Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Impact shift when changing mag

OK.......I tried to run my Leupold VX1 2-7X on my 10/22 build.
Victor Titan stock, low Rifleman rings.
Tried before w Burris Signature Zees........looked a little funky that high up.
Ultimately, I need a ring between these two.......or a stock with slightly lower comb, if using Rifleman lows.

My cheek position was pretty damn consistent.
Thought that would negate any parallax issues.

A bit out of focus, I set a target at 25 yards and it was close. A few clicks had it where I thought it should be, but with the focus issue, decided to back it off from 7 to 4X.
Impact shifted a bunch. Like 2".
Base, rings, everything is to spec.

I left it at 4X and shot under a half inch group w CCI (which is about right for that bbl).
Tried before w a 12X AO and got 1" at 50 yards w CCI.

My question is...........what caused that impact shift
Focus/parallax?

Should I just get a Freedome EFR 3-9X?

This 2-7X has been on a couple rifles, lastly a CZ455 .22lr and has never done anything like that. It lived on a .35 rem for a while and didn't shift.
Wonder if this was just a fluke,, since I did not do the normal turret tap deal after adjustments.

So.........Freedom EFR 3-9X or Burris Drop tine AO ?
Am leery of the import Burris.
Maybe I should just try to find an old VX3 3.5-10X AO
Not really gonna target with it (why the 12X was pulled).
Hunting I normally shoot offhand and 4X.

The rimfire Leupold 4X is too short IMHO and looks even shorter on my rig.

I could send the 2-7X back for parallax adjustment to 50 yards and have them check for shift issue.
Not against doing that.

My 3-9X VX1 gave me a wide flier after a couple clicks. It did not do 1/4 adjustments at 100 (Rem 700 .243).
No turret tap there either (new scope- had a dozen shots under it).
It did behave and put 3 into .75 inches at 100. in the 1" dot I magic markered.
That gun shot same w the 12X AO.

Maybe I'm getting astigmatism or ?
Just seems scoping stuff is way more of a hassle than it used to be.
Just getting crosshairs straight is a royal pain.
Both guns done at home, w levels. Were fine off the club benches.......so at least THAT wasn't a screwup.

I'd be testing by shooting groups and 2x, 4x, and 7x to see if they repeatedly but consistently shifted POI. If it did, I'd send it to Leupold.

For what it's worth the 3-9 Compact EFR (or AO) is my favorite .22 scope. The small ocular will clear the bolt handle on a 77/22 with low rings and the size doesn't "overload" a 10/22. Some say you don't need the 9x for a .22. But sometimes you shoot at really small stuff fairly close. Then the magnification and the AO are both useful.

Your problem is almost certainly inconsistency in your .22 ammo and/or the 10/22, and has nothing to do with the scope.

I have standard Leupold 2-7 scopes on both a 10/22 and CZ and they work great. The parallax has not been adjusted. Likely a fluke or another issue. Snug up the base and mount screws and do more testing.

Lots of people run CF scopes on .22s without issue. Consistent position behind the eyepiece helps. I replaced a Leupold 4x rimfire with a 2-7 Hawke (100 yard parallax) and then shot the best groups that 77/22 ever fired.

I think msquared is right; more testing is in order. Try to duplicate the incident. Could be you're right about the tappy thing causing a problem that then cleared up. I have a VX-2 3-9 that took a while to settle down, so long that I switched it out so I could hunt without worrying. Before I mounted it on the next rifle, I ran the turrets back and forth a few times. Never had a problem since in set and forget mode on that .270.

After mounting a scope and sighting in, I like to take a couple shots at either end of the magnification range to make sure there's no shift. So far, so good, but I still check.

Has everything to do with scope.
Rifle/ammo of known performance.

Pulled apart and everything was to spec tightness wise.
Scope never had issues before. Has been on a couple of rifles. Was on this one a yr ago.

First time I've had an impact shift just by changing mag.
Yeah, some Leupolds have been a PITA to adjust.
But once set they held, and changing mag didn't shift impact.

She's going back for checkout and parallax adjust.

3-9X EFR..............had a friction knob model. Nice scope. It went bye bye a few yrs back, on a 600 Rem .243 win.
Looked great on that rifle.

Had it on last yr, no impact shift when changing mag then

Wanted to test ammo so slapped on a 4-12X AO and found out what it liked/didn't like.
Squirrel hunting my shots are almost always offhand, so didn't need that much scope, so went back to the 2-7X.

I did not try the scope again at 7X. Or turret tap.
Had a 700 in .243 win that needed zeroed (3-9X VX1).
Just went to that rifle, got it done in short order and went home.

Tore 10/22 apart.......everything was checked, was in spec.

So..............checkout and parallax change comin' right up.
This 2-7X is just gonna be my .22rf hunting scope.
I'll get a VX3 2.5-8X for my next centerfire.

Had one on a '67 10/22 sporter, no impact shifts when changing mag.
POS 10/22 did .75" at 50 yards repeatedly w CCI Blazer @6X.
Only mod a Volq hammer.

FWIW, 10/22 is on my short list of guns everyone should own at least one of. They just work so well for what they cost.

Yup.
Currently have a beater '71 sporter (fingergroove) ............just got it, dunno if going to restore or not.
Also have the '95 action build gun that experienced the scope mag shift.

Had two other fingergrooves and couple walnut standards.
Plus a couple standards from the 80's and a DSP.

It just sucks. I like the old sporter stocks but hate dinging walnut up.
Wish they made a synth copy of it.

My build gun is OK, little heavy. Stock works great but I just don't like the vertical grip, since I'll be hunting it (shooting mostly offhand).

IMHO the fingergroove is the best stock they ever put on em.
And why I bought the beater.
Too thin if I hogged it for the GM heavy taper 19" bbl. Dangit.

Hookeye,

It is of course hard to say for sure exactly what was happening, but I think parallax is something to consider. At high power at that distance, that scope could be imparting a bit of point of impact shift depending on your eye position (parallax). When you reduce the power on your scope, this effectively uses less of the objective lens and reduces that parallax effect and could cause some of that shift. I'd recommend going out a bit farther and testing it a bit more. If there is a consistent POI shift from changing the magnification, get that scope in here for service:

https://www.leupold.com/service-support/services-repair

Give us a call at 1-800-LEUPOLD if you have any questions on those other scopes you're considering, but I'll say that I personally can't say enough good things about the VX-Freedom 3-9x33mm EFR for close range shooting. It'll focus down to 10yds to infinity, making it one of the most versatile scopes going.