Hello,
I made an account today in order to make a post and hope that the experienced minds here can help me solve this problem.
I purchased a Savage Axis XPII .30-06 rifle with the Weaver-Kasparov 3-9x40 scope back in 2015. It is my first and only rifle.
I brought it home, cleaned it and oiled the action then took it to the local range back in 2015 and sighted the scope in. Hit paper at 25 yards then zero’d the scope with a close-knit grouping in 2015.
Last year, I upgraded the scope to a Vortex Viper 3-9x40 while they were on sale at North Pro sports here in Saskatoon. The original rings and base were removed and a weaver base added and Burris Zee rings were installed.
I sighted the rifle in last year and was able to knock down a moose.
Problems started however in WT season last year when I started thinking the fun was off. Ended up having WT tag soup so this year I decided to check the rifle and see if the scope was off.
I don’t own an inch-pound torque driver so I did not check the base and ring screws to make sure they were tight. I brought the rifle to North Pro last week to get the top ring screws checked and torqued if necessary.
Then I took it out last Friday and took 8 shots at a target.
Ammunition was Federal Premium Nosler Partition 165 Grain, .30-06 caliber.
I was set up on a shooting bench with a rest and was shooting at a target 100 yards away.
What we found was an alternating shot pattern. There are two groups of bullet holes on the target... but the part I don’t understand is that the rifle seemed to alternate each shot from the lower left quadrant, to about 1” to the right of the bullseye.
See the attached picture. If you zoom in, you’ll see blue numbers beside each hole indicating the order each shot was taken.
What do you guys think could be causing this to happen?
North Pro has taken the scope off and has shipped the scope to Vortex for review and repair/replacement if necessary. I have the old scope mounted again with the new base and new rings. Rifle has been bore sighted and I hope to sight it in at 25 then 100 yards this afternoon so I have a rifle for when mule deer season opens. First time in 7 years being drawn for mule so what crazy timing for this to be happening - a week before the season opens!
Open to all comments and help. Thanks!