moa problems?

[deadlyswift]

OK I have ask this ? on another site. I'm sure a lot of u guy's are on that same site and may have seen the thread. Just thought I would ask the question here also.

I am going to try and better explain myself and the problem so please bare with me.

To start I am shooting a Ruger M77 mark 2 chambered in .308.
knowing that ruger isn't that big in long range shooting like rem. and other great gun makers. This rifle has had the action triple pillar bedded, glass bedded, and the barrel has been truly free floated. Meaning u now can't pull the barrel down or side to side and touch the stock. Before this was done I could consistently hold 3/4 in. groups at 100 yrds. Now if I do my part behind the gun and with my reloads the rifle really surprised me at the job my smith done. It will consistently hold under 1/2 groups at 100yrds. None of this really has anything to do with my question, but like I said bare with me. I believe this gun is a shooter and just can't give up on it just because I ran into a problem.

Now on to my Question. since the gun shot so well at 100 I thought I would take it out to 500. I get set up and ready to shoot. Knowing the gun is sighted in 1 1/2in. high at 100, and looking at my ballistics chart. I know I'm going to need 20 clicks of moa maybe a little more. I go to get my moa out of my turret and after 8 clicks it's done no more moa. what tha? I decide I will take a few shots and see how far I have to hold over to get on paper. It takes holding 2 1/2 ft. over the entire target to just get on paper. To me this is not going to work and you'll never be able to get any kind of groups doing this. so I decide to not waste my ammo that I spent so much time on uniforming and loading the best ammo that I can. The scope that is mounted on this rifle isn't the top of the line Leupold or nightforce. It is a Bushnell elite 3200 5x15x50. I'm
not knocking them either I have Leupold's and love them. I have heard great things about nightforce, and sure they are great scopes. A lot of top shooters use them.

What I'm trying to figure out is how to solve this problem with out spending a lot of money. I am in the process of a big investment with another project, and just can't abandon it.
Can I shim this scope and get the moa out of it I need or, is there a factory defect with the scope? Seems that I should be able to get more moa out of it than what I'm getting? I'm looking to temporary fix this problem until I finish my other project so that I can just add a good mark 4 Leupold in the future.
Thanks for any advice!

 

[jlmurphy]

Your Ruger uses proprietary rings that come in varied heights, perhaps you have a mismatched set. Your scope should have enough internal elevation to get to 500 yards. Turn the turret knobs all the way in and out and count the revolutions/clicks, then place them in the middle, that should center the scope. You can check by slowly spinning the scope while looking through it, the cross hairs should remain centered. Place the centered scope on your rifle and remove the bolt and sight through the bore to a bright object 100 yards away, then look through the scope, they should be aligned, if not your scope mounts are off.

 

[fdshuster]

deadlyswift: Switching to the Burris Signature rings with the off-set inserts would be my first consideration. Adapter bases are available to make it possible to eliminate the Ruger rings and use any type of weaver base type rings you may choose. 'Mount Adapters', shown on page 847, top left of page, in Midway master catalog #32. I had a similar problem after having my #1 re-barreled/ gunsmith must have installed the quarter rib 'off-center' because I ran out of windage adjustment, big time. Used the adapters, w/ Signature rings/inserts to off-set scope, to the right). Now sighted-in and windage adjustment is centered with maximum 'clicks' remaining left & right. An added bonus is no scope ring damage/marking on the scope tube. Also used adapter bases for my old Sako L-46s.

 

[Jon_Schram_Nebraska]

I also have used the Burris signature rings to shim a scope. Have an old model 70 300 Savage that shot so far to the right I had trouble keeping my bullets on a target at 100 yards. Used a 20 moa insert,sideways) to center the scope on the target.

The action was drilled and tapped that far off center. Anyway, the gun actually shot pretty well,1.5 moa or so) once I got the scope centered.

The are pretty inexpensive, and may very well solve your problem. I also suspect that your bases may be mis-mathced or backwards.