck nothing to get excited over at 75 yards, bullet lands in the dirt at behind is front feet.  He was dumb and I had a 2nd check that was dead on, deer falls over.  I blamed in on buck fever even though I have shot many deer over the last 30 years and this was just a little freezer filler buck.

Shot it a month later and the gun would not group at all.  At 100 yards and a bench I get shots at 6" high 12" low and right ect.  I blame myself again, hand rifle to son.  Same results.

Laser site again shows dead on back to the range with the same random results of high, low, right and left all off a bench.  No mater what adjustments we made to the windage it did not seam to matter.

I put a new Redfield US made 3x9 and she shoots perfect with a 3/4" group so I know its not the gun or the shooter now.

It does not matter now, but I lay awake at night trying to figure out what was wrong with it.  Broken crosshairs?  I have no idea.  The scope only had 200 rounds down range, and a .308 does not give a lot of recoil.  I am at a loss

What the 

[Jason]

Cheap scopes have lesser than desired internal components. Cheap scope = Cheap scope!!
Don't buy a Volkswagon and expect to drive a Lexus.

[Henrydog]

10-4 Jason totally agree.  But if it was a VW it would have lied about its mileage

[Jonathan_S]

First of all, I am glad you replaced it 

With some piece of junk like that, who knows.  Like Jason said, the internal components/reticle could be bouncing around.

[coachcw]

could have been a loose mount ?

[Jason]

could have been a loose mount ?

Scope was mount and lasersited, Loctite on the screws everything is tight.

[bearpaw]

Spend as much or more on the scope than the gun, never use less than a nikon or leopold!

[Bofire]

the mechanisim that  moves and locks the cross hairs is likely crap.
Carl

[Bob33]

http://www.accurateshooter.com/optics/diagnose-scope-problems/

[buckfvr]

Dont over look the possibility of  over tightening either......there are inch lb torque specs for scopes and guys that just reef them down with out knowing how much, can sometimes over tighten to the point of things binding, not tracking, and coming apart......a friend I shoot with can verify that, and he now has an inch lb driver for scopes.

[HntnFsh]

Spend as much or more on the scope than the gun, never use less than a nikon or leopold!

You can get some darn fine Leupolds for $300-$400 right now. VX3 cds.

[2labs]

I have a couple pretty spendy scopes, for the money, Nikon is hard to beat! You can get a dang nice scope for 300- 400 range.
I said dang don't ban me!!

[grundy53]

I have a couple pretty spendy scopes, for the money, Nikon is hard to beat! You can get a dang nice scope for 300- 400 range.
I said dang don't ban me!!

Grow up.

Sent from my E6782 using Tapatalk

[Henrydog]

Thanks for the feedback guys.  I used a torque screw driver set so it was not over tighten.  Just junk I guess.  Mute point now, I by no mean am the best shot in the world, or a gunsmith, but I love the mechanics of shooting.  I will just call it junk.

[high country]

I'm sitting on better than 50 scopes right now.  I have scattered a BUNCH of scopes from a bunch of makers. I'm a firm believer in having a known good backup scope incase the rifle eats one. Last year I chased my tail on a rifle that I built over a cracked scope ring......a brand known to not give up......everything had its day.

[Bob33]

Isolating the cause of an accuracy degradation can be frustrating, and time consuming.

The first thing I usually do is to ask someone else to shoot the firearm, and confirm that I am not the cause.
I assume the gun has been cleaned at some point in recent history; if not I might suggest doing that and shooting again.

If the gun shot well at one time but doesn’t now, isn’t excessively dirty, and I have confirmed the shooter is not the cause then I would look at rifle bedding issues next. If the barrel was free floated, check to confirm it still is. If it isn’t free floated, has anything caused the stock to shift? If it’s wood, moisture could do it.

Check the bedding screws and confirm they’re not the cause.

Next I would consider ammunition. If you've recently switched ammunition, try a different brand.

Assuming it’s the same ammunition as when the rifle shot well, then I would consider sighting equipment. Make sure the base and rings are tight and firmly attached to the scope. It should be nearly impossible to move or twist the scope in the rings by hand without loosening them first.

If everything else has been eliminated, then I’d consider the scope itself the prime suspect. You can replace the suspect scope with a known good scope, or reverse the process and put the suspect scope on known good rifle. That should tell you whether or not the scope is the problem.

Good luck.

[yorketransport]

Cheap scopes have lesser than desired internal components. Cheap scope = Cheap scope!!
Don't buy a Volkswagon and expect to drive a Lexus.

That's awesome; I actually replaced my VW with a Lexus! 

My guess is that the internal adjustments were just sloppy. I've had mid priced scopes start to do the same thing but that was after 1000s of rounds and a lot of turret twisting.

[deerhunter_98520]

Could your mount been touching the Bell....last year I mounted a new scope and not paying attention  I mounted it right against the bell and I could not get a group to save my life so I posted a pic of my setup on here and that was pointed out so I moved the scope and what do you know it groups and thanks to some helpful members on here seeing my oversight 

[Bill W]

innards probably got knocked loose.   I have two cheap 4x scopes that were on trade rifles that I got in the 80's.  Both had the "innards" knocked loose and would not hold zero.  I put them on smaller calibers that recoiled less and they're still in use.  One doesn't want to try and change the settings though as when that's done you don't always get what you "click" in.  Usually it's way more.