zero gone after slip

[snipers eye]

hi good folks,was out with a mate yesterday with his 223 rabbiting,anyway first 2 shots  head shots 140 yards,and 155,then he had a slip coming down a small hill,went backwards,had the gun on his shoulder,grassy hill,nothing serious,gun did fell with him,anyway missed the next 5 shots,he said there is something not right,tried on a target, was 5 inches low and 4 inches to left at 100 yrds,so question is,although the gun did not get a really bad knock,should it have been off that much? scope is a hawke 3-12x50,thanks

[243deer]

Check everything is still tight, including the stock. Check if the barrel is still free floating - no grunge lodged between barrel and stock when he fell. If all is well then possibly the scope is faulty. Re zero then give the scope a couple of gentle taps with a rubber mallet (obviously not battering the hell out of it) and see if it holds zero. Hawke scopes are usually reasonably tough so unlucky if it is faulty.

In addition you can do the square test on the scope fire 3 then 10 clicks up, fire 3 shots, 10 right, fire 3, 10 down, fire 3, 10 left, fire 3 and you should be back on zero

Edited June 11, 2023 by 243deer

[gmm243]

You can be very lucky or unlucky. 

Dropped a .22 years ago out of the cabinet and the zero never shifted. Last year part of one of the sling swivels sheared off while on my back and the rifle fell onto the forestry road hitting the mod first.  Checked the zero the next morning and it was 2" low but not off in any other way. I had a friend who the same thing happened to in a farm yard and the gun landed on the concrete. He had to buy a new scope after that experience.

[snipers eye]

thanks,he re zeroed this mourning,and seems ok again,dont think the scope is faulty,was shooting well up to the fall,was just wondering would such a not so serious fall on grass,off set a scope by that much,heading out later today for a while,will post if everything is ok or not.scope is not an expensive model,around 170 quids,but was as said doing well up to the fall,thanks

[steve_b_wales]

1 hour ago, snipers eye said:

hi good folks,was out with a mate yesterday with his 223 rabbiting,anyway first 2 shots  head shots 140 yards,and 155,then he had a slip coming down a small hill,went backwards,had the gun on his shoulder,grassy hill,nothing serious,gun did fell with him,anyway missed the next 5 shots,he said there is something not right,tried on a target, was 5 inches low and 4 inches to left at 100 yrds,so question is,although the gun did not get a really bad knock,should it have been off that much? scope is a hawke 3-12x50,thanks

If it is the scope, you can get it repaired/replaced free of charge. I had a 3 year old one that when adjusting the reticule, felt a bit tight. I sent it back under warranty and received a brand new 'next model' scope free of charge.

[jall25]

2 hours ago, snipers eye said:

thanks,he re zeroed this mourning,and seems ok again,dont think the scope is faulty,was shooting well up to the fall,was just wondering would such a not so serious fall on grass,off set a scope by that much,heading out later today for a while,will post if everything is ok or not.scope is not an expensive model,around 170 quids,but was as said doing well up to the fall,thanks

No expert on Hawke - but at 170 this seems cheap for a C/F rated scope 

[steve_b_wales]

26 minutes ago, jall25 said:

No expert on Hawke - but at 170 this seems cheap for a C/F rated scope 

95% of Hawke scopes are calibrated for centrefire use.

[Dougy]

i think you would need more info about the scope being off zero, point of impact the scope made on the ground ? 

Its obviously had a knock, i think any high impact like that on a scope would need to have zero check after just to make sure your not going to smash the back legs of the next target !

I did similar but it was an IOR scope, i packing up for the night straight after, zeroed the following day, all was thankfully fine. I also dropped another scope that was scrap after, it had slightly bent the tube couldn't zero for love nor money, but a cheaper scope. 

[wyn]

What sort of mounts do you have holding the scope to the rifle?

I slipped with a rifle the other day and it ended up being a good few inches out. The scope rings were fixed to a picatinny rail which was mounted to the rifle dovetail (CZ 527).

The rail was fixed by sliding over the rifle dovetail and pulling upwards by tightening up some screws.  I thought about this quite a bit and now think this sort of rail mounting is absolute garbage. It can move side to side if it gets a knock.

