Scope fubar using a Lead Sled

[Fort_Bragger]

I'm currently working on my primary elk weapon, a M700 300RUM. I shot the stock hammer forged barrel out after a couple of thousand rounds, and had Dave Tooley install a new Bartlein for me. I'm not a big fan of brakes, so I didn't have Dave put one on. I am however getting older, and bought a Lead Sled to ease the recoil of the beast some. Things were going well at the range until my 300 yard groups starting getting bigger. It took more trips to eliminate me or my ammo as the issue, But determined that my Leupold VX6 was the culprit, after mounting an older LPS Leupold and shooting at the range again. I sent the VX6 back to Leupold, and after another range trip or two, started having the same issue again. I had taken the sand bags off the Lead Sled after seeing the carnage on YouTube with to much weight used on sleds.
I've always used just a front rest, but never a Lead Sled before. I'm rethinking my idea about a muzzle brake now, and also about forgetting the Lead Sled, and going back to just the front rest at the bench. I was wondering also how common damage there is from Lead Sleds? I know there are miniature VX gages for measuring velocity. Do scope manufacturers put them in their scopes? I don't remember reading if warranties were void using Lead Sleds. Any thoughts here you can help me with?

 

[sawcarver]

I heard of lots of bad things from lead sleds from cracked stocks to junk scopes and everywhere in between.

Leupold should stand behind the scopes for you.

 

[Evan]

Bag of lead shot between your shoulder and the buttstock works pretty good and doesn't destroy the gun like a lead sled does, if all you're trying to do is cut felt recoil

 

[mmcu]

Try a PAST Super Mag Plus recoil pad shield. It will be about the best $30 bucks you've ever spent.

 

[243Lapua]

The lead sled is the problem.

 

[rammac]

Lead Sleds aren't of any real value other than to see if your ammo and rifle will group well together, it wont help you zero the rifle to the way you actually hold your rifle while you are shooting it. It's not uncommon to see a person use a Lead Sled to zero their rifle and then have to zero it some more when they shoot the rifle from their shoulder. You've conducted a nice little experiment that proves what kind of work recoil, mass, and momentum can do. It's not unusual for a scope to experience forces of well over a half ton during recoil. This is why you never put the butt of a rifle against a solid rest, it will damage the stock or the rifle. You are a shock absorber for the rifle when it recoils, without your body absorbing some of that recoil energy it will all be absorbed by the rifle.

If that .300RUM is getting to be too much for you then you need to just admit that it's time to look for a lighter recoiling caliber or build lighter loads. I don't know how you use your rifle, and I know that the .300's really do add value to some shooting situations, but the truth is that very seldom does anybody really need any caliber larger than a 30-06 in the real world.

 

[rardoin]

Had a cracked stock and a trashed scope on a 300 Weatherby mag.

 

[Fort_Bragger]

Try a PAST Super Mag Plus recoil pad shield. It will be about the best $30 bucks you've ever spent.

I have one. Guess I'll break it out and start using it again. Thanks.