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Originally Posted by ruffedgrouse
Let me try to re-phrase my question with a bit more detail: We're not always in the type of situation where it's convenient to check zero by shooting: sometimes you're back in the bush and simply don't want to shoot in the area you're hunting. If you have a severe fall, I'd do it anyway. But how about a more minor fall of the rifle: say you've leaned it up against a tree or large rock and it slips off onto the ground. This is with a good quality scope and mount properly mounted. Just trying to get a feel of how such a relatively minor fall would likely effect zero. thanks for the responses.


It was my first out of state elk hunt. Rifle was a Mark X Alaskan in .375 H&H, scope an IIRC 1.5x5X Redfield. Not sure if the 1.5 is correct. Rifle was leaning against a tree when I left to do a call of nature and on the ground when I came back, confused Set a cardboard box up at 25 paces and the shot was about 4 inches off POA. There wasn't enough adjustment in the scope to bring it even close. I took it off and did the rest of the hunt using the iron sights. That's when I learned that one should always have a back up rifle, especially if hunting out of state. All my previous hunt had ben in my home state where a drive to get another rifle would not have been a problem. I've have three scopes self destruct though, two at the range and one on a hunt. I held for a broadside lung shot on a cow elk at 350 yards and the bullet hit her at the base of the skull breaking her neck. A check at the range a few days later proved the scope had gone toes up. I have to think that shot on the elk has to be one of the luckiest shots I've ever made.
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Originally Posted by ruffedgrouse
Let me try to re-phrase my question with a bit more detail: We're not always in the type of situation where it's convenient to check zero by shooting: sometimes you're back in the bush and simply don't want to shoot in the area you're hunting. If you have a severe fall, I'd do it anyway. But how about a more minor fall of the rifle: say you've leaned it up against a tree or large rock and it slips off onto the ground. This is with a good quality scope and mount properly mounted. Just trying to get a feel of how such a relatively minor fall would likely effect zero. thanks for the responses.



Rephrasing the question doesn’t change the answer.



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I’ve taken a couple of hard falls with Leupold scopes. Once in a rock slide area that really mangled a new walnut stock. Scope unhurt and held zero. Another walking downhill on an ice covered gravel logging road and the next think I knew my feet were in the air, my head hitting the road, and my rifle clattered down the roadbed. The scope was dinged up pretty badly so I went to the backup rifle for the rest of the hunt. I checked zero when I got home and it was spot on. Both were VX-II’s.


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Originally Posted by rickt300
Tasco, almost imperceptible bump.
Bushnell pretty good bump.
Leupold hellava bump.


I have a Tasco World Class that's been on the same Rem Model 7 since the 80's and has never been "bumped" out of adjustment.


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Originally Posted by MikeL2
Saw a rifle dropped hard enough to dent scope turret cover, no effect on zero.



Did that to my Leupold, dropped the gun 8’ out the door of the blind. Dented the scope cap on the 6X42. After retrieving the gun I shot a doe in the head @ 150 yards that same sitting. I was pleased but I did pretty much expect the scope to be that tough.


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Classic campfire. A question that everyone says can't be answered. And still going strong six pages later.



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And full of "answers" that don't indicate any sort of definitive trend. Though I'll provide one:

Have seen two scopes visibly bent in the front end due to falls, one inside a horse scabbard when the horse fell. Both of those scopes were out of zero.

Both were Leupolds, but suspect that any brand of scope would lose zero when the front end bends.


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Fell on a Swarovski 30mm scope on a mountainside in Montana and a year later the front sling swivel somehow came loose and the same scope fell on a rock and dinged the objective bell. In no instance did they lose zero.

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Originally Posted by Snyper
Originally Posted by rickt300
Tasco, almost imperceptible bump.
Bushnell pretty good bump.
Leupold hellava bump.


I have a Tasco World Class that's been on the same Rem Model 7 since the 80's and has never been "bumped" out of adjustment.


I had 2 2x7 power "World Class" Tasco's, the second replaced the first due to inability to hold zero on a somewhat heavy 7x57. When the second bit the dust I gave up on Tasco. I did shoot that rifle a lot and I named it "ugly" for a reason. Neither scope was "bumped" other than the recoil the rifle put into them. I found the Bushnell Trophy and Elite scopes far more durable.


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I have a Leopold 2x7 variable on a 30-06 that I dropped from a top bunk onto a hardwood floor (about 6 feet). It hit really hard on the scope and bounced a couple feet and hit again. It was only off about 1/2 inch at 100 yards. Around here, that's not enough to even worry about. A buddy of mine has an old "made in Japan" Tasco 3x9x32 on a .308 BLR that he has hauled around on handlebars of an ATV in some really rough country for 20 years. It has never had to be adjusted once in all that time. He hasn't dropped it hard or hit it, but it gets a pretty good bouncing around on the 4 wheeler.

