Fix my gun / Modding
Ruger American Ranch gen 1 7.62x39 at 200 yards with Vortex scout 1.5-5.5x
First picture at 25 yards, second 200.
Shooting low and to the right, doesn’t matter how much I turn up the elevation it just won’t get to where I’m aiming. What am I doing wrong?
I don’t think it’s entirely up to a flinch reflex, I ended up turning the elevation up to the max and I never ended up shooting over the target a single time.
Edit: 25 yard group was shooting seated with my elbows supported on my knees and a hasty sling around my offhand tricep for extra stability. 200 yard group was with a sandbag under the front and back of the gun
Are you using a lead sled? Bipod? Beanbag? What brand of ammo? No idea what your problem could be without additional info. Also, do you have a scout rail on that rifle to be using the scout scope? If so, post pics, because I've been eyeballing the Skinner option for a while and it'd be interesting to see.
I have a Gen 1 RAR in 7.62x39 and sighting it in is always more of a pain in the ass than my other rifles for some reason, but once I get my scope zeroed it's as accurate as anything else I've got. Mostly using MFS ammo because I can't shoot steel core at my range. I shoot seated from a bench with a Harris bipod, and it's got an old Weaver V9-II 3-9x scope with a duplex reticle.
Edit: If you think you're having trouble with the trigger weight, you can adjust the weight by taking the stock off and adjusting a little set screw inside the trigger assembly. I couldn't get mine below 4.5lbs so I replaced the original spring with a Mcarbo and got it down to about 3 lbs. Don't have to push as hard, doesn't flinch as much. Then again, I find that a lot of my inaccurate shots result from pressing my face to the stock too much and allowing my heart rate and breathing to sort of jolt the gun around unconsciously. Control how much of your body is touching the gun, control your breathing, slow your heart rate, then pull the trigger.
Edit 2: Maybe a dumb question and I don't mean to insult, but you've zeroed a scope before, yes? As in you know how to zero a scope to a certain distance and to find your holds at other distances, correct? I only ask because I know some people don't know how to zero a scope and that would be the first place to start.
I was going off two sandbags under the front and one under the rear. I was using corrosive surplus at first and switched to my intended hunting ammo once I was able to hit a stew target I had at the same distance. I have not zeroed a scope before, but I have done some reading on 7.62x39 and read that it should have similar impacts at 25 and 200 yards.
This is an odd one to peg. The consistent location of your groups implys that the optic setup and gun may be working fine..... but the horrible 25 yrd accuracy also suggests that something is most certainly not fine. Then your 200m picture comes in as a total curve ball implying that the accuracy actually aint half bad for a 7.62x39 lol. Sometimes an easy way to get an initial point in the right direction towards solving a problem like this is to try shooting another centerfire firearm. If u yourself can shoot that firearm we'll, then that gives you reason to believe somethings mechanically wrong with the other gun. You can also get another individual to fire your gun. Preferably someone you've witnessed shoot another centerfire gun we'll. If they experience the same problems as you then once again that points to the issue being with the gun.
I’ve shot a Swiss K31 pretty accurately at 300 yards, and I do pretty well with Lee Enfield iron sights out to about 150 yards. I think the poor accuracy on the 25 yard one comes from me shooting seated off my knee rather than prone (forgot to add that in the post), what I was concerned about was the placement of the grouping over the grouping itself. Also the fact that I’ve cranked the elevation to 14MOA and it’s still shooting 6-8” low at 200 yards
Are you trolling us? I really hope so. But maybe you're just a beginner. I'll bite. So many things that are wrong. Skinner rail?
You can't use this rail in this manner. Scope should be mounted above the receiver, where the rail is fixed, not above the barrel where it "rests" on the barrel without proper support. Forward part of THIS rail is for bells and whistles.
God knows who and how fixed this rail. Roll back to factory one.
You want to have a scout rail to mount the scope this way - get the factory scout gen 2 which is properly secured and pray that barrel heating won't be affecting POI a lot. From my experience with other platforms it will.
It’s a scout scope, it’s supposed to be further up on the rifle no? If I place it over the receiver the scope does not work.
And it has been drilled and tapped into the barrel up front, not just resting on the barrel. A professional gunsmith mounted the rail, the iron sights work great. Also was bought and built before Ruger announced the gen2 scout.
Yes, scout scope supposed to be mounted like this. However ALL my concerns remain valid, let me elaborate and reiterate them.
This rail is aftermarket. I'm not really familiar with it. Simple search suggest its forward par should be "resting" and not "fixed" to the barrel. For such configuration you should fight two factors that work against each other. Rigidity of the rail - receiver - rail configuration and heating of the barrel vs receiver and rail sating cool. There are different ways to address (semi-floating forward mounting, solid mounting), you have to research the best way for your setup. I trust Ruger did their own tests and came up with solid mounting in Gen 2. You have aftermarket product, you have unknown quality of installation, you have no reference such setup should work at all.
You (or the owner before you) introduced several unknown factors and I pointed out that ANY of them is quite possible the reason of the issue. You want to troubleshoot and check if your rifle is fine - get back to standard rail. You want skip all the fun and time tinkering - sell it and buy Gen 2 Scount (just check out reviews first for Scout, I'm familiar with Ranch Gen 1 and Gen 2 and they are great, I haven't seen any feedback about their Scout rail implementation).
I'm not crazy familiar with scout scopes, but I did some reading last night and the general consensus was similar to horillka. I would, remove the scope and loosen the front rail screws and let the rail float. Check and see if you can center bullets with the Irons, Or at least get more consistent centers. (Make sure the gun works on its own)
Loosen the rail up front, lots of forum posts said they locktite'd the screw first thread but left the rail semi floating (barrel whip and resonance) and B) check that the barrel has clearance from the stock.
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u/newtoabunchofstuff 9d ago
What kind of ammo are you using? I had surprisingly good results with corrosive surplus.