dennis,
One of the basic rules of rifles is NOT to put a brand-new scope on a brand-new rifle, because if accuracy isn't good you can't tell which one is the problem. Please don't ask how I learned this....
But even supposedly proven scopes can also choose inopportune times to go bad. I got a .260 Remington Tikka from Whittaker Guns in 2015. Put a proven scope on it and the first 3-shot group, shot with the 140-grain Remington Core-Lokt factory load, measured .44 inch.
I thought, "Wow, this is gonna be easy!" I then shot up about 100 rounds of handloads with suck results. After a while I realized the scope just MIGHT be the problem, because I'd previously had it on a .300 Winchester magnum for a while. Put another scope on the .260 and it started shooting like a Tikka should.
Sent the scope back to the factory and they immediately sent me a new one. Am guessing the .300 had just about baked it, and the first group with the .260 Remington was the scope's last gasp before going belly-up.
