And how often does it drive you nuts?

I must have some bad luck with scopes.

Is this the symptom?  You get a couple rounds to group, then the next couple rounds group about 6" off, then you have a flyer, then you have one go back near the first group.  Secondly, your windage/elevation adjustment clicks should be 1/4" at 100 yards, 1/8" at 50 yards, etc, but sometimes a few clicks does little and then a couple clicks does a lot.

I know I'm not flinching that bad.  

I got a Nikon that won't hold....  also when you adjust left or right, it will move the point of impact down as well

Hmm, suspect scope is a Nikon.  It does that as well.

I've wasted about $150 worth of shells on it so far.

Buy better scopes.

Actually, I've never had that problem.
Do you have iron sights on your rifle so you could get a base reference to make sure it's not your glass?
What scope do you have mounted.
All my rifles (except one) have good glass on them (Leupold or eqv) and I've never experienced anything like you described.
What you describe is not normal - yes it cold be the glass but it could also be the shooter.  Have a friend that you know is a good shooter run the box...

Make sure to take your meds.

Either you're a bad shot or you need to buy better scopes.

Yep. Don't buy cheapass scopes.

(And buy scopes appropriate for their application; if you stick a scope meant for rimfire use on a .50BMG, don't be surprised if you have issues.)

I can shoot.  This is a Nikon Pro Staff 2x7 ($129.99) on a Remington 1100 (80s model) with 21" fully rifled barrel, cantilever scope mount.  2-3/4" remington copper solids and winchester dual bond sabots.  They both group identical, but something's all over the place on this set up.

Barrel nut is down good.  Good rest.  Doing identical as O_P.  Been sighting in stuff since 1985.  I do get bad luck with cheaper scopes.  Broken cross hairs you name it.  I can't believe that a scope that costs over $100 can't handle a 12 ga.  

My friend has /had a Nikon where the recticle fell down or moved  inside the scope . I will never buy one

Nikon is not making a shotgun rated scope. There are SG scopes that have reinforced adjustments. Might be the problem. Also the wiggle in the scope mount can be a problm, and barrel heat.

Not sure if you do this or not but I always have been taught to by my dad (might not be necessary if newer scopes have solved problem) but when you put turn the knob to make adjustment tap the top and sides of the scope to make sure that the internals take the adjustment in case the knobs get stuck or something.

Could also be that the barrel is the issue.

And as bad as I hate to admit it, $100 - $300 isn't that high of a quality of scope anymore.

Good luck though. Just my .02 worth.

I once heard invest as much in your scope as you did your rifle. I don't, but still buy quality scopes for my bolt guns and long range ars like Leupold and never have problems.

$300 gets you into decent scopes.

I myself am looking for something in the $200-$300 for my .17HMR. Hard to justify putting a $600+ scope on a $300 rifle that won't ever see use beyond 200yd (and won't even see that far most of the time).

I have a 800.00 scope on a Ruger wood stock thin BBL  10-22 . Pleasures me to shoot it and see that scope at work

But I'm still looking for answers into scope mounting problems.

Like scope ring quality, maybe smearing the rings with adhesive, or lapping the rings.

I refuse to believe the scope is the problem.

But even flinching, I would have printed a different pattern.  This scope, or something in the set-up, would make nice tight groups in one spot for a couple rounds, then about 6" over in a random direction for a couple rounds.  Then like said, adjusting windage/elevation was really weird.  I've had a cheap Bushnell do the exact same thing one time.  

About the best I've bought in scopes is a Vari-XII with leupold rings and that one's sturdy.  I'm an iron sights man on everything else.

Isn't it a C of C violation to talk about holding a rifle scope on Zero ???

I understand many here disapprove of him. But still it will get you in a lot of trouble.

This ^ or your rings and mounts are loose or just suck

I want to think it's the scope mounts, but they seem to fit very well.  However, aluminum and single ring screws.  I just dug them up somewhere.

Except that I wouldn't think that the mounts/rings would give you what you are experiencing. I would think they should result in more general inconsistency - i.e., big open groups, as opposed to tight groups with shifting centers over longer periods of time.

I've owned the same scope as the OP, plus another couple of Pro Staffs. One of them was pretty good, the other 2 reminded me of a Simmons (edit: or a Bushnell - Tried several, discovered them all to be crap), if that tells you anything.
I have owned 3 Buckmasters though, and they have all been good scopes. If you look through a Pro Staff, a Buckmaster, and a Monarch side-by-side, you will notice an obvious increase in optics quality as you step up the ladder. I can only expect this to be true in the internals as well.

Or just chalk it up to the fact that as a whole slug guns are not all that accurate.  Add in that you better have mounts that really hold your scope.

i would surely get a shotgun or heavy recoil rated scope



but then again the 1100 would have reduced recoil compared to an 870



i would put a  different scope on it and zero it and check it..  could be the weapon





i always cringe when i have to take my fully rifled SG out to sight in.. i know my shoulder will be done for on top of the price tag on those damned sabot rounds
also, a lead sled would help zeroing and confirming zero on a SG since it takes you out of the equation (not saying you dont know how to shoot, but i know after 15 rounds of 12GA i start to get jumpy)

I've spent about 3800 on optics in the last few weeks, and both of them are REALLY nice.

