Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Point of impact shifts over time?

Yeah, this has to be the number one mystery. Everybody used to say it was because of wooden stocks warping, well we run synthetics now. I used to run a Leupy fixed 4x, it still happened, now it is because of variables and the seal stiffening in the necks of old loads. I agree after a cleaning it takes up to a dozen rounds to get tuned up.

The real reason is our wives knock the scopes around when cleaning house and don't tell us.

Ref OPs question.
"I'm using this case more as an example. I guess my question is really from an overall standpoint, why do most rifles shift POI if you let them sit in the safe for an extended period of time?"

Two reasons.
One, being female, they don't take well to extended periods of being let sit with no attention.
Two, being put in a leaning position (in the safe) over long periods causes a slight bow to develop in the barrel.
Both move them off the attitude (or poi) where they were before.

There, now you know.
jmho
Tim

Back up to 1000 yards and get a zero when it's 95F and using the same zero....do the same thing when it's 40F and see where your POI is!

It was due to cleaning the barrel. Just shoot it back into the original setting, say 10 shots or so.

This could be an answer, but an example of one does not make all swaros bad... if so I'd have never had another Zeiss after 1983...

Jeff that's true; they all can't be bad. But my experience with them was not unique either. Others had the same problem. They are a lot of money to spend for the problems I had with mine.Should say that mine was an AV. A friends Z5 has been a reliable scope.

I know it's hard for people to suspect a bad scope they paid a lot of money for....but IME it happens.

In the OP's case,it's a well built rifle,solidly bedded in a synthetic stock and hopefully the screws are all properly tightened. Nothing there should move. The first things that come to my mind are either the scope or its mounts; or a change in lots of components(ammo).



On the cleaning issue; IME some rifles are affected by cleaning in terms of grouping,and some not at all. I've had both but have never had one that shifted POI 3-4 inches and then returned to zero after a few shots.....they may have grouped back to normal (better) after a few fouling shots,but if I saw a 3" POI shift (at 100 yards)from a rifle like the OP's,there are a few things I'd look for but a clean barrel isn't one of them.You should not have to chase zero after cleaning.

You guys are all hit and miss. kind of like the OP's rifle. He probably has halftimers and forgot he zeroed it for 3" high the last time he was at the range.

This has been an interesting thread!

I was back at the range again this morning. Before I left, I ran all of the ammo for this rifle back through the seating die and knocked the bullets back .003". Just enough to hear them pop.

Last time out I adjusted my zero down 3 MOA. My first group this morning was 2.5 low, which puts it right about where I left it last year. It's not perfect, but I'll take it! I had heard about cold welding of ammo, but I didn't think that it would happen in a little over a year.

I was thinking along the same lines as 5sdad, what were the temps. when wolf hunting compared to the temps when checking now.
It might be ammo c

I do 'assume' they were NOT shooting IN the tents ? ?

Great Point otherwise ! Camp Perry !
THNX
Jerry