Alright guys' here's one for ya! I have a .50 cva optima 28" barrel, i shoot 2 - 50grain 777 pellets and a 245 gr. hollowpoint powerbelts w/ winchester 209's. Every year i go through this same deal. When i go to sight my gun in it shoots all over the place, i shot it yesterday and it was about 2 feet to the right, the gun as been in the cabinet all year, i clean it and put it away till the next year. But anyway's i usually spend a couple trips to the range and about $50 worth of bullets and powder before i finally get it sighted in. I generally do this off a bench with sandbags. Yesterday i got one bullet to go about an inch from dead center (down and to the right) so i adjusted my scope where i wanted it and then i couldnt figure out where the bullets are going. I've used this same set up for the last couple of years. Checked my scope rings and bases all was tight. The funny thing is though that once i get it sighted in i'm good for hunting season. The gun shoots incredibly well but for some reason it was way off this time and not shooting the groups i've become accustomed to. Any idea's on what the problem could be? I've thought about scope issues which i've had before, but the bushnell i've got on it now never has any problems. Any body else go through this same ordeal? I appreciate any thoughts on the subject.

Sean

Sounds like the scope or even the pellets going bad if they are old.

If your gun shoots all over the place,either the gun doesnt like the load or you are not shooting well, or a combination of both.

I can't explain erratic shots one day and good groups the next. The gun should always group, maybe not at the intended POI.

Two questions bornhunter.

1. Do you do any shooting between the end of the season and your sight-in session for the next season?

2. Yesterday, when it was 2 feet to the right, how many shots did you take before you adjusted the scope?

Right, that's what i thought, but i'm shooting off sand bags, and i KNOW i'm not jerking, the gun has a good crisp trigger, so i know it's not me. But if this scope has finally gone bad then that'll make the third one i've had go bad on this gun. 2 Simmons and a bushnell (current scope). The pellets were bought last year and kept in a dry box. I mean this is the same load i've used the last 2 years and harvested 7 deer. Last year i ended up using the 4-wheeler and a box of shot for a rest and had it dialed in. But i spent about 3 shooting sessions getting it dialed in. So, assuming it's not the scope or my shooting skills, any other idea's as to what it could be?

1) shooting with the muzzleloader? or shooting in general. I've spent a lot of time at the range this past year. My shooting skills have done nothing but improved.

2) I shot 3 shots to figure out where the slugs were going cleaning the barrel between shots.

The reason I asked question #2 is that if you were "chasing the bull" by adjusting the scope after each shot, you don't really know how the gun is shooting. You need to shoot at least three shots (5 is better) before making any adjustments to the scope. And you should be shooting those at 50 yards or less. Then you know how (or if) the gun is grouping its shots. If you shot three or five shots without adjusting the scope and the group was more than six inches or so, then it's either a sight problem or a shooter problem.

Oops, our last two posts overlapped. I posted mine before I saw your answer.

Did you adjust the scope between those shots, or were all three with the same scope setting? If they were with the same setting, what size was the group?

i adjusted it after the 3 shots, it was a 2 -3" group which is bigger than it should have been, but i adjusted the scope then got one close to where i wanted it then i started loosing bullets in the target, still have no idea where they were hitting.

Yep, sounds like the scope went KAFLOOEY. (That's a technical term I learned from my granddaughter.)