Range Report: the CZ in Texas

[Sir Henry]

I think I did my part of taking my time to get the rifle seated on the sandbags in the same way each time. I would aim and close my eyes for 30 seconds and when I opened them if I wasn’t still on target I wasn’t in my natural position. Sometimes it would take me ten minutes to get it right. I managed my breathing and trigger control and did not rush the shots. My heartbeat was about 55 which isn’t ideal but still doable. I really felt I was doing it to perfection.

What I discovered was the scope was off. This has never happened before. Time after time I could take it to the range and hit the x the first shot. I’m not sure what happened but I think something happened on the way down.

To me the parallax shifted and I could not find the correct setting. I set it to 100 like usual and it just didn’t feel right. Or I could just be making excuses.

The results did not live up to my expectations. I really thought I could start out with three x’s and then start going wild. That did not happen. I was all over the place from the very beginning. That was after adjusting it right three inches and down an inch. Like I said before that was never a problem.

My friend shot it also and thought the parallax was off. We both came to this conclusion separately. I think I need a better scope. The Weaver Classic failed after two years of use. I’m not giving up on the rifle just the scope.

Here are my five shots I took after zeroing it. Fairly average. I guess we have to have bad days to appreciate the goods days. At least I had fun with the Henry. I had no expectations of it and it didn’t fail me.

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[JEBar]

interesting .... I look forward following your process of zeroing in (pun intended ) on the problem .... with hard kickers I've had similar issues with every so slightly loose scope mounts .... can't say I ever have with calibers like the one of your CZ

[North Country Gal]

Still a decent target, there, Gene. No need to feel bad.

What method are you using to check for parallax?

Also remember that you may be shooting at a much different altitude in Texas than back home in Washington, depending on where in Texas. A drastic change in altitude can definitely mess with your zero. Has happened to me.

[Sir Henry]

interesting .... I look forward following your process of zeroing in (pun intended ) on the problem .... with hard kickers I've had similar issues with every so slightly loose scope mounts .... can't say I ever have with calibers like the one of your CZ

I think it was the 2,200+ mile trip down. The scope is a Weaver and was only a few ($300?) hundred dollars. I’m now looking at a $1,500 Leupold.

[Sir Henry]

Still a decent target, there, Gene. No need to feel bad.

What method are you using to check for parallax?

Also remember that you may be shooting at a much different altitude in Texas than back home in Washington, depending on where in Texas. A drastic change in altitude can definitely mess with your zero. Has happened to me.

No method to check for parallax more of just a feeling. It is a 24X scope and has an adjustable parallax. When I backed it off to 12X it bought the group size down. In the beginning when it shot left I would make an adjustment and it made it worse. First thing I thought was I adjusted it the wrong way. I hadn’t and the next adjustment made it even worse. Then all of a sudden it was zeroed but all over the place.

Even though the adjustment seemed to be the problem we both thought that was not the case and instead the elevation and windage was working fine and the parallax was getting worse.

Some people don’t like high powered scopes but I’ve never had a problem of it magnifying movement. With my style of using sand bags there is no movement. Or at least in the past wasn’t.

I feel okay about this because for once it wasn’t me. I just feel the rifle has never been given a fair chance. I have another CZ youth rifle and it is a terrible shooter. If CZ can made a rifle below standards why can’t one come out exceptional?

Why can a rifle shoot three rounds perfect and then start to wander then next time out produce another perfect first three rounds? I have done this maybe a dozen times.

[Sir Henry]

It was hot yesterday with a 10 mph wind at times. The relative humidity was around 80%. In Seattle the humidity is seldom high when it is hot.