[Sniper03]

This past week I attended an LE M-14 Instructor Course. I had only heard of the problem that I was about to experience for the first time in all the years I have been shooting. So wanted to know if anyone else has expierienced the same problem in the past and what did you do about it.
In the military we always shot competition with Iron Sights so did not have this problem there. In the LE SWAT Sniper world I had never seen it happen. Only heard of it!
So, the M-14 Course was a three day course. On the second day we went to a local military facility to shoot from 100 to 500 yards.
Of course as usual my Springfield M1-A National Match performed flawlessly. However after completing the 500 yard line firing we returned to the 100 yard to readjust and confirm our 100 yard zero and dope on the rifle! Well that is when it happened. I have an older Springfield 10X 30mm Tube Scope on it. It had not been used for some 10 years at the begining of this school. Long story short. It would not return Down to the 100 yard zero. It was shooting at least 5 inches high. I dialed 5 MOA Down on the Elevation to attempt to return to the original 100 yard zero without results! The Reticle was stuck. On the following day after removing the scope and completing the course with the iron sights. I took the scope, ran the Elevation adjustment up and down and tapped the turret with a small nylon hammer. Figured I had nothing to loose. It began tracking normaly at that point and still is seemingly working fine today since I have not had time to check it on the range yet. I have heard it was probably a result of not being adjusted or moved for the long period of time? Wondered if anyone else had experienced this since as I advised, I had heard of it, but never had experienced it. Looking for experience and if I can now expect the scope to be OK after the Tap and Working the Adjustment?

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[Rick1967]

I have an old scope somewhere that wont go up or down. I havent tried hitting it with a hammer. I should probably give it a try.

 

[Sniper03]

Rick,

From what I am finding out, unless the scope is actualy damaged? The cause of the stuck reticle is a result of not being adjusted at all for a period of time and then one trying to adjust it. I am not knowledgeable on the internals but plan on being after this incident. But there may be some sort of a lubricant device on the internal adjustments. If the scope has not been adjusted for a long period and then is adjusted the internal parts are not lubricated from setting are dry and have a tendency to stick. I simply used a real small nylon tipped hammer and tapped gently on the turret cover followed by adjusting the scope in this case up and down around 5 MOA up then 5 MOA down so that would be about 20 clicks each way up and down a couple of times on a scope with 1/4 MOA (Inch) adjustments. It seemed to unstick the reticle and seems it corrected the problem? I will have to work with it to assure it is resolved.

03

 

[Sniper03]

Rick,

Additional good news! The light taps and the running of the turrets up and down corrected the problem. I remounted the scope today and instead of lighting fireworks I lighted some 7.62X51s! I remounted the scope and fired the first round although it was 1/2 MOA to the Left and 1/2 MOA High it could be explained due to the fact that I had removed the scope from the base. It has flip mounts on it so not bad. I then adjusted 5 MOA of adjustment down and fired another round. It hit 5 MOA (5 inches low) as it should have. Letting me know the reticle adjustment was working again correctly. Then I brought it back up 5 MOA and dialed in the two 1/2 MOA corrections and walla! Dead center at 100 yards and right at 1 MOA group. I can only assume that the reticle had stuck and now was free and working fine. Moral of the story do not let your scopes set for years on end without moving them some just to keep them operation correctly. Example dial in 5 MOA Down or up and then return them to the correct zero mark and do the same with elevation from time to time. This will lubricate the internal adjustments in the scope! I am sure it was because the rifle had set for years and never adjusted.

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