I have been using a lead sled for about a month now on and off as one of my range buddys has one. For hard kicking rifles and slug guns it is really nice. One thing I noticed so far and it may not be typical of your results is this, this rest is tough on scopes. A good scope mounted well seems to be ok, but a cheaper model that might be suspect anyway just lasts no time at all on the sled. Now this may not be a truly accurate statement as my experience with this is limited at this time, and maybe the scope would have blown anyways. But the gun does recoil differently in the sled and it seems to me more of the energy is being transmitted to the scope than is by shooting from a more traditional type of rest where the shooter takes the recoil in the shoulder. Due to the fact that my experience is limited with this, I was wondering if this what others were seeing or not.
The lead sled- " A scope killer?"
- Thread starter Rifleman
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Rifleman said:
Rifleman,
I think you are right, this is exactly what is happening. Combination of lead sled and .376 Steyr Scout have killed three of my scopes. And not exactly cheap ones. Two Conquests and one Burris Euro Diamond.
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How much weight are you guys using on the sled?
Sometimes I?m adding extra weight up to 50 pounds, but sometimes just weight of the lead sled is enough.jcchartboy said:
That is a good question. You are probably right. It?s probably has same effect on scopes as shooting air gun.Spitpatch said:
If you keep shooting gun and have it?s stock rested against solid, non moving wall will it still destroys scopes? Anyone wants to make this experiment? :lol:
We have been using 75lbs of lead weight, as far as your experiment I think we have just about done that with this much weight, the sled doesn't move move more then a 1/4 in with 12 gauge slugs. Funny thing the other day, we put an older guy with a slug gun on the sled the other day, I told him to hold the gun tight, he didn't. The gun jumped off the sled and he caught it in the air and it about doinked him on the head, lol, quite comical but glad it was a single shot.
Rifleman said:
Yes I did. And you reccommended to hold forend down. This seamd to fixed it.
Rifleman said:
It think there is still enough forward movement after the shoot (including bench movement). But I?m not sure if this is what breaks scopes.
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Rifleman said:
I think what is more accurate is that super-hard recoiling guns are far, far harder on scopes than most people imagine. Without the self-limiting factor of a sore or numb shoulder, it is easy to put far more rounds through a filling rattler with a lead sled than you would without one-- more enjoyable anyway.
Most scopes are not mounted stress-free at all-- just the std. culmulative maching tolerances stress a scope, both receiver height front and rear, receiver holes drilled off top of center, ring hole tolerances, etc. Added to that, the steel in the receiver, bases and rings expand / contract at different rates than aluminum alloy scope tubes in concert with the heat. There is a lot more stress applied to a scope than most care to think about.
The lighter the internals, the easier recoil is to address. That means the best scopes for bone-crushing recoil are not what we normally buy-- small objective, fixed power scopes with as few and as small, lightweight pieces of glass as possible.
This was a great post R-man.... It dispelled all my notions of purchasing a lead sled. I guess I love my scopes more than my shoulder. If the scope takes a little and I take a little we could be friends for many more rounds to come. I guess I'm overly sentimental about my optics.
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Rifleman said:
Then don't do that, Piefulman. :nono:
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Thanks for the info guys,
The reason I had asked about the weight is that I own a Tite-Group Brute rest that cradles the gun and controls recoil much the same as the Lead sled.
The only major difference is that the Brute rest utilizes only uses its own weight to tame recoil. (@14lbs).
I find that it is just enough to handle extended sessions with high recoil firearms. ( I have shot well over 50 rounds of high velocity sabots out of my Savage 210 12ga in a day with no problem).
I have not, (as of yet :lol: )encountered any scope issues.
Perhaps there is a happy medium between "weight on the sled" and "bustin the scope"
Brute Rest..
The reason I had asked about the weight is that I own a Tite-Group Brute rest that cradles the gun and controls recoil much the same as the Lead sled.
The only major difference is that the Brute rest utilizes only uses its own weight to tame recoil. (@14lbs).
I find that it is just enough to handle extended sessions with high recoil firearms. ( I have shot well over 50 rounds of high velocity sabots out of my Savage 210 12ga in a day with no problem).
I have not, (as of yet :lol: )encountered any scope issues.
Perhaps there is a happy medium between "weight on the sled" and "bustin the scope"
Brute Rest..
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after reading this I called the company they told me that this product has been out over a year and they have sold thousands of lead sleds no one has reported blowing up scopes. The person I talked to said she would talk to others in their co. and let me know the results. All the reviews I looked at said nothing about this. I own one and have not blown up any scopes. I have not however shot hundreds of rounds.
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Dwight:
I have something very similar and haven't busted a scope yet. It may be that all the scopes on the heavy recoiling guns are Leupolds?
Randy:
You are correct in the stresses in mounting a scope - incorrectly. If the scope is mounted correctly, then the only stress is the different expansion rate between the steel base and aluminum tube. (and the amount of cursh that is applied to the scope tube to keep it in the rings) If the base is aluminum, then it's a moot point. The scope rings should be shimmed or otherwise adjusted so they are in perfect alignment with each other.
Brownells sells a tool that I use when mounting rings:
http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ ... =3568#3568
The rings can be lapped too:
http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ ... GNMENT+LAP
The tools aren't cheap, but neither are the scopes!
I have something very similar and haven't busted a scope yet. It may be that all the scopes on the heavy recoiling guns are Leupolds?
Randy:
You are correct in the stresses in mounting a scope - incorrectly. If the scope is mounted correctly, then the only stress is the different expansion rate between the steel base and aluminum tube. (and the amount of cursh that is applied to the scope tube to keep it in the rings) If the base is aluminum, then it's a moot point. The scope rings should be shimmed or otherwise adjusted so they are in perfect alignment with each other.
Brownells sells a tool that I use when mounting rings:
http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ ... =3568#3568
The rings can be lapped too:
http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ ... GNMENT+LAP
The tools aren't cheap, but neither are the scopes!
This tool is good, but I actually prefer reamer:Blue-Dot-37.5 said:
http://www.bellmtcs.com/store/item.php?pid=101&cid=20
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Dang it, another tool to buy!
Thanks for the info.
I have not shot a great deal off of my Lead Sled. Probably under 50 shots combined between my ML11 and 12 gauge TarHunt slug gun. No problems to date with the scopes but they are quality scopes. I do put 6 bags of shot (150 pounds) on the sled. It is tight but can be done. I just don't like recoil so the extra weight. I NEVER notice recoil in a hunting situation however.
