Rifle Scopes scope accuracy

[Al A]

I am very new to shooting and so this question may seem lame but here goes anyway. I bought a RPR and put a friends Nikon 6-24x50 scope on it. I learned to reload and with my reloads I got my 4 shot groups down to .3 moa at 100 yards on a good day. I had to get my own scope so I bought a vortex golden eagle 15-60x52. Since then I have not been able to get down below .5 with the same loads. I have been trying to eliminate possibilities for this so I`m wondering if it could be the scope. I have used the golden eagle at all powers and am getting kind of frustrated. Could someone tell me if the small variation in moa results could be the fault of my golden eagle scope? thanks in advance for any help.

 

[spife7980]

Put the old scope (or any scope) back on it and see if the results improve?

 

[Lowlight]

Accuracy comes from your ability to interpret data in order to hit a specific target

Precision comes from the shooter's fundamentals of marksmanship and how tight your group is,

your equipment has a bearing on both

it is possible to have poor groups when shooting and there being a scope issue, but scope issues are more related to tracking issuew hich have an accuracy problem not a precision one.

You're a new shooter, assume you suck, and the group problems are you.

That said, testing a scope is a key skillset to work on

 

[notorious]

Slight wind, differently cleaned barrel, you have a bad day, comfort level while shooting, etc.



.2 difference? That is minuscule when you figure in what I listed above.

 

[chevy_man]

Try a known good scope.

I've seen far too many vortex that won't track and/or jump lately.

 

[RTH1800]

I know of one brand of scope that routinely fails to “shoot accurately”.
I suggest isolating your variables.ie, change only one at a time.
You also don’t say how many groups you shot with each. Did you average .3 moa for 10 ten shot groups? One 3 shot group? Lot to consider.

 

[TangoSierra916]

As a few have said above, many variables could be in play here, have you checked the torque on your scope mount/rings and scope base?

 

[mudpig]

Not having good ocular focus or parallax set correctly could possible cause what you are talking about.

 

[Jack Master]

Maybe this is a case of too much magnification?
I know when I shoot groups on 10x I get better results than at 25x. I think its a mental thing where your brain sees the other bullet holes and drifts toward or away from them. Its an Aim small Miss small thing. At 10x my aiming spot it really small. At 25 power I can drift across the target center dot while breathing. When my reticle is drifting I start trying to time my shots. This is when trigger pull, breathing and grip go to shit. I have even seen this effect on a 22lr at 50 yards with a difference of 1x to 5x scope. Back that scope all the way down to 15 and shoot the best group you can. Just see what happens.

 

[Jack Master]

5. Stop caring. .5moa is good enough to win and hit hit hit at distance.

^^^^^ Also this ^^^^^ (unless you are shooting bench rest)

 

[Racer88]

Lots of good answers already... so many possibilities.

Another that came to mind is being sure your parallax is correctly adjusted. Ask me how I know!

ETA: Oops... just saw that parallax was already mentioned.

 

[wade2big]

Try a known good scope.

I've seen far too many vortex that won't track and/or jump lately.

Razors?

I know of one brand of scope that routinely fails to “shoot accurately”.
I suggest isolating your variables.ie, change only one at a time.
You also don’t say how many groups you shot with each. Did you average .3 moa for 10 ten shot groups? One 3 shot group? Lot to consider.

Which brand is having issues? Why not say it?

 

[Al A]

Thanks everyone, After reading your posts I have determined that it is not likely that my scope is at fault. I will continue to troubleshoot and if/when I narrow it down to a single factor I will post it here. thanks again.

 

[RTH1800]

Which brand is having issues? Why not say it?
[/QUOTE]

Wade

I’m tired of the brawls I get into over simply expressing an opinion and or stating my experience.

I will say this. If you dry fire the rifle, the reticule bounces and returns to a different position every shot in every one I have tried. 6-8 total. They are a pricey scope with great glass. More known for hunting than tactical scopes.

 

[chevy_man]

Razors?

Only one I haven't seen broken yet.

 

[chevy_man]

Wade

I’m tired of the brawls I get into over simply expressing an opinion and or stating my experience.

I will say this. If you dry fire the rifle, the reticule bounces and returns to a different position every shot in every one I have tried. 6-8 total. They are a pricey scope with great glass. More known for hunting than tactical scopes.

Quigly Ford? How dare you!


I'd take a guess at the brand you're referencing. I have access to about 30 of them between my rifles and family, and none of us have ever had any issues.

 

[wade2big]

Only one I haven't seen broken yet.

That seems different from the consensus for sure.

 

[Mortalpawn]

Try shooting a box test on your new scope - it will give you an indication of how well the scope tracks and also returns to zero. Many inexpensive scopes have poor erectors that don't track well, won't return to zero and don't hold zero every shot.

Set up at 100 yards with a large paper target. Put a small target on the bottom right portion of the target frame. Shoot a 5 round group. Then adjust up a significant amount - at least 10" on the paper by dialing up 10 MOA or 3 mils. Shoot another perfect 5 shot group but keep your reticle on the original target. Next dial left 10" (10 MOA or 3 mils) and repeat still shooting at bottom target. Then dial down 10" (10 MOA or 3 mils) and shoot again, and finally dial right 10" and shoot a final group.

If your groups are good you can measure each side of the square you just made (and see if it is vertical). In MOA it should be pretty close to 10" but if you were shooting 3 mils it would be 10.1". Also the last group should lay right on top of the original group.

A hiqh quality scope that is properly leveled will give four perfect corners of a box. A low quality scope will show its weaknesses pretty quickly on a test like this.

 

[Al A]

Hi, cabelas has a great black Friday deal on viper pst 6-24x50 scopes. I ordered one and will try it on my RPR to see if my groups get better. If my results are the same as with my golden eagle I`ll start looking at other possibilities. Thanks again for all the great support.

 

[koshkin]

What magnification is your Golden Eagle on when you shoot groups?

If you are a new shooter and you can shoot 0.5MOA groups, congratulate yourself for being a natural talent and go practice.

There are VERY few casual shooters who are good enough to clearly differentiate between a 0.3MOA load and 0.5MOA load.

Ilya

 

[jcam]

0.5 MOA at 100 yards is good for a new shooter. Practice regularly. Lowlight has a lot of free youtube videos on FOM. You can get more info in the online training section as well. Shoot steel at distance to work on wind calls.

 

[Steel+Killer]

I actualy had a Vortex GE exibit the same behaiver the OP's is. It would not hold zero for shit I put my other known good scope back on the rifle and back it went to shooting good groups. It promptly went back to Midway for a full refund.

 

[Al A]

Hi guys, I have an update to my post but first I would like to thank everyone for the great response to my question. I phoned vortex about this and was told that my golden eagle couldn`t be responsible for such a small difference and as suggested here by koshkin (thanks) I might be shooting with my magnification too high. I am in Canada and a fair weather shooter so I will not be able to check again at 24 to 35 power untill spring. I just boght a Bergara b-14 in 308 and a viper 6-24x50 pst and I will also do comparisons with that scope. When it warms up I will get back to this thread with comparison results with the two scopes. Thanks again for all the great input.