Recently received a new Alpha 6 scope. Not sure if they've changed something but after zeroing I removed turrets to reset and could only get within 2 clicks on the windage adjustment. Never noticed such on the others I've had. Maybe a bur or something I didn't see but irritating.
Alpha 6 oddity
- Thread starter bandg
- Start date
No. Turrets function normally. But when RESETTING THE TURRET TO "0" after sighting in, the turret will not go down on the shaft aligned with the "0" at that position on the windage turret. The elevation turret fits back on at "0" normally. But I have to rotate the windage turret clockwise or counterclockwise what amounts to 2 clicks indicated to get the turret to seat back onto the shaft. Thus it doesn't align the "0" with the mark on the scope body. It isn't a major problem at air gun ranges and I haven't noticed it with other Alpha 6 scopes I have but at long ranges it could make a difference.
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Now I understand. Mine is similar, although it doesn’t take two clicks to reseat it. It’s more like a half turn on the elevation turret and it was that way before setting them to my zero. I wonder how many other people have funky turrets on theirs.
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This is a 1 of the only 'minor? issues known with this scope. Sometimes its both turrets or just 1 or the other. Its the turret gearing that doesn't zero up perfectly with the markings.. This is probably the reason for a 400$ scope being sold at half price.
So, if its unacceptable for you, I'll take it off your hands for a reasonable cost, ?
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I have several others and they haven't been this way to my recollection. It may be a bur or other localized defect on the shaft or turret body as the splines seem fine enough to get it to align but it sure wouldn't seat at the "0" position or even 1 "click mark" away. It had to be rotated to 2 marks off to seat. I'll certainly look closer later.
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I'd be interested what you find, both my A6 have this issue. But I'm not a clicker unless Elk hunting long range....
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Sorry that both yours have it. Seems it may be luck of the draw on this. I don't click much either but I've noticed that during zeroing these scopes seem to track pretty accurately. Certainly odd about the turret. My others are all aligned to the "0" mark pretty closely after resetting but this one wouldn't get very close on the windage. I bet I'll find a small defect of some type on the shaft or the turret body that can be removed.
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More wierdness. I changed pellets on a Diana with this scope late this afternoon and now even the elevation turret is refusing to go down except in certain areas. There is about half the range of the turret that will go down at any position but the other half will only go down every second or third mark. And when I say go down, I don't mean the internal gearing/locking mechanism. That seems to be fine. It is the physical fit of the removeable turret onto the splined shaft. The visibility into the turret body is poor but it looks like a large section of the splines are just indistinct. The turret shaft itself seems more regular. Must be something with the spline machining on the turret body or the shaft or maybe both. Strange and irritating. Maybe I'll be sticking with the Hawkes from now on.
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I don't have that problem with any of my scopes (UTG/Monstrum/Athlon), but I remember reading of a similar problem with Aztec Emerald?:
https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/aztec-fundamental-turret-flaw-and-quality-issues/
https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/aztec-fundamental-turret-flaw-and-quality-issues/
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The other Alpha 6 scopes I have did not do it either but I've only set them up once and left them alone. Now I'm wondering if it is luck of the draw as to where the turret ends up on some scopes if the problem is a certain poorly machined area of the turret. What I observed was this-trying to reset turret to "0" after sighting in and letting turret slide down the shaft with "0" aligned. Turret would not seat fully. Slowly rotated left. 1 mark and no seat. Rotated to 2nd mark-seated easily. Raised turret again and moved to back to "0"-would not seat. Slowly rotated right 1 mark-no seat. Rotated right to 2nd mark-seated easily. Later after changing pellets (turret shaft in a different position) I encountered a wider span where the turret would not seat at "0". Disappointing because the scopes to seem to track pretty well and I think the glass quality is really good. Certainly not the most important factor to consider but if you like to reset the turrets and have them show "0" when actually zeroed for easy return to base setting then some may encounter issues with this.
Hopefully most will not have this issue or it won't be an insurmountable issue for them. I took a heavy scribe and tried to clean up the splines inside the turret body and it did improve the situation a lot but there are still spans where it doesn't want to seat easily.
Hopefully most will not have this issue or it won't be an insurmountable issue for them. I took a heavy scribe and tried to clean up the splines inside the turret body and it did improve the situation a lot but there are still spans where it doesn't want to seat easily.
