VX-II Leupold Elevation Adj. Issues

[Craig S.]

In 2009 I purchased a VX-II 4-12x40mm Adj. Objective. I placed it on my wife's 7mm Remington Magnum. After working up a load that shot consistent at 100 yards, I decided to start testing MOA adjustments out to 600 yards. Well, I never got that far as I figured out the last 18-24 MOA Elevation Adjustment was not functioning properly. The elevation adjustment worked fine until I got to the top end of the adjustment range, again the last 18-24 MOA.

I decided to send the scope back a few weeks before my wife's elk hunt and it showed up just before opening day, but I had already put another scope on on the gun. We zeroed the gun at 300 yards with the replacement scope and called her good. My wife ended up killing a bull a 400 yards with some old fashion hold over. The gun and load shoot VERY well for an almost factory model 700.

Last year I placed the VX-II back on the rifle and put gun away without shooting it. This year my wife drew two great tags and my 13 year old cousin drew an early rifle bull tag. I took the gun out last week and zeroed it at 100. I called it good for the day.

Tonight I took my cousin out and we shot a great cold barrel group at 100. I decided to check MOA adjustments at 300 yards. I dialed the turret up 8 MOA and settled in... 10" low. I settled in again... 8" low! WTH! Dialed up 4 more MOA, so now 12 MOA! 8"low! Dialed another 3 MOA! Now 15 MOA! 8"low! Great group at 300 yards, but 8" low! Great group!

I pulled the target back to 100 yards. With 15 MOA still dialed up, I shot 1" High. I cleaned the gun and put 2 more shots a 1/2" high. I then clicked it back to zero and could see I had no elevation changes the last 18 MOA. Again!!!


Any Suggestions? Anyone ever had this problem?

I am calling Leupold on Monday and going to request a brand NEW scope. We have had this scope for 3 years and it hasn't even been on a hunt. :W:

 

[mtmuley]

I'd say a call to Leupold is your best bet.I have the exact scope, and yesterday dialed it up and down with the CDS I had installed with no problems. Let us know how it goes. mtmuley

 

[Topgun 30-06]

I'd immediately do the same! I hate to here the name Leupold associated with a defective product that was returned and still not right because that's about all I have on all my rifles.

 

[Craig S.]

Topgun,

I have 2 other Leupold scopes and they work great. For whatever reason this scopes elevation adjustment is not working correctly. I just sent them an email and I will call them tomorrow. I am hoping they will just give me a new scope if I send the current defective scope back to them. I have the paper work from the last repair, which states it was rebuilt, but it's not working correctly and I won't waste anymore time mounting this scope again.

 

[Craig S.]

Leupold has put me through Scope Mounting 101 & 102. Basically, this was not a scope issue and much as it was a scope mount issue. I appreciate there quick response and I will write a follow up post with the results when I get time.

 

[Selkirk]

I guess that's good to hear Craig and I look forward to be educated by your upcoming post.

 

[Wyodeerhunter]

Get closer.

 

[bjtc_brian]

Leupold has put me through Scope Mounting 101 & 102. Basically, this was not a scope issue and much as it was a scope mount issue. I appreciate there quick response and I will write a follow up post with the results when I get time.

Mounting a scope sideways sucks....Just kidding. I am very interested in what they had to say also!

 

[Carl]

If you want to turn turrets, especially on a lightweight 1" main tube scope, good scope mounting is critical to performance.

I go pretty far out of my way to make sure that my mounts aren't putting any undue stress on my scopes. I typically use talley lightweight one piece base/rings, and if I'm getting real serious, I'll bed the rings to the action (using a solid rod to align them), then lap the rings, then bed the rings to either a scope or the same 1" rod (this is belt and suspenders territory, bedding or lapping the rings alone will get you most of what you need). Do all that, then tighten the rings to 15-20 in/lb, and your turreted scope stands a very good chance of functioning properly. Crush it hard under some misaligned rings, and things just won't behave themselves.

Mounted accordingly, every Leupold with turrets I've used has behaved in a consistent manner. The adjustments may not be exactly what they claim (though they MIGHT be, and the newest VX-3's have been the best that way for me), but the scope will at least adjust repeatably, which is what you need at a minimum to get in the turret twisting game.

 

[Carl]

A little photo tutorial.

You may find your rings are misaligned as such (due to manufacturing "tolerances"):

If so, you have an issue, especially if you want to twist turrets and have them work correctly.

In this case, these were 30mm rings, and I don't have a 30mm lapping bar, so I bedded them to the action while clamped to one side of my aligning setup:

After the fact:

Attention like this will greatly improve your scopes likelihood to behave correctly, especially if you want to turn turrets.

 

[spook12]

Carl that was a fine job of describing in detail the proper way to install mounts. I suspect guys will be referencing this thread for a long time.

 

[bjtc_brian]

I agree, great explanation. I have a couple of questions. Do you screw the bases down when betting them? Also, you aren't actually betting them to the receiver are you? I am assuming there is a release agent all over the reciever.

 

[Carl]

I get the screws into their holes, to ensure the base is correctly located, but I don't screw them down tight as that would screw everything up. Once the bases are loosely screwed to the action, you set the aligning rod in the rings and snug the caps up tight. This is how the rings end up correctly aligned.

You want to be very careful not to get bedding compound into the screw holes. It's a big pain to get out. I've done a few things to mitigate this after having trouble a couple times.

1) I am careful which compound I use. I used to use Devcon steel epoxy or JB Weld for this, but they're tricky to remove if they do get in the threads. I now use Brownells Acraglass, it is more pliable and easier to deal with.

2) I don't slather too much compound too close to the holes. I've been loading it into a syringe for a very controled application. At the same time, you have to use enough that it oozes out the sides for it to work well. I've had some luck applying it to the base instead of the action.

3) On the through (non-blind) holes in the action, I'll plug the screw holes with clay. The blind hole just gets a good covering with release compound.


And yes, I use release agent on the reciever. The goal is to essentially custom fit a shim, not to glue it to the action. Afterwards the rings work just like they always did, they just have a layer of epoxy on the bottom.