Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Tract and Leupold drop test

Earlier today I read Form's very well done test regarding the Tract Response and decided to my own quick/crude test.


Grabbed my two favorite deer rifles and double checked their 200 yard zero's.

Both are 270's shooting 140 Accubonds, one a Montana and the other an old ADL.

Drop height was roughly 36", about waist high. There were leaves mixed in with grass so it wasn't a really hard landing but still a fairly good test. I could hear the scope literally hitting hard ground a couple times so the leaves and grass didn't cushion every drop.

I will have to point out that the first test with the Tract needed a redo vid as it was out of focus. So that particular scope took a grand total of 6 drops. To be fair I also dropped the Leupold a couple extra times(off camera).

Nice test Sam. Thanks!

Not very scientific but....

I should have done like Form and did a test shot after each drop.




Will add that each scope adjusted back to bulls eye without any issues.

"I guess they both suck".

grin. Not that it's funny.



I have little doubt that there are issues with them, but I do want to put the caveat out there that mounts, rings, and bedding play a part as well. I just want people to understand that rifles are a system. If you want your gun to stay zeroed then you have to use scopes, mounts, and rings that are designed for that, then they have to be assembled correctly.

Looks like the Montana that you're using has a good mounting system- can't tell what the bases are, but the Warne MT's have been solid for us.

Warne bases as well I think(?).

(just checked my MidwayUSA orders and they are Warne Maxima bases with Mountain Techs)



The M700 has Leupold PRW bases and rings which seem to hold up. That one will be in a scabbard for about 20-30 miles this upcoming week.



I was highly irritated when I walked up to check the target!

I don't understand why the hell fiolks are dropping rifles in the first place. I've hunted every season for the past 42 years and have never actually dropped a rifle. Much of that has been afoot, still hunting steep, snow covered terrain in the Catskills. If dropping rifles is a common occurance ya'll must be some clumsy fuggers.

Trying to remember if I've ever dropped one myself. Nothing that I can remember...

My test was more or less performed out of curiosity.

At least now I know that I'd better check zero ASAP if I ever do happen to drop one while out hunting....

Great work Sam. I haven’t sweated those drops as much since I’ve swapped over to SS 6’s. They have been rock solid. I cannot say my rifle has ever fallen out of my paws but it has fallen over while in the rocks and I quickly set the rifle on a poor choice while getting my bins out. Stuff happens in the field.

Form, thank you for the work as well. Pretty danged informative for a hard use rifle.

I hit a big dip in my jeep years ago, Sako Deluxe, passenger seat, and spare all flew out. Radiator hose came off, big mess. I was going about 30, to fast. Dumass me.

The Sako landed flat, it had a couple nice scratches. The old 4x12 Redfield was still on. I still have it on a 22 mag.

Bingo.

Form's drop test on the Tract cheapo "tactical" scope made some sense because of the target market for that scope. Hunting scopes, not so much.

To the best of my recollection, I've twice dropped scopes; one a Lyman 8x on a Sako .223 back in the 80s, and one a few weeks ago at the range. The Sako slid off the fender of my SS 396 Camero and landed smack dab on the bell. A few minutes later, I missed a chip shot on a crow standing in a field at about 100 yards. The rifle was hitting about a foot high, but after resighting was fine thereafter. The other, a Leupy 2.5 slid off the side of the crappy bench at my local range before I had sighted it in. Not sure exactly how it landed, but I had no trouble getting it sighted in.

Scopes vying for military contracts and targeted at the tactical crowd need to be solid enough for rough and tumble stuff, but the kind of ruggedness required to withstand repeated drops and such not only makes them hideously expensive, it also makes them heavier than many are willing to tote around in the field. I'll go maybe 20oz for sturdiness and especially for good adjustments and brightness, but that's about it. After a bit of snooping about, I'm thinking NF SHV 3-10x42 w/Forceplex for my next one or possibly a fixed 6 S&B for a bit more $.

Have you ever hunted sheep?

Goat hunting is really rough on gear too.

I dropped a Tract Toric yesterday. It was slung on my back and the sling swivel popped. The rifle/scope went down the hill behind me. Little ticked at Barrett as the sling swivel female threads stripped out....stud can be pushed in/out. Gonna have to replace the inlet, bed it in, or just use an Eberlestock the rest of the year. Stuff happens, scopes hit the ground....I'll check this one later this week to see if the 0 is where it should be.

As an aside, if you use a HPG kit bag while carrying a rifle and absolutely have to have both hands, you can push the rifle horizontal between the bag and your chest...not the most comfortable but will allow you to crawl up a really steep spot on a mountainside.

Thanks for sharing. This is all making me feel better and better about deciding to put a SWFA SS 6x on my Kimber Montana.

I guess we're just some of the clumsiest, fittest, well trained humans with a gun then because every hunting trip to the mountains in the last 4-5 years has resulted in at least one rifle hitting the deck. Whether it's sliding off a tailgate or tree, hitting the ground while it's strapped to a pack crossing a shale slide, or breaking a fall, at least one person and usually multiple, have a hit on their rifle. That's only 3-4 people each trip....









It's an aiming device. Not to be dramatic- but your carrying a lethal instrument, whether for hunting or not, that doesn't work if it takes a bump... It is extremely possible to make a $400 scope that is rugged- the problem is that hunters and shooters aren't demanding it.






Everyone that is saying "don't drop them", you are rationalizing why your aiming device- the thing you use to steer bullets- fails from minor impacts. It's an aiming device, it should remain zeroed.

I thought dropping them was to break in the barrel...

Notice how the barrel and stock take all the abuse. That is a stock, bedding and barrel break-in.

To properly break in a scope you have to let it land on the scope....

I have fallen hard with rifles more than once when hunting rough country. Also, Once had a leather sling slip off my shoulder and land on the turret. Falls and airplane rides seem to result in about a 30 percent chance of losing zero in my experience. Mounts matter, too, when rifles are used hard. I am pretty specific about what mounts I will use and have whole rifle lines that I boycott because of ill conceived mounting systems (i.e. Sako).

In my opinion, scopes have the biggest need for improvement in regards to reliability. The norm is truly terrible. Rifle function is a distant second. I have had three of a brand of well respected high end rifles known for accuracy and not one would feed to my expectation, though most seem to rave about them. Had four of a high-end lightweight rifle that fed a little better but not much and if you worked the action from the shoulder like one would a Mauser, the spring holding the bolt stop would break and the bolt would fly out the back of the action. I think it happened to everyone of them at least once. The maker always got really grouchy when I called to have one of those springs shipped.

Thanks for the info. I’ve never dropped one and if I did, I’d check zero.

I don't think that "demanding" is gong to accomplish anything. They know exactly what they're doing. It's a business decision.

I don't expect a lightweight hunting scope to take the kind of abuse you put that Tract through, but it needs to stand up to recoil (stress in the expected direction) and hold zero. I can even put up with some vagueness in the adjustments as long as it stays put once sighted in, pretty much what classic hunting scopes did for years.