Is my scope broken?

[Phil.Probe]

When trying to change my POI upwards, the elevation turret clicks, but nothing happens - if anything the POI goes down.

Looking through the scope when making the adjustments, I can see the crosshairs move up and down in the lower part of it's adjustment, but then gets to the point where it is clicking, but no longer moving the cross hairs.

It's a 57 yard shot, so that should fall under the normal adjustment range of a scope, right?

 

[Berserkeley Mike]

It sounds like with your particular gun, scope and mount, that when dialing the POI up that far, the turret has screwed out past where the erector spring can still push the erector tube up. Look at the image here:

Rifle Scope testing: does it track?

If you were to ask a group of rifle-scope fanatics, what are the most important features of a perfect rifle scope, you would probably get a few different answers. Among them though, you would for sure hear things like; optical quality, repeatability, and of course accurate tracking. This may...

coldboremiracle.com

(The actual spring in a scope is a leaf spring, not a coil, but the same idea.)

That doesn't mean the scope is faulty, only that it can't adjust enough to compensate for how the gun points in general, how the mount points the scope relative to the gun AND for that far distance.

Common solutions are to use a scope mount that points down a little, bringing the POI up, called a "droop compensating" mount; to shim the scope or rear mount so that the scope points down a little; or if you have a cheap breakbarrel, to bend the barrel a little so it points more up. With the scope mounted to point down a little and/or the barrel pointing up more, then the elevation turret can be screwed more in (POI down) for say, the 10-20 yard/meter shots, giving plenty of UP left for the longer shots.

 

[uladz]

@Berserkeley Mike is absolutely correct. The scope is fine, it just can't adjust the reticle any further, it hit its limit. I wouldn't advise bending the barrel, though . How about using scope rings that allow you to compensate for the drop, like FX no-limit here: https://fxairguns.com/accessories/fx-no-limit-scopemounts/. Or, a cheaper option is Monstrum 1-inch Adjustable Height Scope Rings here: https://monstrumtactical.com/1-inch-heavy-duty-high-performance-scope-rings-adjustable-height/.

 

[Struckat]

What gun, scope and rings are you using?
if it is a springer, bending the barrel is the way to go. It sounds drastic, but it’s only a very slight bend. Just enough to get the poi in the picture.
if it’s a pcp, see post 3.

 

[kayaker]

West Hunter has adjustable scope rings also in picatinny and dove tail

 

[Gerry52]

Were the crosshairs optically zeroed (in the center of their range of movement) when you 1st mounted it? That alone can screw the pooch as far as running out of adjustment.

 

[ctshooter]

I am going to go a different direction with my answer than those above. Based on your statement:

"but then gets to the point where it is clicking, but no longer moving the cross hairs."

I've never had a scope that keeps clicking once it reaches the end of it's travel. Personally I would suspect something wrong with the reticle adjustment.

It is possible, as other's have mentioned, you are running out of travel - but to run out of travel at 50 yards on an airgun seems odd to me. I'm just not convinced enough to agree with this.

Have you tested the tracking - as in if you do 30 clicks up and 30 clicks back down does it always end up in the same spot?

 

[Phil.Probe]

Thanks for the help guys. The rifle is a band new Brocock Sniper XR in .22 cal. The rings are just something cheap from amazon (UTG IIRC) and the scope is a 12 year old Simmons Whitetail 6.5-20x50 that I've owned since new. It's only ever been mounted on <30 fpe PCP's.

I do understand the idea that the pellet drop at that range could be exceeding the adjustment of the scope and that the remedy is some sort of sloped scope mount solution, but like ctshooter says, it should still be adjusting if it's still clicking right? At times it seems like the it won't hold zero at least in the vertical plane.

 

[Phil.Probe]

Were the crosshairs optically zeroed (in the center of their range of movement) when you 1st mounted it? That alone can screw the pooch as far as running out of adjustment.

No. I didn't realize this was necessary. Does the clamping force from the scope rings hinder the range of adjustment or something? I always just snug up the rings, I don't clamp them down or anything.

 

[Phil.Probe]

It sounds like with your particular gun, scope and mount, that when dialing the POI up that far, the turret has screwed out past where the erector spring can still push the erector tube up. Look at the image here:

Rifle Scope testing: does it track?

If you were to ask a group of rifle-scope fanatics, what are the most important features of a perfect rifle scope, you would probably get a few different answers. Among them though, you would for sure hear things like; optical quality, repeatability, and of course accurate tracking. This may...

coldboremiracle.com

(The actual spring in a scope is a leaf spring, not a coil, but the same idea.)

That doesn't mean the scope is faulty, only that it can't adjust enough to compensate for how the gun points in general, how the mount points the scope relative to the gun AND for that far distance.

