This looks as good a place as any for this
A tip for anyone buying a new Simmons scope or a shooter on our lines with a new scope. The simmons model 22MAG Rimfire 4X32mm scope .
I have 3 of these and my father has 2 of them . ALL 5 of them right out of the box were shooting between 2.5-4' (yes that is FEET) left of POA at 25yds. consistantly to the left . they were all fairly close on verticle but windage WAY off.
anyone else notice this also?
Maybe something to remember if you get a shooter who cannot get on paper initially
I bought one last year and it was OK. Bad lot maybe? The only time I have seen scopes that far off at an event was when the mounting was done improperly. The rings were tightened all the way down on one side of the ring and loose on the other side. Fixed it and everything worked OK then.
Addl info, though not necessarily help, though I would avail myself of Simmons' Customer Service...
Gun Tests magazine (NO ads accepted) tested the .22 Mag 3x9x40 Adj Obj model last year and gave it top
rating. They used scope as a hammer on a workbench, froze it, and threw it into a barrel of water - no leaks, no change of zero or other defects...best buy for about $60,,,YMMV...
Excelsior,
madMark
I have seen this happen on a couple different brand of scopes. I believe it has to do with the reticle not being centered before it left the factory. they may have just forgot or whatever. but it's easy enough to fix and you should be good to go. they aren't a bad scope for the money.
This is a new one to me and that is surprising given the number of lines we have seen together.
All the Simmons 22 mags I have seen have been dandies. the two that I shot with were great. How many clicks of windage do you have to your short side after you zero?
With five such scopes, all of which being mounted on your rifles, and many seen around Appleseed which do not display this issue, may I relate an experience from several years ago.
A friend and I were zeroing in prior to a hunting trip, he had purchased a new scope and rings for his 700BDL
The first sighter splashed about 7 feet to the left at 100 yds. Astonished he fired a second shot. It went right where the first had gone.
I had not noticed previously, but on examining the scope he had the two rings mounted 180 degrees from one another (one clamp screw to the right, the other to the lefft)
When he tightened these, because of the way they were mounted they threw the centerline of the scope and the centerline of the rifle bore so far off that it could not be recovered with sight adjustment.
We took the rings off, set them properly in relation to one another and the 3rd sighter was 6" left at the same 100 yards.
My friend had been a hunter for many years, and we had spent many pleasant hours together. After this incident I simply introduced him to others as 'my friend with the dyslexic 7mm Remington'
I am not sure this helps you, but your post reminded me of the story.
GEmanuel, hit the same area I first thought of, are all five scopes mounted in the same kind if rings/mounts?
Some rings are made off center. Some rifles mounting holes are not parrelel to the barrel, but 5 for five is quite a coincidence.
Guess I needed to be more specific on this.
One Scope is mounted on a S&W 15-22 with a different set of rings than what came with the scope
2 others are mounted on Marlin 795 rifles.mounted in rings other than what came with scope.
2 others mounted on Marlin 60 Rifles.mounted in rings that came with scope
When mounting all 5 I tried to mount and tighten all equal on each side and ring as possible to make sure there was as little pre-load or twisting as possible.
Never have looked to see how many clicks are left of adjustment once it is centered. not that curious I guess.
with that said I LOVE these scopes. Especially for as little as they cost. HUGE eye relief. just wanted to see if anyone had experienced this and so that if a shooter on the line has a new out of box scope and shoots WAY off target we might know why.
thanks for everyones input and feedback on this
I like the 22 mag scopes as well, have three of them. I always bore sight them first before I try to shoot them on targets. Never noticed them to be that far off though.
I have had very poor luck with the 3-9x40 AO Simmons, and have heard similar stories from others as well with the same issue.
At an Appleseed shoot last year (prior to taking the orange hat) I was running a 10-22 that I have heavily customized, with this scope on it, brand new. By the end of the Saturday, the four quadrants of the reticle had begun breaking apart. I continued to shoot with it, hoping that it wouldn't get any worse. Sunday morning found the reticle further broken, and as the day went on it literally began rotating 360 degrees around in the optic. It was deeply disappointing, as not only is the cost of an optic a factor to me, but there is plenty of time involved in getting it sighted in, leveled, and ensuring that the eye relief is correct. I sent it back for a refund and put a Leupold on it that I will probably never regret.
The funny part is I shot my best score ever with that scope (a 246 while the scope was broken), and haven't been able to duplicate it since. Maybe I shouldn't have sent the darn thing back after all!
I see an awful lot of the Simmon's 3-9x AO on the line. Bought one for my son's rifle which he used to shoot rifleman. Bought another after that for one of my rifles. No problems. I've not heard of anyone else having problems with them but being massed produced it doesn't surprise me that some will go bad.
My girlfriend swears by the Simmons 22 Mag 4X scope.
As for me, I haven't been overly impressed with their products. But then, I have high standards.
Yesterday in Decorah,IA I was running the line and my wife was on the left side of the line. After the stage was completed the other instructors gathered around her. The Reticle on her Simmons scope started to rotate clockwise and ended up at about 15 degrees off. She stated she just went with it and Rex is the one that noticed each shot she was canting more to the right. It's now stuck at 15 degrees off. It was an old scope I took off my Dad's Lever action Marlin. I did purchase her a Simmons 22Mag 4x today for the next Appleseed.
I am a bit of a gear snob, and when setting up my wife's 10/22 I was certain I would be replacing the .22mag scope it came with. I was very pleasantly surprised with it's quality for the given price. That said, I assume yours being off that badly speaks to the amount of quality control that can be used with a cost that low. I would count the clicks for windage from full left to right, then center based on the number of clicks. If they are still off that badly I would place a call to Simmons. If they are close, just assume they were not centering them before they left the factory.