I just bought a used Browning stalker in a 300 winmag with a tasco 4x12 scope on it .inital shooting 180 grn bullets produced 1 1/4 groups, went bought a "better"Swift scope in 3.5 x 10 and now getting 5" groups(for real) have double checked everything but nothing helps. any ideas?

I have several browning a bolts and they are all verry accurate with hand loads are you hand loading or shooting factory if you are shooting factory loads it sounds like a scope or scope mount problem what rings and bases are you using and i am not fimilar with a swift brand scope so to help me out what price range is the scope in. if you can answer my questions i might have a better idea what we are dealing with.

I would suspect that the scope is your problem.
Try switching back to the Tasco and see if it still shoots 1.25". Or step up to a better scope or use temporarily a scope that is "known" to be really accurate on another rifle.
I would also clean the bore of that rifle like you've never cleaned one before. Many used rifles I have purchased cheap because someone thought the barrel was "shot out' and the gun wasn't accurate anymore. All of these used gun purchases have turned out to be dirty rifles. Clean yours really well, try the scope suggestion and see what happens.
Honestly for a hunting rifle an 1.25" group is not bad, not every gun will shoot sub 1" and if you hunt and shoot within your abilities most people will never take ( or should never take) a shot over 300 yards anyways.
Hope some of this helps.

Swift is hardly a "better" scope than Tasco IMO. I've only had two swift scopes, one broke after alittle use and I don't trust the other.

You are probably going to need a much better scope such as Nikon or Leupold. A lightweight magnum rifle can put a scope to the test.


Good Luck

Reloader

thanks folks,I'm going to try another scope IF the wind ever stops blowing.I tried cleaning, recleaning and more,check tightness of everything and used 2 brand of factory loads,(winchester and federals),bases and rings are leopold.

quote:

Try switching back to the Tasco and see if it still shoots 1.25"

Found the culpert, leopold mounts,rear mount had a defect where it clamps together........(I hope thats all it was anyways)

I have a leupold VX-3 4.5-14X40LR B&C and the adjustments are terrible. it either doesnt want to move or it moves way too far. I was talking to a shop owner who said he has sent a lot of scopes like mine back with the same problem, and other model VX-3s were a large improvement with the adjustments.

Its mounted in Leupold QRW and on more than one occasion the recoil from my 300wsm has loosened the screw on the side, ive tightened it as much as possible but sometimes it still comes loose.

I have a Browning A bolt in 300 Win Mag...

It feels to be a hard kicker in that rifle...
Between that, and a Swift Scope... I'd tend to recommend it is worth spending the extra bucks for a good scope on the A Bolt....

Tasco's World Classes have seem to hold up for an inexpensive scope on those...at least the 3 x 9s....Tascos that get into larger magnifications don't hold up as well on the harder kickers...

Swifts are fine for 22s and 223s and such.. I wouldn't trust one on a 30/06 much less a 300 Mag....

This from someone who doesn't think Leupold is the answer to all your scope needs...but you can never go wrong with a Leupold...

But for the $60.00 they cost, a Tasco 3 x9 World Class is as strong as a 'basic scope' as you can get...

Thanks for all the replys.I must say that "this" A-bolt in 300 win mag has less felt recoil then any other rifle I've owned.after swithing to another leopold mount my groups shrunk down nice and tight(clover leaf) then bam they shifted 4" to the right and down.Going to thake mounts off and put on weaver style bases and better rings.Sure didn't want this thread to turn into a debate over scope brands,

A friend of mine bought a 270 WSM Browning A-bolt and had the store install the rings and bases and I don't remember name brand but the rings were the turn in type and were aluminum. The same thing happened to him, bad groups. We changed rings and a few more good groups they opened again like yours.

What we found after going to a smith was the front and rear base holes were not drilled parallel to each other and when the scope was installed the uneven pressure on the rear base kept snapping cheap rings.

The smith had to weld the old rear holes up, re-drill and tap and then we installed steel rings and bases along with ensuring the scope sat square and never broke again.

This may be the same problem you can check for, all the symptoms sound familiar.

Thanks I will check into that also

quote:

Originally posted by ryder:
I just bought a used Browning stalker in a 300 winmag with a tasco 4x12 scope on it .inital shooting 180 grn bullets produced 1 1/4 groups, went bought a "better"Swift scope in 3.5 x 10 and now getting 5" groups(for real) have double checked everything but nothing helps. any ideas?

Yep! The Swift scope is NOT better. Put the Tasco back on. Your groups will go back to 1.25".

