Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Riflescope problem

I just purchased a Leupold VX-III riflescope, and am having problem sighting in. I am shooting 1"low @100yds., but can't elevate any higher. Rings, mounts appear ok (gunsmith installed). Suggestions?

I'd take it back to your "smith" and have him diagnose the problem. Odviously the mounts and rings aren't pointing the scope anywhere near the target with the scope's adjustments near the center.
Could be the rifle was drilled and tapped way off center, the installation could be faulty or it could be a bad scope.

Are your front bases thicker than the rear bases? Model of rifle? Just a stupid guess but can you swap the front base to the rear & the rear to the front?
Didn't the "Gunsmith" notice he was running out of adjustment when he bore sighted?

The bases/rings are not parallel to the bore.
I doubt your smith is a thorough with this as I am.
I have a entire step by step on the way I do it, this is just one with the bore measuring jig installed in the front ring.

I have a Winchester Model 70 in 30-06. Bases, Rings all Leupold. Don't think bases can be interchanged, switched. Could the rings be backwards? Just a thought.

I use one piece mounts to avoid such confusion. But I believe Ted Thorns got the right idea.

I've never owned a model 70 so I couldn't tell you whether they can be switched or not, but since you're gonna have to take the scope off anyway, an easy way to check would be to remove the upper rings, scope & bolt...then lay the gun on a steady rest where you can bore sight it at something about 100 yds. away. Then, just lay a straw in the cradle of the lower rings, back off a few couple feet & see if they are both seeming to point at the same vertical inclination point.

Oh, yes they can.. Saw it myself about 4 months ago.. Customer brought in a rifle he couldn't get on paper. He'd installed the bases/rings himself.. When he handed me the rifle I noticed the scope was angled upwards at the bell by about 15 degrees..He had the bases switched.. For a few days afterward I had some serious bruises from pinching myself to keep from laughing..

That said, I doubt your instance is the problem. Take it back to your smith and have him/her center the scope adjustments and then take a reading with the bore sighter.. It's possible one of the bases might have to be shimmed in order to get things better in line..

I'll go along with "take it back to the smith". If you bought the scope from him or he charged you to mount it, he should have done a cursory bore sight.
If you start tinkering with it, he can always blame everything on you.

Take it back to a smith who did a [bleep] up job the first time?
I'd never let him touch another one of mine...ymmv

As Redneck pointed out, they can be. The screw spacing is the same front or back. One easy way to know is the rear base should be about twice as thick as the front. This is to accommodate the front portion of the receiver being higher in relation to the bore as the rear. If you look at your rifle you should be able to quickly see if the front or rear base is thicker. I have a notion that is your problem. If so, be sure the correct length screws are used or the bolt won't close. The longer screws go with the thicker rear base.

Not in the case of an issue with elevation. Out of square mount holes does happen and will result in a windage issue. I had that problem with a late production Model 70.

But....but.....it's a Leupold!
I doubt it's the scope.