Has anyone here ever used a Tucker conversion on their scopes?

I saw that term in an ad for a Leupold target scope recently, and googling it took me down a rabbit burrow I wish I'd dug out years ago. I did touch on target shooters gluing erector tubes to stop movement in my book* but the Tucker conversion somehow missed that boat.

The best forum discussion might be found by searching tucker-conversion-vs-frozen-reticles

It appears this 'conversion' adds a coil spring (or replaces the flat ones) at 7.30 at the front of the erector tube, to fix scopes that won't maintain zero or need maximum stability.

I would be more inclined to the Burris Posi-Lock post or the old Unertl-type target scope, but in a dry atmosphere Tucker's conversion might make some sense.


*Light at the Start of the Tunnel - Are rifle scopes off the rails?, mentioned here because non-AR members sometimes happen on these subjects and ask sambarrmann@gmail.com for a copy

I've had a few with the Tucker mod. It works, but Cecil has deceased a few years ago. Leupolds have long had the reputation of not moving the correct amount when you cranked on the target knobs. If you shot 3-5 rounds it would settle in. Cecil's mod fixed that problem. Freezing or locking down the erector tube was another fix, but expensive and a couple versions weren't foolproof.

Thanks again, Butch. That the standard Leupold scopes might fail to track consistently before adding the Tucker conversion would probably be explained by the flat erector springs catching on the outside tube. I see this being exacerbated when the erector tube is crooked from bad mounting. Then the spring might be either so compressed that the friction holds the position or distended laterally by an awkward 'angle' to the tube's arc.

I would remove the flat springs altogether and put a brass washer on top of the coil spring to minimise drag. Better still, add a screw through the middle to lock the erector tube in place once set, a la the Burris Posi-Lock.