TheAlchemist011813
Member
- Joined
- Jun 5, 2020
- Messages
- 21
- Reaction score
- 12
Hey guys. So I've been planning a hunting trip for all of muzzle season since February. I saved money to rent a truck, replaced some gear, bought a muzzleloader, got it in point at 100 yards... I spent the better part if a year preparing for a vacation. I spent literally everything i had on this trip, and as it turns out, I went over the mileage I paid for on the rental... still not sure how they will react when I return the truck and explain that they will just have to wait a day till I get paid... but I digress.
Well, I got two days of hunting in, Saturday (opening day) and Monday. Hunting on Sundays is illegal, so I did some fishing that day.
Monday, after the sun went down and as I was at the truck shedding outer layers and organizing gear for the next day, I knocked my rifle over. Now, I've knocked over more than a few scoped rifles, and at best, it's still zeroed, and at worst, it just needs some adjusting to sight it in again. I was a bit annoyed that this meant I would miss a morning of hunting to sight in my rifle again, but I had the rest of the week (through Saturday) that muzzy season was open to hunt. And I had no work.
However, I got to the range the next day and placed two paper targets side by side at 100 yards. I aimed for the center of the left target and fired... nothing on the paper. So I reloaded and aimed at the right target. My bullet hit the left paper, a full 14 inches from my point of aim. So I dialed the scope 10 clicks (1/4 inch moa at 100 yards) and fired again, again aiming for the center of the right target. This time, nothing on paper. I took another shot, same result. I aimed for the left target again, and still, not on the paper.
So I went to the 50 yard side. No matter how much I adjusted, I could not get it on the paper. At all. A nice guy at the range stood behind me to try and tell me where my shots were hitting the backstop. He said they appeared to be about 12 inches to the right and about 8 inches high. So I dialed the scope way left and way down. Like, a full rotation for each. Upon firing again, they were still in the same general location.
Another nice guy who also had heard my story of why I was there instead of in the tree, saw our struggle and gave me a 3' x 4' piece of cardboard. Now we were talking.
First shot, aiming at the center... no hole in the cardboard. Guy said it hit above the cardboard and on the right half. I fired again, aiming at the center. This time we got a hole... way down in the lower left corner. I reloaded and fired at the center again. This time, it missed entirely, high and to the left.
It was at this point that I realized: my scope is done for, and my hunting trip is over when it had only barely begun. I still tried though, and ended up firing every bullet I had, unable to get the scope to track properly or get any consistency. I suspect perhaps a bent tube?
The gun is a CVA Wolf. The scope is a Bushnell Trophy, not a high end scope, cost me about $150 brand new. This is the first season I used it, I thought it specifically for my muzzleloader. I was not expecting it to match the quality of a high end scope, but I have dropped rifles on much cheaper scopes, more violently, and have never had one fail. I thought it would at least hold up to one drop. It isn't even like it fell out of a tree... it was leaning on the truck and I bumped it over (startled when a nearby hunter took a shot, probably discharging his round for the day). The only other time I have ever destroyed a scope was when I was inexperienced with air rifles and thought I could just put a rifle scope on it... not realizing the recoil from a air rifle will rip apart the internals of a scope designed for a centerfire rifle. But other than that, I've never had to throw out a scope before.
Needless to say, I am pissed. I'm now stick with this truck till Monday, my hunting trip is scrapped, and I deprived myself of things for months just so I could have an empty bank account, and nothing to do with the next week off of work. I cant even go back early because they covered all my shifts and don't need me till after my "vacation."
Worst part is that I have another scope, a Hammers that is honestly a little "too much scope" for the .50, but would work fine, problem is that I fired everything I had trying to get the other scope on paper, and even if I had money to buy more, there is no place even in my region to get Blackhorn 209, so it needs to be ordered online. So, goodbye hunting trip, and goodbye bank account, it was nice knowing you.
Sorry. Guess I mostly needed to vent. But has anyone else found these scopes to be THAT flimsy?
Well, I got two days of hunting in, Saturday (opening day) and Monday. Hunting on Sundays is illegal, so I did some fishing that day.
Monday, after the sun went down and as I was at the truck shedding outer layers and organizing gear for the next day, I knocked my rifle over. Now, I've knocked over more than a few scoped rifles, and at best, it's still zeroed, and at worst, it just needs some adjusting to sight it in again. I was a bit annoyed that this meant I would miss a morning of hunting to sight in my rifle again, but I had the rest of the week (through Saturday) that muzzy season was open to hunt. And I had no work.
However, I got to the range the next day and placed two paper targets side by side at 100 yards. I aimed for the center of the left target and fired... nothing on the paper. So I reloaded and aimed at the right target. My bullet hit the left paper, a full 14 inches from my point of aim. So I dialed the scope 10 clicks (1/4 inch moa at 100 yards) and fired again, again aiming for the center of the right target. This time, nothing on paper. I took another shot, same result. I aimed for the left target again, and still, not on the paper.
So I went to the 50 yard side. No matter how much I adjusted, I could not get it on the paper. At all. A nice guy at the range stood behind me to try and tell me where my shots were hitting the backstop. He said they appeared to be about 12 inches to the right and about 8 inches high. So I dialed the scope way left and way down. Like, a full rotation for each. Upon firing again, they were still in the same general location.
Another nice guy who also had heard my story of why I was there instead of in the tree, saw our struggle and gave me a 3' x 4' piece of cardboard. Now we were talking.
First shot, aiming at the center... no hole in the cardboard. Guy said it hit above the cardboard and on the right half. I fired again, aiming at the center. This time we got a hole... way down in the lower left corner. I reloaded and fired at the center again. This time, it missed entirely, high and to the left.
It was at this point that I realized: my scope is done for, and my hunting trip is over when it had only barely begun. I still tried though, and ended up firing every bullet I had, unable to get the scope to track properly or get any consistency. I suspect perhaps a bent tube?
The gun is a CVA Wolf. The scope is a Bushnell Trophy, not a high end scope, cost me about $150 brand new. This is the first season I used it, I thought it specifically for my muzzleloader. I was not expecting it to match the quality of a high end scope, but I have dropped rifles on much cheaper scopes, more violently, and have never had one fail. I thought it would at least hold up to one drop. It isn't even like it fell out of a tree... it was leaning on the truck and I bumped it over (startled when a nearby hunter took a shot, probably discharging his round for the day). The only other time I have ever destroyed a scope was when I was inexperienced with air rifles and thought I could just put a rifle scope on it... not realizing the recoil from a air rifle will rip apart the internals of a scope designed for a centerfire rifle. But other than that, I've never had to throw out a scope before.
Needless to say, I am pissed. I'm now stick with this truck till Monday, my hunting trip is scrapped, and I deprived myself of things for months just so I could have an empty bank account, and nothing to do with the next week off of work. I cant even go back early because they covered all my shifts and don't need me till after my "vacation."
Worst part is that I have another scope, a Hammers that is honestly a little "too much scope" for the .50, but would work fine, problem is that I fired everything I had trying to get the other scope on paper, and even if I had money to buy more, there is no place even in my region to get Blackhorn 209, so it needs to be ordered online. So, goodbye hunting trip, and goodbye bank account, it was nice knowing you.
Sorry. Guess I mostly needed to vent. But has anyone else found these scopes to be THAT flimsy?
.
