10 Nov 03

From a Friend and Seasoned Rifleman:

"I shot my Springfield M1A last week. To my unhappiness, I discovered that my scout scope had lost its zero since the two of us were last together in Buena Vista, CO in July. Suddenly, it was shooting low and right. All the scope mountings were tight, but there was a crack in the composition stock, below the right side of the receiver. This doubtless reduced upward tension on the barrel and lowered the point of impact. I put the original walnut stock back on for now.

However, I decided to take the scope off. As low as it was mounted, it was still too high to get a satisfactory cheek weld. Few rifles (military or sporting) are set up for a good cheek weld with a scope. Even fewer have a secure way of mounting the scope on a rifle subject to rugged and heavy (military) use. Back to the old faithful iron sights!"

Lesson: Scopes, even scout scopes, will never be a rugged as iron sights. Every serious rifleman should be familiar with, and comfortable with, iron sights, and every serious rifle should be equipped with them.

/John