I have a new england .270 with a cheap (70.00) bushnell 4x12 scope on it. To get to the point I sighted the gun in dead on at 100 yards then the weekend before opening day shot it again just for confidence. Opening morning I shot a little button buck and hit right where I was aiming and it was a good start to the rifle season, but then on the second morning I had a group of doe come walking by and after a while of watching them decided to try and take one of them but I missed and definatly and easy shot 75 yards max, but as i starting walking out of the woods noticed a rattle in the scope so i checked and everything was tight but the eye relief came loose I just tightened it back since i didnt think it would mess up the cross hairs but I ended up missing to more deer before the end of the season... havent had time to go back to the gun range and shoot it any more but do you guys think somehow the eye relief could have thrown it off, because on the next two deer i missed it came loose each time even after getting it very tight with my hand..

Without looking at it, it is hard to determine.

Maybe you adjusted it and forgot to lock the ring for the ocular.

Maybe there is something more.

If the value of the scope were in question, I would just say for you to buy a better scope and save that one for a .22 rifle or something else that you use for something other than big game hunting.

The old adage - you get what you pay for is true with riflescopes.

Overmany years of owning opticsI have had the misfortune of owning 4 Bushnell products and they all failed just after the warranty had run out (1 year)...The first was a scope that after a year and a halfthe "O" rings dried out and the scope started fogging up internally...the next was a pair of small binos that had never been dropped butthe mirrors justbecame un-attached inside while I was trying to use them...They make a great baby rattle now...I also had a shotgun scope that the crosshairs broke while sighting it in for turkey season...the last was another rifle scope I had foralmost 2 yearsthat just came apart internally allowing the crosshairs to jump all over the place everytime I shot...None of these items were abused in anyway they just failed on their own...Back then I couldn't afford much better but back then Bushnell was supposed to havebeen a good product...Do yourself a favor and look at upgrading your scope to a Nikon, Burris or whatever you can afford that is NOT a Bushnell.

Save up, buy a leupold vari III. They last a life time. We have a straight power leupold on a 760 that might be 50 yrs. old and still clear.

Get a better scope and nest time you miss a deer and even think that the scope is off resight it before you shoot at another deer. You owe it to them.

Some cheap rifles shoot good. No cheap scope shoots good to my knowledgle. Never bet your hunt on a cheap scope.

I assume what you are referring to is the fine focus adjustment at the eyepiece portion of thescope keeps coming loose? Why it continues to loosen I have no idea, could be way of carrying it, etc. However whether the scope is the reason for the misses???? It appears by your post that it was fine at your last range session but have nottested since. Sorry,until you do a follow up session we can't give you any real help.

Buying a new scope at this pointwould be as uesfulas blaming your current one! You need to widdle downthe possibilities. Get to the range and shoot. Please don't go hunting until you do. Owe it to yourself and the game!

BTW expensive scopes fail too.My buddies 1 year old VXIII packed it on him. It happens, though at this point it is just an assumption (made easier by the "cheap" label given).

Good Luck

I really can't picture what happened. The "eye refief" is not a PART. It cannot "come loose". The eye relief is the distance (range of distances) within which your eye must be placed measured from the ocular lense in order to see through the scope......

I might be wrong and this might be stooooopid. But don't the eyepiece have stops on it so it will not come off and lose the nitrogen?Have to agree with the others.Get a quality scope and you will never look back .But be careful. Good glass is like a new gun. They get kinda addictive.