StickslingnTom

Hi, I was just wondering if any of you have had damage done to your scope by the recoil of your slug. I was sighting in my shotgun the other day and the first shot i took was on the paper at 100 yds, but after that i wasn' t anywhere close to the target and could not get the slugs back on the paper. I took my gun to a gunsmith and he said in the last 2 years he has had 3 scopes come in, mine being the 4th that have been " blown out" by the 12 guauge winchester patrition golds. All the scopes that were blown out were all good quality (leupold, burris, redfield,bushnell). We got my gun borsighted again, but if you hit it a little bit the scope will now get nocked off 6 inches to the left at 100 yds. I should probably send the scope in to get fixed but i doubt it will be back for the opener of gun season that opens two weeks from yesterday. He also gave me some lightfield hybred exp' s to try seeing they are a lot lighter recoil, they are working for now and the recoil is not effecting the scope, but i am worried if it gets knocked around a little bit while i am hunting i will be s.o.l. when that buck steps out.


Tom

Danny45

Scopes can be affected by harsh recoil. But only if it' s a defective scope. Most are made to withstand repeated shootings on a .338 Win Mag.

I find it difficult to believe that even " mild" 12 gauge recoil will not affect your scope, but bumping it will. Unless you drop it out of your tree at the end of the day.

skeeter 7MM

I too find this a bit hard to swallow, while all scope manufacturers can and do have problems with scopes the recoil of a 12 gauge or bumping should not knock the scope off POI. If they did nobody would buy them, as their is nowway to prevent bums and jars a scope takes in any given day or season of hunting. I have had my fall off a tree, truck, ride in a gun boot, etc and never had a scope get knocked out. I would look at the mounts, rings as a problem area if the scope is indeed fine. To ensure no slippage use blue locktite on the screws. If the scope is faulty all shots regardless of the recoil would show some effects, as I have had a scope break and it was easily noticable their was a problem with the scope, as the mounts were tight and not shifting.

Celt

I have seen dozens of scopes fail due to recoil.
Yes, even Loopys and others, but mostly Tasco, Simmons and the lower end Bushnells, and of course BSA.


I have seen the insides literally come apart so bad that reticles would be loose and move around, to pieces of internals dropping down so you could see stuff in you field of veiw.
Most the time they do just what you have described.

Send it back or have your smith send it back for warranty. If it is a Leupold, I know it will be fixed or replaced promptly.

The lowest quality scope I would ever put on a shotgun would be the Bushnell Trophy shotgun scope, but I would much rather put on a Leupold shotgun scope.

Stay away from the bushnell banner' s, Simmons, Tasco and BSA' s. I have seen very few that will hold up on a slug gubn or magnum rifle.

Celt

nick_04

about the recoil messing/damaging the scope, my savage 270 had a 3-9x32 on it when i bought it and i got it lined up and i would go to shoot it again it would be off 4 to 8 inches of the mark, i finally figured out everytime i shoot the gun it knocks the scope off, so i junked the l-cheapo scope that came on it, and got busnell and it shoots on the mark everytime, my friends 7mm was the same way and he went with a simmons, i think it has somethin to do with the cheaply made scopes that come on guns or just some guns have to much for a cheap scope bought at wally world or k-mart(LOL)

PaJack

I made the mistake one time and put a Bushnell Elite 3200 on a .300 Weatherby and after less than 40 shots fired through it the crosshairs broke! It went back to my gunshop and I went back to buying Leupold scopes. Live and learn...

James B

I have had at least 50 scopes that I have shot a lot. I have had only one go to hell from recoil. It was an inexpesive Simmons that I put on a TC contender in 35 Remington. That one may have been ok but I didn' t tighten the ring screws tight enough. I have had a Bushel of Bushnells on Magnum rifles and never had a problem with any of them. Same for Tasco. Be sure to tighten all the screws tight. The biggest cause of broken crosshairs is turning the adjustment to far instead of centering them with adjustable rings and shims. No scope including Leupold will hold up if the adjustments are bottomed out or turned completly one way or the other. As a gun dealer who sold lots of scopes, I have seen hunters ruin some good optics by incorrect mounting.