Common solutions are to use a scope mount that points down a little, bringing the POI up, called a "droop compensating" mount; to shim the scope or rear mount so that the scope points down a little; or if you have a cheap breakbarrel, to bend the barrel a little so it points more up. With the scope mounted to point down a little and/or the barrel pointing up more, then the elevation turret can be screwed more in (POI down) for say, the 10-20 yard/meter shots, giving plenty of UP left for the longer shots.

I've run into this problem before (different rifle and scope) and shimmed the rear scope mount with some aluminum can, but I had felt the scope adjustment hit the physical limits of it's vertical adjust ability. In other words I hit a hard stop on the turret. Not so with this scope, it still feels like it's adjusting like normal, except the POI is not changing.

 

[Keyman62421]

You're probably in need of " no limit" scope rings. You can compensate ranging deficiencies. Recentering your scope @ distance. I use them on most of my gund.

 

[Berserkeley Mike]

I've run into this problem before (different rifle and scope) and shimmed the rear scope mount with some aluminum can, but I had felt the scope adjustment hit the physical limits of it's vertical adjust ability. In other words I hit a hard stop on the turret. Not so with this scope, it still feels like it's adjusting like normal, except the POI is not changing.

Does the turret _ever_ hit a stop at some point after the POI stops changing, or could you turn it forever?

 

[oregondude]

When trying to change my POI upwards, the elevation turret clicks, but nothing happens - if anything the POI goes down.

Looking through the scope when making the adjustments, I can see the crosshairs move up and down in the lower part of it's adjustment, but then gets to the point where it is clicking, but no longer moving the cross hairs.

It's a 57 yard shot, so that should fall under the normal adjustment range of a scope, right?

A quick check to see if the rings are creating a bind is to loosen the ring that is less than a 1/2" from the turret housing. It can be loosened a bunch without destabilizing the scope. If scope response then move the ring at least a 1/2" from the turret housing.

 

[uladz]

West Hunter has adjustable scope rings also in picatinny and dove tail

I just remembered that West Hunter adjustable rings have horizontal "ribs" (or notches) on the internal surface of the two moving parts between the base and the ring that allow height adjustment. This means that adjustments can only be made in discrete steps (around 1mm steps), and you must change the height of both rings at the same time to avoid cant and stressing out the scope tube. I.e. they do not allow you to change the angle of the ring vs the base like FX no-limits. They work very well for adjusting the overall height of a scope, but they would not work well when you need to change the angle of the scope to compensate for the drop. Same problem with the Monstrum rings I suggested before, I scratched them out from my last post.

 

[Gerry52]

No. I didn't realize this was necessary. Does the clamping force from the scope rings hinder the range of adjustment or something? I always just snug up the rings, I don't clamp them down or anything.

IF the rings are so tight that movement is hindered, the scope on which it is occurring is more than likely ruined. DON'T overtighten! There are specs for ft/lbs of torque suggested on scopes/rings.

 

[uladz]

Every scope has its own max torque specs for rings. And you need a torque wrench / screwdriver if you don't have one already. I normally try not to go over 20 in-lbs in general. Vortex, which is my preferred optics brand, specs out 18 in-lbs max. Overtightening can deform the scope tube. Check the manual for your scope and see what torque is spec'ed out there.

 

[jasperjet]

burris signature zee rings have inserts in them that allow for 5 10 20 thousandths raising or lowering the scope plus it keeps the ring marks off the scope. you can go up on the rear alittle and down on the front alittle. Its best to get the cross hairs optically centered and move the scope til its close to your intendsd target so that the springs dont have so much uneven tension on them

 

[uladz]

burris signature zee rings have inserts in them that allow for 5 10 20 thousandths raising or lowering the scope plus it keeps the ring marks off the scope. you can go up on the rear alittle and down on the front alittle. Its best to get the cross hairs optically centered and move the scope til its close to your intendsd target so that the springs dont have so much uneven tension on them

These: https://www.burrisoptics.com/mounting-systems/zee-rings? I don't see in the description that they allow adjustments with inserts. And they are actually steel rings. Also, you have to "slide" them on your rail because the base clamp is one-piece and cannot be wide open / separated so that it can be taken off and put on freely.

 

[jasperjet]

signature zee there are zee and signature zee . I dont have any problem removing them but they do have to be slid down the rail. its a nice system only the signature zee has inserts the zee doesnt. if you are planning to take the scope off and on alot I would go a different direction. I use these on most of my firearms, eaglevision and fx have adjustable rings but they are alot more expensive

 

[uladz]

Got it, there https://www.burrisoptics.com/mounting-systems/signature-rings. Will look into these rings, never used before, thank you!