Zeiss for life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've never had that problem.  One time I was trying to zero a hunting load I had just worked up, and it seemed like none of the adjustments worked quite right.  I would move up 12 clicks, and the POI would move up 2" and left 3".  WTF?  Finally I got it zerod, and called it good for the hunt, with the intention of sending it back to the manufacturer after the hunt.



After I got home from my hunt (never saw a thing), I loaded 25rds of my most accurate load and did a scope box.  5rds, up a few inches and 5rds, over, then down, back to center.  I did this so I could send the target to the manufacturer to show them what was wrong... except it was perfect!  I guess my hunting load just wasn't as great as I thought it was!  A couple lucky shots make me think I had a decent group.

If you think the scope is moving in the rings take some white paint and a toothpick and make some witness marks on all the screws any anything that could move.  Then shoot and see if they are still lined up.

Well, yesterday, I read up somewhere to try liquid electrical tape and paint the insides of the rings, then tighen down good (not enough to crush the tube of course).  They seemed to hold today, but the shots were still the same, but not as bad.  The scope wasn't creeping forward anymore (I could tell by the line from the adhesive), but still all over.

Maybe I was flinching.  Shoulder is a little sore.  I do the same thing with a bow.   When I get bad, I keep shooting thinking it'll get better, but it gets worse.

Like basketball, sometimes when you take a few days off, it improves your game.

Bump to the top, cause liquid tape works for the cheapos who don't want to buy a ring lapper from Brownellls, cause you can't get one in Wal-Mart.

I just got to see what's up with this scope.

I'm finding Win. Dual Bond and Copper Solids for $12 a box at Dick's though.

In case any cheap skates still rolling metal wheels out there.

Price really does not point toward quality. It only raises the odds that the scope will function correctly and have more bells and whistles in features and lense coatings.

Cheap scopes can have a good productive target hit. Case in point. I bought 5 simmons whitetail scopes at a garage sale for 20 bucks. They were NIB scopes at this estate sale. Old man bought them then died before he could use them. Twenty bucks for 5 scopes is not bad and I have scopes to switch out when I trade a rifle that I want to keep the scope that I used on that rifle.

Of those 5 scopes only one will not hold zero when power is adjusted from 3 to 9. Bullet impact raises one inch for each mag increase. All the other scopes hold perfect zero and I can 'walk' the bullet holes around the target by adjusting the turrents then returning it back to zero.

I have currently started trying BSA scopes and NCR scopes, atleast the scopes priced less than 60 bucks. A BSA 3x9x50 that I have functions real well and has good zero hold out to 300 yards cost 59.99. Low light performance is excellent.

Current suprise is a Bushnell 3x9 for 28 bucks. I mounted it on a Ruger m77mk2 in 6.5 swede. Last year I took a nice doe at 235 yards at the last moment of legal shooting light.

Now with this being said, does this mean I will not buy expensive scopes? Simple answer is No if I have funds available. Currently I plan for next year to buy higher quality scopes for some of my rifles to see if I can sqeeze the maximum long range accuracy out of my 308's and ar's(taliban coyotes have moved into my families ranch and they must be stopped with extreme prejudice).

In short buy the best you can afford or the most you are willing to pay and buy the most ammo with whats left.


ETA: Redfeilds are coming back tot he market. Manufactured by Leupold and price 149 for the 3x9x40 and 199 for the 3x9x50. I looked at some today and they appear to be of high quality. Only testing will tell.

The old Bushnell scope on Dad's .30-06 never lost zero.  In nearly 25 years.   Add to that, being in the back of the truck bouncing all the way through Canada to Alaska.  It's still...dead on.  ((shrugs))

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.  That's mysterious.

 
It's wicked how you can find one set up that serves you well.  How all the tolerances in the pieces just happen to find each other and lock in.  That's called a ringer.

I've only ever bought one "high end" (meaning high priced) scope. It's a Leupold MkIV 6-20X scope with illuminated TMR reticle. I don't like the switch on the illuminator. The detents are not "clicky" enough and it would be easy to accidentally leave the reticle light on a low setting and have the battery burn out on you. Nevertheless, I mounted it on one of my ARs. I haven't had occasion to sight it in yet. I'm considering waiting until I can get a 30mm ring lapping kit. I have one for 1" rings.

Ahhh, you missed your shot this year huh?

Only problem i ever had was a shitty mount.

I am amazed that my barska is still holding zero.

Naw, actually, I'm gearing up for this big ass buck I keep seeing, about 150 yards away, in shotgun only country.

I found his shed, killed his son.  I'm almost at Capt. Ahab level.

However, I can't get this new rig to sight up.  It mirrors much of my life.

ETA: I have loved ones who don't understand.

 

Wow!!! someone who holds Barska up

I bought a Barska once. It ran good for about 100 .308 shots. then it was all over the place.

I removed such POS from my rifle and ventalated it with a few mag dumps from my AR-15 shortly there after.

Ex wife mentioned that I had a warranty after I brought a hunk of shot up aluminum and busted glass home... I dont think thier warranty would work on that