But, put a new Leupold on, and perhaps your groups will go to under 1.25"; maybe not. But at least you won't have to worry about the scope crapping out on you when you need it the most! (But some Tasco scopes are surprisingly good. The problem comes in discovering which ones!)

The best gun in the world is only as good as the scope. Most guns will shoot pretty well, but if a scope is bad, none will shoot. I would rather have a beat up used gun and a quality scope than a fancy rifle with a poor scope. I have learned the hard way. The cheaper scopes are usually fine for light recoil rigs. I have a Simmons 44 mag on a 6 mm that is a great scope, but had one on a .308 that did not like to stay put. I have had bad "good" scopes also. I have had to have a Burris fixed under warranty and a Cabela's alaskan replaced. They can all produce an occasional bad one, but the cheap scopes can sure quit you when the chips are down.

quote:

Originally posted by ryder:
Found the culpert, leopold mounts,rear mount had a defect where it clamps together........(I hope thats all it was anyways)

Hey ryder, Is this the type mount where the Rear Ring just sets on the Base and there is a screw on each side that is "supposed" to catch the bottom of the Ring? If so, that is called the Redfield Design, even though Leupold, Burris, Redfield, etc. might have made it.

If that is the "Style", you are doing the correct thing by going to a different Style, either the Weaver Style or a Dual Dovetail Style. And if you go to the Burris "Signature" Rings, either Dual Dovetail or Z-Rings(Weaver Style) you will have the best "Designed" Rings currently on the market.

If you have access to a Machine Shop, there are a couple of things you could do to fix the problem on the Redfield Design. But it is a real aggravation to do without the correct tools and may just tear them up.

I discovered "three sets" of the Redfield Design mounts on some rifles. I really thought I'd gotten rid of all those.
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The problem with them is the Forward Ring is really the only one holding the Scope during Recoil. The grip on the Rear Ring by the two Lateral Screws is a real joke.

During Recoil the Scope trys to remain where it was before the Shot and if the Front Ring can't get a good enough hold on the Scope, the scope slides forward through the Front Ring and rips the Rear Ring through those two Lateral Screws. Some folks never see it due to low Mass scopes with low-to-modest recoiling rifles and that one Front Ring will hold the scope.

But, your 300WinMag coupled with those larger scopes you are using causes the problem to show up fairly quickly.

Dual Dovetails or Weaver Style will fix that problem. And the Signature Rings will make you wonder why everyone else hasn't gone to them.

Best of luck to you.

Hotcore,you have described to a tee what mounts I have and yes the rear mount where the 2 screws go in, the little grove they "suppose" to clamp down on look like they are well worn out and chewed up.While they did hold this last time I got 2 nice groups, three shots each all nice tight cloverleaf so I know I got a good rifle now I can go find a good scope AND better mounts, Thanks !!

quote:

Originally posted by RH outfitter:
...if you are shooting factory loads it sounds like a scope or scope mount problem what rings and bases are you using...

Nice catch RH outfitter.
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Hey ryder, There may not be anything wrong with either of your scopes. That Redfield Design just doesn't work as well as the Dual Dovetail or good old time-proven Weaver Design. And when you get a rifle with a fair amount of Recoil, a lot of folks accuracy problems are due to the same thing you are experiencing. It can be very difficult to figure out the first time a person experiences it.

I've been looking into "inexpensive" scopes for the past few months. For some reason a good number of Beginners have been asking for recommendations that don't require a years worth of lawn mowing to get a rifle and scope.

There seems to be a good number of "cheap" scopes that rarely go back to the Gun Shops where I've been asking. I'm not yet prepared to recommend a "reliable" inexpensive scope to the masses, but I plan to Test a few this coming year on some serious recoil rifles. Then, I should be able to feel better about some of them, especially for recommendations.
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But, get the new Bases and Rings, then re-try the new scope you have. There may just not be a thing wrong with it at all.

A good buddy of mine killed well over 1000 Deer with a Tasco mounted on a relatively light 30-06 and that Tasco held up just fine. His next 30-06 was a bit lighter, but he went with a LARGE Objective Leupold simply because of the length of our Legal Hunting hours. But, that Tasco held up just fine over 8-9 years of heavy use.

Best of luck to you.

Just finished putting on some new weaver style bases ,BUT I am very seriously considering waiting til the temp. goes above zero for a few days to try them out(ok ok so I'm not as "hard-core" as I was in my younger years)But I think you hit it dead on.When I pull the old mount of it was all ready chewed up in the groove