You have a lot of airguns Bill! I guess you like collecting them. That's good because it means you have a lot of experience with scopes
I have a dozen firearms, several of them scoped, but I have never had so much trouble as I 'm having with the scope that came with my RWS 350 .22 springer.
Yesterday I realized I don't have an RWS450 scope because it does not have the zoom dial (duh!). It's actually a 300 with A/O. I found it on a couple of web sites and they wanted over $100 for this scope! Most vendors I noticed don't carry the 300 though. RWS probably must have made too many of them and had a surplus? or is it the vendors that package the scope with the gun, and not RWS?
The problem I am having is mainly with the front adjustable ring. I followed the instructions to the letter when I installed the C-mount and rings and it's not the first scope I 've installed. My 30-06 and 7mm Mag. scopes and mounting hardware were much simpler to install and the rings didn't come with windage adjustments nor do they have free-floating action by the use of gimbals as described in the RWS manual.. but they 've held up well for the last 20yrs I 've been using them as has the Bushnell 4X on my .22 rimfire Marlin.
I only got the 350 springer (combo) this past Wednesday. I started sighting the scope in the same day. It was shooting 2-3" off to the left so I adjusted the windage on the Rings (not the scope) by adjusting (and loosening) the windage screws first, then tightening the windage screws per the instructions, and then tightening the JAM screws at the end. I got lucky and after the first ring windage adjustment the pellets were landing within 1/2" to the left. I then made a couple of scope adjustments on the scope dials and were shooting bullseyes after that at 15yds. After 35-40 pellets I noticed the crosshairs were crooked! The scope screws had come loose - all of them! I straightened out the scope and tightened the rings down again. Shot another 10 pellets or so and they were all still on target. The next day (2nd day) I decide to take a few more shots at 20 & 25yds where I really wanted to sight the scope in. After a dozen shots the scope started rattling. This time of the Jam screws in the front ring was loose. I tightened it and after another 15 pellets or so the scope had some lateral movement again! This time a windage screw was loose in the same front ring. I tightened it and everything seemed to be solid again, but then I thought why is the windage screw loose when the jam screws are supposed to hold the windage screws in place? Checked the jam screws again and was able to tighten of them slightly more. I took a few more shots and it was right on target, scope seemed solid, so I called it for the day and went back inside. Total pellets fired up to that point was only about 70-80. 20min. later I see from one of the windows upstairs the large groundhog come out (that I 've wanting to see) from under my shed to eat my wife's flowers. 5min. later after I spooked him he stuck his head out of the hole and was gone with a ~21yd headshot (CP 14.3gr) taken from my bedroom window. Right after the groundhog pellet was fired I feel the scope rattling again! It's the groundhog's spirit getting back at me I thought! I check all the screws for tightness again. In the process I stripped 1 of the front ring jam screws and 1 windage screw in each ring. So now the scope is still loose and I have stripped screws. Very frustrating. I feel those screws are cheap because I wasn't even trying hard to tighten them. I also went to check the scope screws for tightness and stripped one of those. I was just checking for tightness when the hex tool just starting turning. I forgot to mention that the smaller windage/jam hex key was stripped on the first day. I had been using my own hex key but this time it was the screws themselves. I haven't fired the gun since the groundhog fell to that last pellet. I may have to bring it in to a local gunsmith to get those dang rings off the gun and shop for some rings with decent hardware.
What kind of mounts and rings do you use for your 450 scopes Bill or on your springer guns? When you said one 450 broke, what actually happened? I really want to get a 3x9 scope so I can zoom in more. I feel the 4X magnification is not enough for small animals or 3-4" paper targets more than 30yds out.
I may even call Umarex to see what they say about the scope movement and ring screws coming loose but any help would be greatly appreciated.
Harry