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it seems to me that there is a different set of splines internally that adjust the movement and for the pulling the cap out for adjusting and the splines we see when we remove the cap are just for securing the cap to the shaft
lift the cap then remove the screw cover and you will see a ring that moves in and out for locking, you can screw the lid on without the cap and move it in and out to see the piece that actually moves. I ASSUME that there is a second set of splines, we do not see, and the 2 sets of splines do not match. It is what it is! Great glass, but for those who have OCD about lines lining up for dialers, this could drive you to drink
lift the cap then remove the screw cover and you will see a ring that moves in and out for locking, you can screw the lid on without the cap and move it in and out to see the piece that actually moves. I ASSUME that there is a second set of splines, we do not see, and the 2 sets of splines do not match. It is what it is! Great glass, but for those who have OCD about lines lining up for dialers, this could drive you to drink
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it seems to me that there is a different set of splines internally that adjust the movement and for the pulling the cap out for adjusting and the splines we see when we remove the cap are just for securing the cap to the shaft
lift the cap then remove the screw cover and you will see a ring that moves in and out for locking, you can screw the lid on without the cap and move it in and out to see the piece that actually moves. I ASSUME that there is a second set of splines, we do not see, and the 2 sets of splines do not match. It is what it is! Great glass, but for those who have OCD about lines lining up for dialers, this could drive you to drink
I don't know about "splines internally" but certainly there is some internal "click" mechanism below the spot you note. Every scope has that but it isn't a matching set of splines. Maybe a splined shaft or collar and spring loaded ball or point for clicks. That is not what I'm talking about. The "splines that we see" are involved here. It isn't related to any internal splines or mechanism. The black turret cap has internal splines that match up with external splines on the brass colored shaft that is visible when the black cap is removed. What I'm saying is that the black turret cap is not seating on the brass appearing splined shaft at every spline as it should. In my case, the cap would not seat at "0" mark or even 1 mark off to either side. A movement of 2 marks either way was required to get the cap to seat. That is a range of 4 marks one way from seating point to seating point. That seems to be clearly more that 1 single spline change could produce and isn't even close to something one could call precise or well machined. Simple conclusion-the cap isn't seating on the shaft at every spline as it should. I agree that it isn't a major issue for everyone, possibly not even for most. And I hope few experience it and maybe most will not. But it could be an issue for some, whether "OCD" or not. My Hawke, Primary Arms, and other scopes do not do this. They may be half a mark off and that's OK. But absolutely none of them require 4 marks between spots that the cap will seat. This is something different. Probably not unexpected considering the cost point. Overall, the Alpha 6 seems to be a pretty good scope and a really good bargain, if this sort of imprecision doesn't bother you.
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it seems to me that there is a different set of splines internally that adjust the movement and for the pulling the cap out for adjusting and the splines we see when we remove the cap are just for securing the cap to the shaft
lift the cap then remove the screw cover and you will see a ring that moves in and out for locking, you can screw the lid on without the cap and move it in and out to see the piece that actually moves. I ASSUME that there is a second set of splines, we do not see, and the 2 sets of splines do not match. It is what it is! Great glass, but for those who have OCD about lines lining up for dialers, this could drive you to drink
I don't know about "splines internally" but certainly there is some internal "click" mechanism below the spot you note. Every scope has that but it isn't a matching set of splines. Maybe a splined shaft or collar and spring loaded ball or point for clicks. That is not what I'm talking about. The "splines that we see" are involved here. It isn't related to any internal splines or mechanism. The black turret cap has internal splines that match up with external splines on the brass colored shaft that is visible when the black cap is removed. What I'm saying is that the black turret cap is not seating on the brass appearing splined shaft at every spline as it should. In my case, the cap would not seat at "0" mark or even 1 mark off to either side. A movement of 2 marks either way was required to get the cap to seat. That is a range of 4 marks one way from seating point to seating point. That seems to be clearly more that 1 single spline change could produce and isn't even close to something one could call precise or well machined. Simple conclusion-the cap isn't seating on the shaft at every spline as it should. I agree that it isn't a major issue for everyone, possibly not even for most. And I hope few experience it and maybe most will not. But it could be an issue for some, whether "OCD" or not. My Hawke, Primary Arms, and other scopes do not do this. They may be half a mark off and that's OK. But absolutely none of them require 4 marks between spots that the cap will seat. This is something different. Probably not unexpected considering the cost point. Overall, the Alpha 6 seems to be a pretty good scope and a really good bargain, if this sort of imprecision doesn't bother you.