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My Remington 514 had a no name 3/4" scope on it when I received it, used, in 1967. Hard to tell how many bricks of ammo have gone thru it. While I "respected" it, it got used. It got bumped. It got handled. My son also used it growing up. Scope seldom needed much adjustment that I can recall. Then, one day about 10 years ago, I picked it up, and the "cross" hairs were an "X"... Who knows...



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No definitive answers, but you can hedge your bets. First, follow Formids scope mounting process that is a sticky in the optics section. Second, use hell for stout rings and bases, preferably a picattiny rail. Third, use a scope that is known for zero retention. Night force, swfa, and S&B come to mind. There may be others, I am sure. Your chances of a "bump" causing a problem is minimal, at best. I use a swfa scope, and it gets the crap beat out of it day in and day out. In the last 6 years, I have made just 2 clicks of adjustment. I can live with that. I hardly ever check my zero any more. It is always on.

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It works this way, if you check the zero after it's bumped it'll always be perfect. I have had two bad ones, had an old leather sling break years ago when I was going up the stairs from my dad's basement, went down 11 stairsteps and landed on the concrete basement floor. I went promptly outside, laid it over my truck hood and evaporated about a 4 in dirt clod at 200. I also had a rifle slide off my shoulder when climbing down off a rockpile to start a stalk, hit a rock hard enough to dent the bell of the scope about a quarter inch in and an inch in diameter. Killed the zebra with one shot. I checked it later, it was perfect and hunted with it for a week. The dent is still there!

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I can think of three ‘drops’. First one, I was climbing a wood ladder into a box blind when the ladder broke. I fell onto rocky ground and landed on the gun and scope. The Leupold 4.5-14 did not lose zero. Second one, I left my Varmint rifle in the running Kubota, and vibration caused it to fall out of the Kubota (not loaded) and land on the road. The Leupold 6.5-20 was knocked out of zero. Third one, I had my new Tikka T1X propped in a corner and my cat decided to use it to rub on. Down it went on the hardwood floor, landing on the scope, but the Leupold 4.5-14 didn’t lose zero.

My general rule of thumb, in a case like those above, is just to assume the scope zero is off.

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You can check zero to about 3 or 4 MOA in a bolt action rifle without firing it. Bore sight it. Personally, if the rifle/scope gets a hard blow, I am not comfortable shooting at game till I confirm that the sight is still good.

IE. On a backpack hunt where we did not want to shoot except at game, my partner dropped his rifle when he bounced down a 15 foot cliff. He was concerned whether his scope got knocked off. (He broke two ribs but we did not confirm that till we came out several days later.)

Just bore sight it. Take out the bolt and rest the rifle in a firm nest of rocks, pack, sleeping bags or whatever so that it does not move. Find a rock or bright colored spot 75 yards to a mile away that you can see through the rifle barrel. Center the spot in the concentric rings of bore, muzzle, chamber etc. The more perfectly concentric the spot is centered, the more accurate your result. Ditto that the farther away the spot, the more accurate the result. Then without touching the rifle move your eye to the scope and see where the crosshairs are centered. If they are on the spot, either the scope has not moved or at least is still close enough to kill a deer, probably out to 200 yards. If the reticule is off the spot, dial till it is on.

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Had a pretty accurate 270 lose zero with a fairly minor bump to the scope getting out of the truck. Thought nothing of it, til I had a good chance an hour later at a decent 4pt whitetail at 200 yards broadside. Clean miss. Checked zero and it was way low. Weaver mounts and a bushnell scopechief variable. No issues since going to leupolds and either talleys or dual dovetails.

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Originally Posted by Mule Deer
And full of "answers" that don't indicate any sort of definitive trend. Though I'll provide one:

Have seen two scopes visibly bent in the front end due to falls, one inside a horse scabbard when the horse fell. Both of those scopes were out of zero.

Both were Leupolds, but suspect that any brand of scope would lose zero when the front end bends.


I bent the tube visibly on an old Lyman All American years ago, it was probably a half inch of bend, so I made no attempt to see if it was in zero.

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I think it depends on the individual scope as to whether you think you should check the zero after such a knock, you will learn whether one is sensitive to knocks or not.

On most scopes I would check zero next time I could. But I have a Leupold M8 fixed 4 power that I have dropped and knocked and even been banging on the rifle it was attached to with a hammer a couple of times, and it has never shifted zero. It's a bitch to sight in, but once you accidentally get it in the right place, it never moves. If the rifle slid over and clattered onto the ground I wouldn't feel the need to interrupt my plans to check the zero like I might the others. Of course, one day it will just break. Nothing lasts for ever. But I buy up all Leupold M8 4 powers I come across that I can, because a reliable scope is important to me, since I do long back packing trips.

Last edited by CarlsenHighway; 06/21/19.

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