Boyd Allen
Active member
I posted this several years back, but I think that it bears repeating. Some years ago, I was at a match at Visalia, when one of the fellows that was a regular from Southern California, was having scope problems. Based on his usual performance, and the groups that he had just shot, that was the consensus among his shooting buddies. Someone offered him a spare scope, which he declined, and it was at that point that I asked him if he had tried "exercising" his turrets. He asked me what I meant, and I explained that it involved noting his turrets' settings and then running them to their limits several times, and then back to where they had been. Obviously this would also require re sighting the rifle before it could be shot with confidence. The scope was a 36X Weaver that had previously given good service. Having an open mind, and little to loose, he tried the procedure. It worked, and he went on to win a yardage with the same scope. My scope adjustments hardly get touched, and when they do, the movement is within a very short range, and this is probably the case for most shooters. I got the idea from an article in Precision Shooting. The author had compared the accuracy of tracking of new scopes with that of the same scopes after they had had their turrets run to their limits many times. Evidently the running in was beneficial. Tracking was improved. Perhaps the mating surfaces were smoothed and/or some lubricant (if there is any) redistributed, or some minute crud moved out of the way. I have no idea. My only advice would be to be cautious about getting carried away and to approach the ends of travel with some care.
