Centerpoint 3-9x40 AO scope

[happymecanic]

Hi everybody!

I have some questions about the 3-9x40 Centerpoint scope that came with my Benjamin Classic .22 cal. (495 fps) springer air rifle. When I bought it, the scope was perfect, no troubles zeroing it and keeping it zeroed for about 50 shots. Then i saw that the reticle has canted about 12 to 15 degrees to the right. The rifle has not endured any hard shock or brutal manipulations, I just shot it. I noticed that the reticle has turned relative to the turrets of the scope, the scope has not moved in the rings. My questions are:
1- Is that a common problem with springer airgun?
2- Is that scope reliable?
3- Has anyone ever attempted to repair a scope that had this problem, instead of shipping it back to the manufacturer?
 I took a chance and was able to fix it ; the scope is now within 1 degree of ''cant''. I shot about 12 pellets and everything seemed to hold fine. I have yet to shoot some hundreds more to be sure it keeps its alignement but so far, it's easy as before to zero it, the turrets are within reasonnable limits, and there are no signs that it's not working the way it should.
I'd truly love it stayed that way, I love that rifle. It's relatively light, it's well balanced, has a nice wooden stock and with its 18 inches barrel, it's got good precision(1 inch groups @ 25 yards is not bad for a brand new gun!)
Thanks for the reply anyone, and thanks HatsanPhantom for the welcome!

Greetings everyone!

happymecanic

[condor22]

1-Is that a common problem with springer airguns? Not really, mostly a common problem with low cost optics, less than 100 $.

2-Is that scope reliable? Depends on your definition of reliable, zero and don't touch the turrets, should yield best results, constant turret use will get inconstant results, This is a bundle scope which always get bad reviews from all the internet blogs I read. The one on the rifle I bought and returned to WalMart wouldn't sharp focus, I have yet to buy a good centerpoint, 3 in all! Play the scope lottery, you can't loose everytime, hopefully! you should always turn the turret in the same direction to make adjustments to eliminate slack induced error, if you go past your mark, turn the turret back past the mark and turn same direction to get results intended.

3-Has anyone ever attempted to repair a scope that had this problem? Many have attempted with a few positive results. Breaking the scope's seal lets air and moisture in, making internal condensate fog when exposed to extreme temperature and humidity changes are subject, as in moving from inside air conditioning to extreme 100° with high humidity.

 Did you glue the reticle in place?   

[happymecanic]

 Hello condor22,

Thanks for your reply, your intervention is really welcomed. I started looking at other brands of scopes, in cases my CP 3-9x40 let me down, but so far after about a hundred more shots, it still holds well, and no fog yet.

 To answer your question, I drilled some new holes for the srews in the ring that hold the reticle on an inside tube, 120 degrees apart from each other. I remember I had to use a 1/32 '' drill bit for those holes, I never saw smaller screws, wasn't easy. The ring is now about 12 degrees turned to the right compared to its original location. I believe that was the inner tube that turned, causing the reticle cant, but I had no way of taking the scope apart without damages. As I said,the scope gives a good ''performance'': easy to zero, good clear image , the focus and zoom dials functions well, and no visible inside movements yet. This Benjamin is one good air rifle, and as soon as I have time, I'll continue ''test'' it, you can be sure!