Should you have to shim a leupold scope?

B

Bloody_Tailgate

New member
I bought a Leupold VX III 3.5x10x50 new in the box to mount on my Remington 700 ADL 22-250. The guy at the store said he bore sighted it but when I went to shoot it I ran out of elevation adjustment. The highest I could get it to shoot was three inches below zero. I called the tech support at Leupold and they said they would send me out some shims to put under the back base but this sounds like a quick fix not a correct fix. If anyone has any other suggestions I would really like to hear them.

Thanks,

Clint
 
I had to shim my Bushnell about 6 years and about 20 deer ago. At first I thought it was a bad thing but I sight it in year after year and it is right where it should be.
 
get a set of burris sig rings with offsets +10's in the back, -10's in the front, that will give ya 20 moa, ya may try switching your rings, that may help
RR
 
Shimmin' is fine in fact all my remmy's are shimmed. I usually shim the rear base till the scope is close to dead on in elevation at 200 yrds. with the scope on its optical center. Return your scope to it's optical center by counting total clicks from top to bottom divide by 2 will give you how many clicks to return close to center. Shoot at a large (3'X 3') target and measure how low or high it is. Usually .001" = 1" at 100 yrds. so if your 10-12" low you'll need .010"-.012" of shim. If you want it closer to 200 yrd zero put in an additional .002"-.003". Hope this helps ya. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif RR
 
You really shouldn't have to shim it. Shimming will buy you elevation when you're shooting long range. For normal site-in your rings and bases should be parallel with the centerline of the bore. Sometimes, depending on the brand of ring and base, the rear ring doesn't get centered left to right with the base. If that happens and it gets bore sighted for windage first, the scope can be cranked all the way to one side which really limits elevation adjustment.
 
Recenter your scope by placing a mirror against the objective of your scope, you will see two crosshairs, use the dial adjustments to bring the two crosshairs together into one.

If you had some dum-nut minimum wage counter help mount your scope, the first thing you need to do is take everything off. Remount a good set of bases like Leupold and use Locktite.

Go to the range and set a pop can 25 yards out. Put your rifle on a rest, sand bags etc. Pull the bolt out of your rifle and look through the bore and center the pop can. Now look through the scope and make elevation and windage adjustments until the reticle is also centered on the can. Refine the site in by shooting on paper at 25 yards. Dead on at 25 will probably put you 1.5-3inches high at 100 yards depending on bullet and load.
 
Good post Wyocoyoter---

BLOODY--just remember to not use the scope's windage adjustment to begin with. Use the windage adjust screw on the scope mounts. You should be able to get windage almost dead-on with that screw. Then tighten it down and fine tune windage with the scope. This will maximize the amount of elevation adjustment that your scope can give you.
 
Which bases do you have. Are they dual dove tails or does the rear have screws on the side?

Are the rings your using also Leupold?

Is the base of one ring higher than the other?
 
Quote:
Please explain to me how a scope being off left-to-right has anything to do with elevation......



Here, I drew ya a picture. Which scope has more elevation remaining?

[image][/image]
 
Quote:
get a set of burris sig rings with offsets +10's in the back, -10's in the front, that will give ya 20 moa, ya may try switching your rings, that may help
RR


+1 on the sig rings.
 
Personnal experience dictates to me, if you have to shim, something is not set up right. It is hard to tell from this angle(over a computer screen) but you would have someone else check the set up. The bases should be totally flat from the front base to the back base. If not get a one peice base and see if that helps. Any time one ring bottom is not in allignment with the other, you are putting undue stress on the scope tube. The sig rings can solve the problem.
 
I read your post and skipped all the rest,I'm sure this will be a topic with many different oppinions from everyone. Your problem is not with the scope itself, but a common problem with rifles and scope bases, they are manufactured to a certain set of tolerences and yours just happened to be on opposite ends of one another, the shims you were sent are the correct fix to this problem, accuracy will not be affected in any way. I know how you feel I went through the same thing a few years ago with a brand new model 70, call the tech support line at Brownells and they can explain it alot better than I, in the mean time have faith in Leupold, they didnt steer you wrong.
 
LMAO at nefj40! Reading the initial post makes me question the mounting job. Could be alot of things. A + for the Burris Signature rings with inserts for straitening things out without shims or scope adjustment. I would just add that I hate windage adjustable bases.
 
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