My Ruger .44 carbine (tubular feed model) hasn't been out of the safe in years. I decided to hunt with it next week so I took it to my club's 50-yard outdoor range and checked her across the bench with Winchester and Remington 240 grain factory loads. Long story short, my carbine, which always printed 1.5-2.5 inch groups at 100 yards, suddenly couldn't hold three inches at half the distance.
Years ago I had a factory defective Redfield scope that caused my BAR to shoot all over the landscape. Redfield customer service replaced the erector assembly--whatever that is. Well, the scope in question is also a Redfield, a 1-4X variable. I checked the rings and mounts and everything was tight and proper. Also, the original Deerstalker carbines were designed around the 240 grain bullet-what I was using. By a process of elimination, I suspect that the 35-year-old scope simply failed from old age.
Anyone else experience similar scope failures?
