Ar rifles and keeping zero.

bigtim6656 · 12-22-2009, 11:39 AM

I got a question guys. I am going t get another ar rifle been wanting a 308 cal since I sold the two 5.56s I had a few years ago. I want it setup for both long range target shooting and short range target shooting. Plus I want a good hunting rifle out of it. I am thinking a good scope some where around 400 bucks. One thing that worries me is when I shoot the rifle and break it down to clean it. If I take out the pins to remove the upper from the lower reciever will it lose zero on the scope? Or is this not a issue? We had alot of trouble keeping the zero on our red dote sight on the bushmaster 5.56. I think part of that issue was me and my dad shooting it and both zeroing the sight.

13pointjomc · 12-22-2009, 03:08 PM

shoot it n see if its still 0ed in,if it aint,fix it!

Ridge Runner · 12-22-2009, 03:26 PM

not an issue, the scope is attached to the upper, removing the lower does not change any bedding pressure. I've got 4 uppers and 3 lowers and switch them out frequently.
RR

driftrider · 12-22-2009, 03:49 PM

The only way I can see this being a problem is if there is slop between the upper and lower causeing the upper to move different with each shot. This is a very common problem with the M-16A2's I was issued in the Corps. Most of these rifles were better than a decade old and had been fired tens of thousands of time and had the crap beat out of them. My last M-16 had enough slop that the muzzle could move 1/4" in any direction with the lower fixed. Not the most accurate rifle, either.

New commercial AR's are going to be much tighter than a rode hard and put away wet M-16, and if there is any slop, they make a little wedge shim that goes under the buffer to tighten things up. There are also adjustable action pins that will do the same thing available. You probably won't need them, though.

Mike