ANXIOUS MORNING! Thought I SCREWED the Pooch!

Thought I'd get out for a few hours this morning at one of my permissions & deal with the ground squirrels there. Was checking zero on my FX Boss & as (almost) always my 1st 3 shots were through the center of the bullseye. My gun was on a Caldwell Dead Shot tripod that I use for that purpose. Turned my back for a second when a strong gust of wind somehow knocked everything over. My guns are pristine even though they've been through a number of years in the field with me. First thing I thought of was that its beautiful stock had gotten marred but I realized when it fell it landed (on rock) on the windage turret of my Sidewinder! F**k ME!!. Took a shot at my zero targets & she was shooting 10 feet to the left & 4 feet down! OH NO, OH NO, OH NOOOOO!!!!! I can't afford a new Sidewinder (absolutely LOVE that scope). I can't afford ANYTHING truth be told. You have to understand, that setup & I have become "ONE". I can always depend on it to ALWAYS give me what I need if I'm doing MY part. Spent two hours unmounting & remounting the scope numerous times & could not get things right. Finally the last time mounting it, a miniscule little pebble dropped from the tightening "jaws" of my front scope ring. When I took a shot I was 1 inch to the right of the bullseye, a couple clicks, next 3 shots through the same hole, just what I've come to expect & LOVE! Really thought I'd screwed the Pooch for good on my setup. SOOO glad it's back to normal. I just had to vent. Was REALLY surprised at how this affected me emotionally. Guess my relationship with my guns is deeper than I'd thought. Felt for a couple hours like a best friend died.
 
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Glad it made it out alive and still working! I had a rifle roll out of my cheap Caldwell stabil-rest and it bent the scope tube just in front of the magnification adjustment. I didn't notice at first, got it back on zero at 30 yard and then it was going to the right past that, or left when under 30 yards. Luckily it was a cheap scope and I was actually able to straighten it out enough to have it work on another lower power gun that only shot to 40 yards or so. I wouldve freaked out had it been a Sidewinder!
 
Glad nothing serious happened to your baby, Gerry. I would’ve freaked out as you did. My wildcat almost did the tip off on that Stinger rest of mine when I got up to go check a target. I caught it, and told myself whenever I use that rest I need to throw a bungee over the scope and attack to the sides of the stinger to anchor it down. One of the reasons I switched over to the precision turret rest
 
Wow! Glad it worked out.
Had a similar experience when one of my rifles with a Hawke Sidewinder mounted fell off my work bench onto the concrete floor. Landed on the windage turret and broken it off.
Sent it to Hawke to see what the cost would be to repair ready to buy a new one and they replace it NO CHARGE.
This is why I buy Hawke scopes.
 
My RAW .20cal with a Vortek Diamondback 6-24x50 fell off of my shooting stool the other day. It broke the sidefocus knob clean off. I called Vortek and explained what I did and the lady said it is coveredunder warranty. She even sent me a prepaid shipping iabel to send it back. Can't beat service like that. I just sent it back so don't know if they will repair or replace. Either is fine with me.
 
@Gerry52 I was thinking and I wondered, do you think changing the feet on your tripod would have made a difference? Depending upon the terrain and whether it’s wet or dry I may use the standard round rubber feet or I may swap them out and affix the spiked feet that dig into the soil. Do you think this would have made a difference in your situation?