I have since chucked the rail away and gone with dedicated 527 mounts.    The scope should be ok it's a March 2.5-25

[team tractor]

I had my sling come off my old Brno with a nikko Panamax. Straight on the floor 🙈. Never even moved a little. It’s just luck 

[oowee]

I fell over a few months back landed on my 243 with meopta on a rail. It knocked the zero at least 30cm at 100m.

It was easily corrected but made me wonder what had actually moved. 

[snipers eye]

thanks all for reply's.....just to say 11 rabbits today all head shots at ranges from 120-180.......so all seems fine again,everything was checked after the fall,nothing was out of place,has hawke mounts,low,,these ones  they look pretty strong,so like what oowee says above.im also wondering what moved,,thanks again to all

[London Best]

A mate once pulled a load of clothing from he back seat of his Discovery, not realising my old BRNO .22 was underneath. He sent the rifle clattering about 5/6 yards down a tarmac drive. It chipped a small piece from the end of the pistol grip, but the zero never shifted.(Leupold scope)

[snipers eye]

1 hour ago, London Best said:

A mate once pulled a load of clothing from he back seat of his Discovery, not realising my old BRNO .22 was underneath. He sent the rifle clattering about 5/6 yards down a tarmac drive. It chipped a small piece from the end of the pistol grip, but the zero never shifted.(Leupold scope)

hi,that sounds like a hard enough fall/knock,as said above im still wondering what moved?and by so much

[London Best]

I must remember to do a zero check on my .308, because as I was on my way to find the last deer I shot at the end of April I tripped over a hidden stump and fell heavily on the (unloaded) rifle.  Another Leupold scope. I’m not expecting it to have moved but the rifle has not been used since and you never know.

[THEINVISIBLESCARECROW]

A scope has moveing parts, bash it hard enough something will bounce around & move. Not done it myself but if my rifle did a bounce on the ground I'd zero check even if it was into grass / dirt to get an idea if still close enough or need a proper re zero session

[London Best]

16 minutes ago, THEINVISIBLESCARECROW said:

A scope has moveing parts, bash it hard enough something will bounce around & move. Not done it myself but if my rifle did a bounce on the ground I'd zero check even if it was into grass / dirt to get an idea if still close enough or need a proper re zero session

Trust me, I would not dream of shooting at another creature until the rifle’s zero has been checked.

[THEINVISIBLESCARECROW]

58 minutes ago, London Best said:

Trust me, I would not dream of shooting at another creature until the rifle’s zero has been checked.

Just like if you trip / fall over with a shotgun, check barrels are clear before you pull the trigger.

[London Best]

On 13/06/2023 at 13:42, THEINVISIBLESCARECROW said:

A scope has moveing parts, bash it hard enough something will bounce around & move. Not done it myself but if my rifle did a bounce on the ground I'd zero check even if it was into grass / dirt to get an idea if still close enough or need a proper re zero session

 

On 13/06/2023 at 14:00, London Best said:

Trust me, I would not dream of shooting at another creature until the rifle’s zero has been checked.

Checked the rifle today. Nothing had moved, it was still just a little more than one inch high at  100 yd’s. Good old Leupold. As I rarely get a shot at greater range )all woodland stalking) I decided to lower poi a bit. 

[snipers eye]

nice group there london,mate has had no more problems either since the re zero after the fall

[Dougy]

Thinking about a bloke at Doveridge clay ground. He drove his new Range rover over his shotgun that was lying on the grass out of its slip and open. Both rear and front wheels. 

😆 🤣 

[London Best]

2 hours ago, Dougy said:

Thinking about a bloke at Doveridge clay ground. He drove his new Range rover over his shotgun that was lying on the grass out of its slip and open. Both rear and front wheels. 

😆 🤣 

Fifty seven years ago I was waiting for rabbits whilst a field was being combined.  During a break in operations I was asked to move the combine to allow a tractor and trailer to manoeuvre. I managed to reverse the combine drive wheel over my unloaded gun which I had laid on the ground. The gun was a SxS and the wheel passed directly over the breech. Fortunately, the ground was soft enough to make an imprint of the gun, an Aramberri side lock, and no harm was done.