Nikon P223 Sucks? Or Gun Issue?

[RattlesnakeDan]

Anyone have some advice.
My Ar came with a Nikon P223 in 3x9. One day I shoot it and it's dead on, ask my hog/deer/coyote friends. Now it is off to the left by 8-10' at 200 yds. and a bit low.
Last animal I hit was a doe at 165 yds, neck shot. Dumped her, a couple finish rds to kill her. I look and first shot hit her spine 2' from her neck.(I did not know at the time) lucky hit. Next 2 finish shots hit her where I was aiming. What the ???
Figured it was my mistake.
Last night new ranch, set up trap and 8 hogs come out before dark. 4 very large (200# maybe) ones. I am set up on post very stable. 200 yds, easy shot, I line up on the big ones head and touch it off. Dirt flies 8-10' to the left and low. I am in disbelief so I touch off another. No hit, I proceeded to fire a few more before they were gone. No hits. Pissed off a bit now. Great opportunity.
I took gun apart this morning, laid upper on a rest and looked down the barrel at 30 yds, then looked through scope, off to the left by over a foot at 30 yds. I readjusted scope,(that's a lot of clicks). These scopes have an external adjustable turret that does not lock but can not have moved that far without my knowledge. Scope is solidly mounted, looks level, no movement. Frustrated. Hate a gun that is not accurate 2x in a row. Any advise!

 

[Chopperdrvr]

Nikon's are usually pretty tough, but that being said, the recoil from an AR is easy on the shooter but murder on a scope. I have had a less expensive scope reticle destroyed in less than 20 rds of my 6.8. If you have another scope, I would swap out and see if it stays zeroed. Also, obvious question "did you change ammo?"

 

[Curly Shuffle]

Possibilities, scopes rings to tight and damaged scope, or something else broke loose inside (reticle)?? do what you did and look down the barrel set it up then shake it around and jar it like normal use then look down barrel again you should be close anywhos. Sounds like a scope issue unless your barrel is loose. Good luck. BANG BANG!!

 

[FrankT]

sounds like the reticle my be loose inside the body of the scope, had that happen on a Vortex once.

 

[rgilbert]

I have the same scope and have to make sure the turrets are set to 0 every time I go out. Two weeks ago it was off 2 inches high at 100 yards and the scope was on 0. Jury is still out on this scope for me.

 

[RattlesnakeDan]

Mr. Gilbert
After reading your response I realized I did not know how to operate these turrets properly so I did some research. A while back I was out with it and bored in my blind. I was playing with the turrets a bit, wondering if there was some kind of lock on them I was lifting them up and pushing them in. I wonder if I moved them unknowingly. Now I realize that you zero the scope then lift up and return to zero mark so as to be able to adjust on the fly and return to zero. I will try this scope again before chucking it out the door and see if it was operator error.
Also Curly Shuffle...I am going to give the scope a little shock treatment and see if reticle has moved. Thanks!

 

[Curly Shuffle]

Sounds like you got it figured out. BANG BANG!!

 

[BigRedDog]

One very good shooter I know broke his rings.

That said, playing with the adjustments while bored is, well, you know.

 

[RattlesnakeDan]

One very good shooter I know broke his rings.

That said, playing with the adjustments while bored is, well, you know.

BigRed, I can't help messing with stuff. I like to take apart things that work fine to see how they work, problem is they rarely work right again afterwards. lol

 

[Ratdog68]

Having a tendency to be a little ham-handed at times, I ended up too light with my scope mount. Started with a .423" six-shot group, then it started opening up on me. A box of shells later, checked my scope mount... loose.

 

[sjb67]

I have that exact scope and for carrying to and from and on a four wheeler it constantly changes. I rode with it in a rack for two miles on my 4 wheeler and walked a half mile to my stand. Climes a 15ft ladder and sat down. When I checked it had moved 11 clicks down and 4 left.

I think it would be fine fone for a bench gun but not hunting.

As a result I bought a Burris off of Owenslee this week. It will soon replace the Nikon

 

[RattlesnakeDan]

I have that exact scope and for carrying to and from and on a four wheeler it constantly changes. I rode with it in a rack for two miles on my 4 wheeler and walked a half mile to my stand. Climes a 15ft ladder and sat down. When I checked it had moved 11 clicks down and 4 left.

I think it would be fine fone for a bench gun but not hunting.

As a result I bought a Burris off of Owenslee this week. It will soon replace the Nikon

Thanks for telling me that! I really believe this thing is moving on its own. I am going out in the rain now to try to get a close shot tonight. I will have my .270 for back up.

 

[sjb67]

all you have to do is bump the turret and it moves. sometimes it is just the zero feature and it does not actually move the scope. other times it actually moves the scope. i wrapped electrical tape around the turret to the scope body to lock it down

 

[rgilbert]

And BRD is right. I when I bought this scope I was having trouble with another, so I thought. I was going to use the rings from the rifle I was using. It kept changing POI all of the time. I had broke the rear ring from putting to much torque on it. Bought new rings and used his FAT wrench. No problems.

 

[bman940]

Dan, I have literally put 1000's of round's under the same series of scope that you have. When folk's are having accuracy issue's it is honestly not usually the scope. It's a pain but I would go back to square one and make sure the base/rings are secured appropriately. Making sure your rings are straight and the scope is secured and aligned correctly. The reticle in your scope is a wire so if that was the problem you would be able to see it when looking through the eye piece. Lifting up the turret's,turning them to zero and pushing them down to lock your zero in is important. Nikon has increased the tension required to turn the turret's to make accidental turning less of a problem, that being said, having used this style of scope for so many years I routinely glance at both turret's to make sure they are still at zero. Here's a pic of my P-223 3-9 BDC 600 scope and Nikon's P-Series AR mount's.
Please keep me informed on how your next range day goes.

 

[RattlesnakeDan]

Dan, I have literally put 1000's of round's under the same series of scope that you have. When folk's are having accuracy issue's it is honestly not usually the scope. It's a pain but I would go back to square one and make sure the base/rings are secured appropriately. Making sure your rings are straight and the scope is secured and aligned correctly. The reticle in your scope is a wire so if that was the problem you would be able to see it when looking through the eye piece. Lifting up the turret's,turning them to zero and pushing them down to lock your zero in is important. Nikon has increased the tension required to turn the turret's to make accidental turning less of a problem, that being said, having used this style of scope for so many years I routinely glance at both turret's to make sure they are still at zero. Here's a pic of my P-223 3-9 BDC 600 scope and Nikon's P-Series AR mount's.
Please keep me informed on how your next range day goes.
I appreciate the info. I went back out a knocked a couple down and when I got home the turrets had moved again. I will keep an eye on them, I think the springs are really weak. I may put a piece of tape on them. Headed out right now, see what happens!