The Zero Check Thread

[gimp]

I've had horrendous experiences in the past with mounts letting go or just not holding zero (scope moving with the mount/base staying tight or the base letting go for whatever reason).

Now with the 'heavy' rifles, it's a solid one piece pic rail bedded or even glued and screwed down with a sintered material ring clamped with a good torque wrench and loctited to within an inch of it's life. Not sure if it was the move to heavy Nightforce scopes or just a run of average luck on the things, but since going to that methodology and component selection I have not had one move nor a zero shift at all, period. I don't tend to thud those around but am confident enough with the setup to use the scope as a handle.

Carry rifles with lighter scopes get one piece base/ring setups bedded/shimmed for level and checked for alignment, any issues that can't be cured by shims/bedding and the things are discarded replaced (I don't lap at all now). Again, no issues to date.

I'm very particular with the setup of the scopes now, aligned to the bore centerline as close as possible, all screws checked for almost full depth of engagement and seated with loctite and a torque wrench, scope reticles centered prior to fitting and checked to ensure the reticle is aligned with the elevation and windage screws, then levelled as close as possible to the centerline of the action.

As I said, since going down that route I haven't had a zero shift even with some horrendous knocks. One rifle got caught by a tree branch and flicked off a 4 wheeler breaking the straps on the rack and it bounced down a bank - not me driving and I didn't see it fly but the guy driving owned up which was something). After washing/cleaning the mud out of the scope there actually wasn't any damage at all, which surprised me. Cleaning the mud out of the suppressor was a real bitch of a job, first time I've ever seen a mud-plugged can.

Zero checks are usually 1 click in a direction, more than likely environmental or shooter error. More often than not I'm altering the zero adjustment due to an ammo change, looking at going back to reloading for everything I shoot which should help this.

Don't tell us - show us !

The point of this thread is to collect data that is as objective as possible

[SPEARONZ]

Reshot eldm load today before wind picked up.

The last group probably looks high left but I made no adjustments as it was consistent with the wind on the day.

This shoot was:
11/02/25
23degrees
100m
Slight headwind



In between sessions I shot 2 hinds around 250m without issue.

[No.3]

Don't tell us - show us !

The point of this thread is to collect data that is as objective as possible

I'll start taking pictures...

[gimp]

Reshot eldm load today before wind picked up.

The last group probably looks high left but I made no adjustments as it was consistent with the wind on the day.

This shoot was:
11/02/25
23degrees
100m
Slight headwind
Attachment 268668
Attachment 268670

In between sessions I shot 2 hinds around 250m without issue.

Looks like that hasn't shifted ! Keep an eye on it

[Tentman]

Check today. 1 click left from last time cos I realized I can. 105M and shooting off hard concrete - slight change in conditions

Zero today 0.015MRAD right, 0.12MRAD low. Maybe a zero shift down of 1 click?

Rifle has driven around a bunch, flown in a helicopter on the floor and shot 50 or so animals in the last 2 weeks. 4 days hunting. I won't draw any conclusions yet - I rarely shoot off concrete and would expect a possible change in POI from that, and would expect 0.02MRAD or thereabouts lower from the longer range - this group is roughly within the prior cone of fire.

Attachment 268535

Very nice shooting. Wish I could do that with mine. Haha.

[gimp]

Slightly different but on the same theme. I'm on a goat trip next week and using 7 different types of ammunition - needed to establish zero offsets so did that tonight. All are more or less usable within 300m without any real concern. 5x shots for some because I have, and will be using less, rounds of those - or I already have a good offset value. 1 called bad shot on the TSX.

I'll set each up as a profile in AB with a height offset and be good to switch between out to 400+ although effective range will likely be less than that for most (that's what 73s are for)
Barrel was very hot after doing this. Didn't seem to make any difference

[kukuwai]

Looks to me like the goats are in trouble

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[outdoorlad]

Why 7 different types of ammo?

[Ackley]

@gimp Years ago I used to shoot foxes for skins so all needed to be head shots mostly with foxes looking directly at the shooter/spotlight. Zeroing was done at 100yds with 3 shot groups. After shooting several foes 5 plus a small adjustment usually needed to be made mostly less than .5 inch but always required. Scope was and still is a Leupold 10x with friction adjustment bought in the late 70's, and held zero well. I always thought 2-3 shot zeroing isn't completely accurate but am too tight to fire any more shots
Now I pro deer shooting for a chiller and again head shoots are required and again find an in field adjustment is required after sighting in and shooting a few animals

2-3 shot zeroing is good enough for hilar shooting of deer but I'm convinced not good enough for shooting that requires a high degree of precision

Have to admit your theories seem to be spot on

I have 2 Leupold and 2 Swarovski scopes and all hold zero

Not sure how anyone can claim otherwise

[gimp]

Check today with 73. Dialled up 0.1 from last time out (where it was 0.1 low) so elevation is consistent. Persistent 3-4ms wind R-L. MPOI 0.1 L. Wind? Wandering? Inconsistent shooter? Likely wind I would say. Again 7/10 shots into a 1MOA circle.

Has been out and about quite a bit, shot 79 goats week before last.



Had to draw any conclusions except that it's absolutely fine for hunting. Between zero checks I have re-torqued ring caps & action screws (both had loosened slightly) and replaced the suppressor entirely with a full size DPT rather than the mini I was using.

[gimp]

And set zero for 80s, back to handloads. Group strung a bit. Zero looks perfect but I wouldn't be surprised if it's actually 0.1 R accounting for the wind. We shall see. Sorted for roar hunting.

[16Tontovarish]

Anything leupold is widely vilified as unable to hold zero at all on Rokslide. It would be really interesting to see some data.

Rokslide seem like a bunch of miserable asses, everything I've ever read there seems like a bunch of old whiners who hate everything but the one specific system or thing they use. I've well given up trying to get useful info out of there.

[SPEARONZ]

Forums can be the Wild West of marketing products and shitting on competitors.

[Tentman]

Just back from the range (was RO this arvo and a horde of shooters turned up "after work" and it took ages to get them all sorted) where I was able to test a 223 that has caused me a bit of head scratching. It's weekend group was at least double it norm, and was 75mm off POI. The scope is a very reliable test rig so that was easily eliminated. Today's effort was back to its best and I made a big learning . ..The suppressor bushings lie about on the bench ready to fit and somehow I'd grabbed the wrong one. It looked like it had clearance but on testing had a tighter spot (it just wouldn't quite pass the corner of a $5 note) and that was enough.

[Tahr]

I lay down in the paddock under field conditions using bipod and no back rest to check zero. 6 shots. Savage Lightweight ,223, Hardy 1:8 barrel, 62 grn Makers. Zeiss HD5 3-16 scope.

Last time I checked it a few months ago it was 1" high at 100 yards. It's been dialled quite a bit since and gets put into the back of the ute in an unfriendly manner and spends lots of time on a quad. A rough sort of life.

The black circle I drew was a bit big and I was aware of drifting to the bottom of it when shooting so I sort of called those shots. Anyway, it is what it is. I left it as it was.