I figure some poor sole has had this problem before. I have a Rug M77 280. I think the barrel is "pinching" but never had a "pinching" barrel before I'm not sure. It acts like this: Boom! Dead on center. BOOM! High right 8inches off center.... Oh that's me..... BOOM! Low left and four inches off center. I repeated this over the weekend and then took out my 30-30 and fired off at 100yards and I was in the black or Xring for 50 rounds. So I do not think its me.
The question is I guess is how do you correct a pinch or what can be done.
Turtle

Sounds like your scope has gone south to me. I just replaced a new Leupold 3X9 that decided after 100 rounds it did not like my Ruger 338. First shot right where it was suppose to be - sometimes the second one would touch the first or completely miss the target - third shot right back next to the first. It did this a few times over several visits to the range before I new what had happened - use to think it was me putting the second shot thru the first hole - at least that it what I would tell my son when he couldn't see a second hole thru the spotting scope. The dealer would have sent it back to Leupold but also offered to trade me straight for a new Nikon Monark 3X9 - took the Nikon. This is the second Leupold that has given me grief - I have a Leupold 4X that has been sent back twice for repair. I'm not too sure I even know what a pinching barrel could be. Good luck.

Hey... Ever hear how great Leupolds customer service is? It is good, and I hope it stays that way because alot of people use their repair service.

I'll give the scope a try . I have one that is sitting around getting dusty so if it improves me I'll be happy .

From what I've been told about "pinching" it is when the floating barrel sticks to one side or the other. I was told to slip a dollar bill under the barrel and see if it grabbed when I pull it through. I can't tell by doing this.
Turtle

I agree with the broken scope diagnosis. When you have those wild swings in POI, the scope's the first suspect.

Ditto on the scope. You have a loose lens, somewhere. If you take it off the rifle and shake it, chances are, it will rattle.

Scopes are a wear item. Send it back to Leupold and use the warrantee you paid for. JMO, Dutch.

I'll let you folks know if the scope is falling to the used pile .
Thanks
Turtle

More common than a defect in the scope is a loose mount. Check those first. Also check the snugness of your action screws -- your receiver could be floating around in the stock. If you eliminate those variables, borrow another scope from another rifle or from a friend and mount it on your gun to verify that the problem is the scope before you send it off.

One more thing to check is if your Ruger rings are poorly aligned with the bore (and some are), your scope could have been adjusted beyond its normal limits, which might cause the error you are experiencing.

Lots of things could be wrong and I would not diagnose it without seeing it....shoot it with irons at 50 or 75 yards and see how it shoots..maybe the barrel is bad, that happens..maybe the scope, maybe the inletting,maybe the front action screw is too long, you find out what is wrong by a process of elimanation, not by guessing....

Ray -
I have pulled and reset the barrel and checked all screws and even dipped all acting areas. It still was the same. Last night I pulled the scope and unboxed and old K4 and put it on. Guess what happened. It worked great . I took the scope I had and took it apart and found that it had been damaged ( traveling ). I now just have to deside if I want to keep the K4 on it . I guess if I'm not going to count the ticks on an animal I do not need a 3x12.
I thank you all for your input.
Turtle

BB,
My 'smith tells me that the best scope int he world is one that has been returned to Leupold and repaired. Even better than brand new. Don't give up on you scope, get it repaired. Ku-dude