Thread: Maintaining zero after flying

ya right Kelton good scopes dont move - our rifles used to get shite used all day and never really shifted - the old standard 4x leupold and 2.5 leupold were pretty robust and simple - some of these new ones with a heap of adjustment may be a little more temperamental - the early tascoes were not good but surprisingly the early Nikko Sterling were actually not bad for the price - I did have early redfields fog especially one I tried with a wide angle lens fogged first time I used it - some cullers had Pecar and they seemed robust

Looking at the advice I’ll start carrying a target just in my bag just case. My rifle has good rings and a rail and has not shifted with flying before, I recently upgraded my case to one with pillar locks also to avoid crushing. In travel and on the hill it stays with a small neoprene cover on the scope also unless I’m expecting game.

One trip tahr hunting my mate had a shocker with his new rifle, bad rings with the big side screws and they came loose, and then the mag dropped out the next day lol. Found the mag and had a multi tool,got the scope back on, zeroed in on some rocks and he managed to get a good sized bull thar the next day.could see the worry etched on his face though.

those big trips carry a spare scope and the right sort of screw drivers or allen keys to change it - my first trip to fiordland bloody new redfield fogged first day never touched once since -- had prepared and rifle had open sights and had zeroed those so rest of trip open sights - had gear to remove offending redfield and the trip to Stewart Island after woods all open sights - if I had a spare scope could have fitted that -but my back up plan was open sights - worked out okay but had the right tools

Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

those big trips carry a spare scope and the right sort of screw drivers or allen keys to change it - my first trip to fiordland bloody new redfield fogged first day never touched once since -- had prepared and rifle had open sights and had zeroed those so rest of trip open sights - had gear to remove offending redfield and the trip to Stewart Island after woods all open sights - if I had a spare scope could have fitted that -but my back up plan was open sights - worked out okay but had the right tools

That's been my system for over 15 years, many trips across the ditch, dall's sheep hunt in the Yukon, and one trip from the bottom of Aus. to mid Qld. Zeroed 1.6/6 and 2.5/8 Leupies in Talley screw lock detachables. Carry only two allen keys to fit both guard screws and scope screws. I've never needed the keys either, but nice to be able to check guard screws and scope screws

Some don't like the vertical split on the Talleys, but it has never been a problem for me. Never needed to use the spare, but rather have it etc etc.

Only time I have had travel induced issues was a Leupy knocked off by 5" on a trip to Central Asia. That was on what I though was a fully sealed wood stock, and the change in climate may have had something to do with it, but having seen the way my gun case was handled, I doubt it.

The spare doesn't need to be some hooley dooly, turret festooned boat anchor, just something that you can rely on. 4x Leupy is ideal, but good luck finding one.

I would invest in the best hard case you can afford, that should eliminate most risks of zero shifting.

Make a rifle suit case out of 10mm ply,line with foam rubber cut out of a old clean bed mattras.Cut the rifle scope shape out of the foam.It wont break in transit unless somebody it hitting it with a 20oz hammer.
Not ideal for flying in to yr hunting spot but good for transporting yr rifle around on bumpy river beds n tracks.

You can also run a suppressor just for zero checking if a real world zero check makes you feel better and correspondingly means you have a better holiday.

You just need to know the difference between ‘Suppressed zero’ and ‘Unsuppressed zero’. You can figure that out on the range at home. Then make up some targets with a marker for ’suppressed zero’.

You can even use cheaper projectiles too, provided they shoot a tight group.

Now when you want to check zero, you can put the suppressor on and shoot a group, just aiming like normal at target centre. If the group lands on the. ‘suppressor zero’ then you can be confident that the rifle will shoot to normal zero with the suppressor off.

If you do have to adjust your zero because it has walked in transit, you can adjust it to suppressor zero with the suppressor on and be confident that the rifle will shoot to normal zero with the suppressor removed.

There are quite a few things that can cause zero shift after travelling:
Scope itself damaged ( as tested by Rokslide ) this is the least likely scenario
Mounts shifted (collimator or boresight possibly)
Bedding or cracked stock ( Ive had this )
Ammo batch
Altitude effect on trajectory at > 300m

The only true test bundling all these together is to fire 5 shots at a range findered target. Be prepared to adjust zero and fire a few more 5 shot groups …
Next best is to check when you get home and over a series of 5-10 trips you get quality assurance it will be OK next time.

Pelican or Storm gun case. 1650 was the Pelican line, if your scope is out after a trip in that it's most likely that the barrel is bent (and you'll know from the crush marks flattening the case where the refuelling truck ran it over... Yeah...).

The other suggestion is a laser bullet, in themselves they ain't much chop- but mark it so it goes in the same way each time and its a good cross check that the zero was where you left it. Unfortunately it won't tell you where the point of impact will be (barrel tweak or one of the other many possible issues that could go wrong) but its a good check on zero.

Supercheap do a knock off of those cases for a couple hundy, will be almost as good as the real thing at 1/3rd cost.

I have flown with rifles alot, have to be atleast 20x with air nz over the years and only once has one of them not maintained zero, it made it through the flight fine but i managed to drop it down a bank on day 1 and proceeded to miss 2 deer.

Provided its in a good hard case and there wasnt an underlying issue prior, im sure you will be fine. I always ask them to put plenty of fragile stickers on, and touch wood never had an issue.