Having Mueller Riflescope Problems

CA Desert Dog

New member
In the past several months I have purchased two Mueller illuminated riflescopes via mail order. Upon arrival, they looked like very nice scopes for the money and the optics were bright and clear. I was very pleased and mounted them (replacing older scopes) on two rifles. One is a .243 using Zeiss rings and the other is a .223 using a set of Leupold rings.

The following day, after I mounted the scope on the .243, I noticed that the rings had compressed the scope tube. I immediately checked the old Weaver scope that I had removed from that rifle and its tube was not compressed in the least. Then I checked the .223 with the Leupold rings. The tube was only slightly compressed on that Mueller scope. I then checked the old Simmons that I had replaced on the .223 with the new Mueller and the old Simmons showed no signs of tube compression.

This perplexed me because in over thirty years of messing around with rifles, this is the first time anything like this has ever happened to a scope. I did what anybody would do and contacted Mueller. After a flurry of back-and-forth e-mails with the company President, I was told that this has never happened to any other customer. It was obviously my fault. They offered to replace both of the scopes for $40 each plus $9.95 S/H.... (Total $89.95). I opted not to do that since I already have about $400.00 bucks into the deal.

If any of you out there have Mueller scopes, have you experienced the same “tube compression” that I have? Please take a close look at your mounting and I’d appreciate it if you would let me know what you found.

I presently have rifles with scopes made by Burris, Leupold, Sightron, Tasco, Simmons and Mueller. All of the other scopes I own are fine and two of them came out of the same rings that compressed the Mueller.

In my humble opinion, customer service at Mueller could be more "customer oriented". Speaking only for myself and the way my particular case was handled, I won’t be a repeat customer. If I were the President of that company, I’d want to examine the compressed tube(s) and see what the heck was going on. Instead, he opted to defend his product to the end, sight unseen. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
Just out of curiosity, get a micrometer and measure the diameters of all the scopes involved. Maybe there is a difference? A few thousands of an inch could make a big difference. Just a thought.
 
Are the rings on all these mounts lapped ? Do you attribute the compression to "soft material" or incorrect size of material ?
I have a Mueller scope as so far it is the best 'cheap' scope I have ever owned....but I will check the tube tonite.
 
The rings on both rifles are aligned and were lapped. The scopes that came off were in great shape. I've got no beef with any other aspect of the Mueller scope but this tube compression issue is a new one for me.
 
OK Greg, I used a dial caliper on my Leupold, my Sightron and the Mueller. If anything, the Mueller was a thousanth smaller. It was worth a try though.
 
I have 4 Muellers, an Eraticator, 4-16x and 3-10x Sport Dot and a 2-7x Multi-shot, all are mounted in Burris Signture rings so I've never had an issue with them and all but the 3-10x have been moved from their original mountings a couple times.

Tim
 
CA - you got email.............


actually the tube being on the small side may be the problem...this would allow the rings to compress primarily directly in the top center and bottom center of the tube. This is opposed to a more even clamping around the circumference. Post of pic if you can.....
 
Quote:
CA - you got email.............


actually the tube being on the small side may be the problem...this would allow the rings to compress primarily directly in the top center and bottom center of the tube. This is opposed to a more even clamping around the circumference. Post of pic if you can.....



I would have to disagree with that comment.

.001 isnt that much of a difference and I'm sure lapping takes that much or more off the rings.
I have the 8.5-25x50 and just swapped it to my newest rifle, a Savage .243 and there were no impressions in the tube.

Maybe you've been doing to many 12oz curls latley and didnt realize how strong you've gotten /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

RM
 
It is hard to figure because almost always this is caused by unlapped rings. I have never seen this with properly lapped rings.

I have no clue?????

Jack
 
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