Scope horrors

[bluetick]

Well, not quite horrors but damn irritating. I have a BSA Sweet 243 scope mounted on a Ruger American. It is constantly going out of zero and having to be re-sighted. It's attached to a weaver mount and seems to be secure enough. Really, there's not nearly enough recoil to move that thing out of zero. This is a head-scratcher for sure.

[Randy99CL]

You are joking, right? I haven't posted here for a while, is something going on??

That's a less-than-$70 scope. I wouldn't expect it to be reliable on a .22.

[grayfox]

Stock flex or cheek weld can do that maybe, but it sounds to me like the innards of a low budget scope.
Need to move up the quality scale IMO.

[Harpoon1]

..........I have a BSA Sweet 243 scope mounted on a Ruger American........

Bingo

[PVBoom]

Having issues with a bottom barrel scope is to be expected.

[mdram]

yeah, return it
if your going to cheap out on a scope, i know i have at times, at least go bushnell

[tdbru]

bluetick,
save up some $ and get a Leupold. problem solved. or even find a used Leupy. Since they have a lifetime warranty, you can buy a used one and have it re-furbed if you think it needs it. i've bought used Leupold scopes before and other than ring marks, they were good as new and worked that way. you've checked the mounts and rings, and checked the torque on your action screws. so as several posters before me, cheap scopes are, well, cheaply made too. sorry for the hard news but with most optic products (binoculars, scopes, camera lens, etc) you get what you pay for. high quality is not inexpensive at first, but when a cheap scope fails on your once in a lifetime sheep hunt, or something like that, the cost of the quality Leupold won't seem so expensive compared to the cost of the failed hunt... just saying. feel free to disagree if you wish.
-tdbru

[Sinclair]

blue tick, the rule is that the optics should cost at least as much as the rifle. beware. my neighbor bought a Leopold at a gun show after shooting it once, he could hear a rattle in the scope. Turns out it was a Chinese clone and he was stuck with a paperweight. Expensive isn't always better, but cheap is almost never just as good. Lots of advice and opinions on optics on this forum. Read them all and then make an informed decision. tdbru said it all!

[bluetick]

I've taken your logic to heart. In fact I've shared it already. My neighbor has a Ford Explorer and he told me it's developed a shimmy in the steering wheel. He asked me what I thought. I told him that if he hadn't cheaped out on the Ford and gotten a Mercedes SUV instead, he wouldn't have had any troubles. It didn't solve his SUV's problem though.

[Drillboss]

I've taken your logic to heart. In fact I've shared it already. My neighbor has a Ford Explorer and he told me it's developed a shimmy in the steering wheel. He asked me what I thought. I told him that if he hadn't cheaped out on the Ford and gotten a Mercedes SUV instead, he wouldn't have had any troubles. It didn't solve his SUV's problem though.

I agree with the comments on buying cheap glass. However, this comment isn't quite apples to apples. We bought a BMW X5 driving machine several years ago and I spent thousands of dollars replacing tens of dollars worth of cheap plastic parts. 150,000 miles later, we love the Ford Edge that I replaced it with. When we were shopping for the replacement, I had a salesman at Carmax tell me that if I'm worried about maintenance cost, don't pick the Mercedes.

Bottom line, buy the best glass you can afford, but be careful on the cars you pick.

[Mad Charlie]

A decent used Vortex might be worth looking into for you. High quality, lifetime warranty.

Trying to "massage" the one you have is only going to lead to frustration and lost time. IMOP.

[PVBoom]

I've taken your logic to heart. In fact I've shared it already. My neighbor has a Ford Explorer and he told me it's developed a shimmy in the steering wheel. He asked me what I thought. I told him that if he hadn't cheaped out on the Ford and gotten a Mercedes SUV instead, he wouldn't have had any troubles. It didn't solve his SUV's problem though.

No, you haven't.

You have a crap scope, which doesn't approach Ford level quality. Its a Yugo, or a Russian Lada compared to a Ford Fiesta.

Try again. But at some point, you need to wake up and understand that BSA, Barska, and NCStar are crap.

[peak98]

I've taken your logic to heart.

I’ve had a couple scopes that crapped out on me, cost me a very nice buck one time and a whole lot of frustration the others. Any manufacturer, even the high end ones can, and do, have mechanical failures. It’s just wayyyyy more common with the lower end manufacturers.
Let me put it another way. I have NEVER, EVER, regretted putting good glass on a rifle.
peak98

[Old Bob]

I bought a used Remington 788 in .223 Remington at a gun show that had a Simmons 4x12 scope on it. Took it to the range to sight it in. First shot was about 4 feet to the right. I turned the turret 4 full turns of left windage & fired another round. The bullet impact was still about 4 feet to the right. Repeated the previous steps & received the same results... 4 feet to the right. Went home & took the scope off. During the process I detected a rattle I hadn't heard before. That scope now resides in a landfill somewhere. I installed a used Weaver fixed 4 power scope my dad gave me. I grew up with that scope. My dad had it on his .300 Savage when I was a teenager. Took my first deer with it. I still have it.

My brother bought a BMW. What a money pit it turned out to be. He has a Rav4 now... a marvelous car.

[Mesa1978]

A decent used Vortex might be worth looking into for you. High quality, lifetime warranty.

This.

[fabbrisd]

Look.. if you need under $100 because that's what you have... outside of low price almost ALL these can "maybe handle" rimfire at best.

Depending on Amazon Return Policy - you can pick another under $100 like CVLife or Feyachi or Monstrom - get one in, throw it on - and throw it back at Amazon if total cr*p.

If you move "up" into the $200 range - outdoors.natchezss.com (Natchez Shooter Supplies) has a few select Nikon "refurbished" - don't get disappointed about what they have sold-out-of scroll thru for what is still available..

[StoneHendge]

I've taken your logic to heart. In fact I've shared it already. My neighbor has a Ford Explorer and he told me it's developed a shimmy in the steering wheel. He asked me what I thought. I told him that if he hadn't cheaped out on the Ford and gotten a Mercedes SUV instead, he wouldn't have had any troubles. It didn't solve his SUV's problem though.

I find avoiding potholes to be a lot more cost effective. If that doesn't work, divorce can be a solution (although not necessarily cost effective).

[LRRPF52]

I tell people all the time if they have a hundred dollars burning a hole in their pocket, it’s better to buy a quality mount and rings and save for a real scope that will work.

All the time, money, gas, and ammo you waste with a cheap scope costs more than what it would have cost to just get a solid one.

There are some really affordable scopes from reputable companies that actually work too.

You can get some great little Leupold or Vortex entry-level scopes for $199 to $299 all day long.

[BowChamp]

Burris offers some very nice scopes in the $170.00 to $300.00 dollar range also.

I own scopes that cost from $30.00 to $900.00. Only problem I've had with low cost scopes was internal fogging.

As most have stated...save up a little money and get a better quality scope.

[hartman23foscari]

Personally decided to take the higher hit in cost and go with a non chinese scope myself. If you want something you may need to depend your life on better 300 dollars on a decent scope than your life imho. But for affordable scopes go with a prism or a vortex or primary arms.