there is the 15mm ring that goes in and out, under the cap. This ring and the cap splines are basically one piece and move together. The clicking is done buy that ring and NOT the cap spline. you have 80 clicks per revolution on the cap markings, but only 20 spline grooves for the cap. You move the zero 4 click marks for each cap spline. Hope this helps
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it seems to me that there is a different set of splines internally that adjust the movement and for the pulling the cap out for adjusting and the splines we see when we remove the cap are just for securing the cap to the shaft
lift the cap then remove the screw cover and you will see a ring that moves in and out for locking, you can screw the lid on without the cap and move it in and out to see the piece that actually moves. I ASSUME that there is a second set of splines, we do not see, and the 2 sets of splines do not match. It is what it is! Great glass, but for those who have OCD about lines lining up for dialers, this could drive you to drink
I don't know about "splines internally" but certainly there is some internal "click" mechanism below the spot you note. Every scope has that but it isn't a matching set of splines. Maybe a splined shaft or collar and spring loaded ball or point for clicks. That is not what I'm talking about. The "splines that we see" are involved here. It isn't related to any internal splines or mechanism. The black turret cap has internal splines that match up with external splines on the brass colored shaft that is visible when the black cap is removed. What I'm saying is that the black turret cap is not seating on the brass appearing splined shaft at every spline as it should. In my case, the cap would not seat at "0" mark or even 1 mark off to either side. A movement of 2 marks either way was required to get the cap to seat. That is a range of 4 marks one way from seating point to seating point. That seems to be clearly more that 1 single spline change could produce and isn't even close to something one could call precise or well machined. Simple conclusion-the cap isn't seating on the shaft at every spline as it should. I agree that it isn't a major issue for everyone, possibly not even for most. And I hope few experience it and maybe most will not. But it could be an issue for some, whether "OCD" or not. My Hawke, Primary Arms, and other scopes do not do this. They may be half a mark off and that's OK. But absolutely none of them require 4 marks between spots that the cap will seat. This is something different. Probably not unexpected considering the cost point. Overall, the Alpha 6 seems to be a pretty good scope and a really good bargain, if this sort of imprecision doesn't bother you.
there is the 15mm ring that goes in and out, under the cap. This ring and the cap splines are basically one piece and move together. The clicking is done buy that ring and NOT the cap spline. you have 80 clicks per revolution on the cap markings, but only 20 spline grooves for the cap. You move the zero 4 click marks for each cap spline. Hope this helps
Nope.
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80/20=4
80 hash marks or clicks
20 splines hold the cap on
do the math
it is just how this inexpensive china scope was designed and built
as you have discovered, moving the cap by 1 spline , moves the hash mark 4 lines. The splines in the cap are NOT the clicks
enjoy the glass, enjoy the reticle, and don't let this low budget design irritate you so much. If it bugs you so much, sell it to ACS, or use the classifieds
80 hash marks or clicks
20 splines hold the cap on
do the math
it is just how this inexpensive china scope was designed and builtas you have discovered, moving the cap by 1 spline , moves the hash mark 4 lines. The splines in the cap are NOT the clicks
enjoy the glass, enjoy the reticle, and don't let this low budget design irritate you so much. If it bugs you so much, sell it to ACS, or use the classifieds
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80/20=4
80 hash marks or clicks
20 splines hold the cap on
do the math
as you have discovered, moving the cap by 1 spline , moves the hash mark 4 lines. The splines in the cap are NOT the clicks
enjoy the glass, enjoy the reticle, and don't let this low budget design irritate you so much. If it bugs you so much, sell it to ACS, or use the classifieds
I did check on my other Alpha 6. That turret moves THREE marks from seating positions so your math don't work out precisely. Thanks for the valuable advice on what I should do but you are correct in that it is a consequence of the low budget design. I won't be buying any more of these scopes but many will be well served by them. Many may not be. Feel free to purchase those I might have otherwise ordered.
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If the turret dials ok but just won't let you zero the cap, put a piece of tape around its base and mark your own zero hash mark on the tape. You can do the same for your distance stickers. Problem solved. For those who are not aware Discovery brand scopes share this same issue.
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Absolutely a good solution. And the scopes do have good glass (to my eyes at least). As to tracking, during basic zeroing they seem to track as clicked but how well they would do for repeated adjustments seems to be questioned by many. As previously stated, this is not a deal breaker for the scope but is something that is notable. Will bother some, won't bother others. My Hawke scopes do not do this, nor do my Primary Arms scopes. I don't have any Discovery scopes.
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