So in the past 4 months I have purchased 2 different bolt action .450 bushmasters: a Savage Wolverine and a Ruger Gunsite Scout. These guns are my first exposure with this cartridge, and so far I have been very frustrated....mainly because I believe that these guns are banging loose the zero on my scopes. Has anyone else experienced this problem?
Yesterday I was at the range and was getting some great groups from my Ruger Gunsite Scout. (See target below) The gun has a Leupold VX-3i 4.5-14 power scope mounted on it. I used the Ruger steel rings to mount it directly to the receiver as show in the picture. Things were going great until the groups abruptly jumped 2 and 1/2" high. As you can see from the picture, after shot number 13 the zero clearly jumped high for some reason. Shots 14, 15, 16, and 17 were then all consistently high, in the same general area relative to the point of aim. When I got home I double checked and the scope itself has not moved. All screws were still torqued tight. All action screws were still torqued tight as well. I mean I really double checked everything, and the only thing I can think of is that this scope isn't holding zero under the recoil of the .450 w/ muzzle break.
I had this same problem with my Savage Wolverine and a Sightron S2 3x9 scope about a month ago. Great groups for about a dozen shots then the zero jumped high for some reason. Back then, I decided it must be a bad scope. So I bought a Leupold thinking that surely a Leupold VX-3i wouldn't get rattled loose. And now its the same thing all over again. Has anyone else experienced this problem of the scope's zero moving this much? Am I missing something here or is this a common problem? I handload and shoot a lot out to 500 yards with a .308 and a 6.5 creed and a .270 winchester and have never had a problem like this before. Can anyone recommend a scope that is built like a tank and won't jump around on me?