Scope Problems Due to Lead Sleds?

[Riesel]

Recently I have been asked to troubleshoot hunting rifles with accuracy issues and in the case of these rifles the scopes had gone awry. All were good quality scopes. ie Zeiss, Swavorski, Blackhound, Weaver and all had one thing in common, the owners had been sighting the rifles in with the aid of a Lead Sled. The rifles were mid range
on recoil, from .270 Win to CZ 550 in 6.5 x 55 Swede. Me thinks the lead sled is killing these scopes, what say you?

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I know theyre hard on stocks. Cant be good on scopes

 

[M-61]

Air rifles kill a regular rifle scope scope on an air rifle (some air rifles.. I'm not that familiar which do but has something to do with an air rifles reverse recoil....beyond my knowledge or interest
A Lead sled? Does it absorb recoil in a dead stop? Or does it absorb it gradually?
Put a butt against a tree and pull the trigger....lots gets damaged but the tree is a dead stop.

 

[Shawnba67]

Air rifles kill a regular rifle scope scope on an air rifle (some air rifles.. I'm not that familiar which do but has something to do with an air rifles reverse recoil....beyond my knowledge or interest
A Lead sled? Does it absorb recoil in a dead stop? Or does it absorb it gradually?
Put a butt against a tree and pull the trigger....lots gets damaged but the tree is a dead stop.

The rifle butt goes into a steel pocket. The sled wieghs 20 to 100lbs. If there's no slop between butt and sled you have essentially just put your gun into a really heavy stock.
If the gun has room to jump into the sled on recoil you are essentially are hitting it with a hammer every shot.

 

[6BRA]

get a muzzle brake....or find a new sport...or switch to rimfire.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Air rifles kill a regular rifle scope scope on an air rifle (some air rifles.. I'm not that familiar which do but has something to do with an air rifles reverse recoil....beyond my knowledge or interest
A Lead sled? Does it absorb recoil in a dead stop? Or does it absorb it gradually?
Put a butt against a tree and pull the trigger....lots gets damaged but the tree is a dead stop.

Spring piston airguns kill scopes not made for airguns. Pcp airguns do not

 

[FeMan]

Lead sleds are extremely hard on everything in the system, including scopes and mounts.

 

[Full Chisel]

Spring piston airguns kill scopes not made for airguns. Pcp airguns do not

Exactly. Spring pistons kills scopes because there are two recoils - the intial rearward recoil, then the forward recoil when the piston slams the end of cylinder which generates a harsh impulse.
The impulse has a lot of high amplitude, high frequency vibrations that wreak havoc on some scope designs. The same could be going on with lead sled as the recoil isn't absorbed over a longer recoil cycle like if the rifle were being held by a person.

 

[buckeye68]

Nothing wrong with shooting off a lead shed but when you add weight to them there’s the true problem.

 

[FNSafari]

Just shoot off bags or a front rest and experience the joy of recoil of your rifle like you will in a real world hunting situation. If u need a lead sled imo you are shooting a rifle with too much recoil for you.

 

[Gary in MD]

I’ve lost track of how many times that I’ve heard/read that the lead sleds cause trouble with scopes. Even if only half turned out to be true, it’s still enough for me to not want to risk my gear. Watched a guy at the range before an out of state trophy hunt shoot all over the target because his scopes adjustments were not working, using a lead sled. Like it was already said, learn how to shoot your rig or get something that you can handle. YMMV
Gary

 

[Riesel]

Thanks for all the responses. Just so you know, I'm not the one using the Lead Sled
and when I tell the customer that the Lead Sled may have destroyed their scope
they are usually in denial. Can't help that.

 

[FNSafari]

Thanks for all the responses. Just so you know, I'm not the one using the Lead Sled
and when I tell the customer that the Lead Sled may have destroyed their scope
they are usually in denial. Can't help that.

If they are in denial, tell them to load up their best load, head for the range and put that load on paper shooting groups. If they don't believe that, assuming no problems with the rifle, they are lost in space

 

[hogpatrol]

Was on the muzzleloader range and a shooter was using a leadsled with weights. Had a bushnell scope of some sort on a BPS rifle. Shot a few shots. Called me over to look through the scope. It was tight in the rings. but the reticle was on an angle. At the time, I owned one. It has since been donated.

 

[Randall D]

I cut out the rear But stock stop on my lead sled so now it's just a yoke. To bad I had already destroyed a beautiful Weatherby MK V Deluxe stock! Works great now for bench work.

 

[K22]

Never used them - never will.

A renowned* gunsmith in my area who makes rifles for some famous hunters and shooters will not use them to test rifles for his clients. Claims that they can damage stocks on heavy recoiling rifles and places undo stress of scopes. He uses those "bull bags" for bench testing custom built rifles.

*this guy has been published.

My reasons are different than his for not using them. They do not produce results that translate to real world shooting. Presumably because they modified the normal recoil response of a rifle during firing.

I've worked with a number of big game hunters, inexperienced shooters - lots of disposable income, that used these preparing for expensive trips out West. They found that the rifle shoots nowhere near the Led Sled sight in when the rifle is shot in the field. Fortunately, when they arrive at the hunting location the professional guide has them check the sight in off conventional bench front and rear supports before going afield.

 

[Bill K]

Man up and shoot your rifles over bags, bipods, etc. If you need a lead sled, then the rifle you are shooting is too much for you. Get a 22 lr and learn to handle recoil, both on the bench and off hand.

 

[Mark W]

I’m not sure that I’ve seen anyone actually use lead with their Lead Sled. Most people I see are just using them for a handy way to support their rifle.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I’m not sure that I’ve seen anyone actually use lead with their Lead Sled. Most people I see are just using them for a handy way to support their rifle.

Man i seen a guy with 2 bags of lead shot on it

 

[Daddymac]

Yep, wasted some money on a led sled myself, I fell victim to the hype of how such a solid platform and no recoil was going to change my life. The truth is I used it a few times and dumped it, I could not get used to the feel, it was uncomfortable and awkward to me.