Element Helix SFP issue.

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Florida_Man

Florida_Man

Member
Jun 7, 2021
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Fort Pierce, fl
I received my Helix 6-24 SFP to use on my brand new Cricket Tac. I get it all mounted up to find out the parallax isn't working properly. The dial moves (not the easiest), but nothing changes. It is stuck at approximately 20y. The parallax dial was not even zeroed close, the travel was basically over the blacked out space on the dial.

I have never had a scope with a zero stop. Is it common for the scope to arrive with the zero stop set? It seemed unusual to me.

I emailed the business I purchased it from to find out where we go from here. I know this is their affordable scope, and there are a lot of good reviews, but I am apprehensive about buying another Element. I'd expect QC to catch this.


 
No experience with the brand but in general and IMO people are too quick to expect every single thing to be perfect. It seems all anyone has to go on are the "reviews". Certainly inconvenient but if it is corrected....
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I disagree with your statement. To me, adjustable parallax is a major component that should be checked in QC.

I'm sure this scope would be an unacceptable piece to Matt or Ted.

If there was a small scratch or flaw that didn't have performance influence, that would be understandable.

I also believe the community needs to know that everything isn't all rainbows and unicorns. I am sure the seller and/or Element will make it right, but it takes a community to help them keep the focus, and to make sure everyone in the process is doing their job. An incident that is undocumented in one on one communication will never gain the same traction. It can be forgotten or undocumented.

I chose Element because of their development team, ideology, and support of the forum. I also say i would be apprehensive, not that I would have nothing to do with them.

I had a brand new Arken that was initially intended for this rifle. Before the rifle arrived I felt I wanted to support Element, so I ordered the scope and sold the Arken to a friend for his PRS rifle. I really like why/how Element was created. As someone who bought in, I feel my experience is important.
 
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"As someone who bought in, I feel my experience is important."

I agree, it certainly is. Just as your view of what to expect is important and just as all the other reviews are important. Seems you have two choices-don't trust the company again or do trust the company again (directly related to "I am apprehensive about buying another Element"). Hope it works out to your satisfaction.
 
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Problems in scopes can also occur with brands in the higher tier lines but it usually occurs later after use and not out of the box. It happened to me. What I'm wondering is if you received a returned item from the dealer you bought it from and they sold it to you as "new". I have several scopes with zero stops and they have never been set out of the box. Why would the zero stop be set if they don't know your zero? 

That kind of leads me to believe it's been used or is a demo/open box item. You might want to confirm this with Element themselves if they set the zero stop from the factory before sending it to dealers. I do agree that every scope should be tested for basic function before leaving the factory as part of their QC and yes, the parallax/focus knob is a basic function. In some of the lower lines or budget offerings, it might not be the case and they might only do batch testing. Maybe Element can answer this as well. Hope you get it sorted out.
 
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Problems in scopes can also occur with brands in the higher tier lines but it usually occurs later after use and not out of the box. It happened to me. What I'm wondering is if you received a returned item from the dealer you bought it from and they sold it to you as "new". I have several scopes with zero stops and they have never been set out of the box. Why would the zero stop be set if they don't know your zero? 

That kind of leads me to believe it's been used or is a demo/open box item. You might want to confirm this with Element themselves if they set the zero stop from the factory before sending it to dealers. I do agree that every scope should be tested for basic function before leaving the factory as part of their QC and yes, the parallax/focus knob is a basic function. In some of the lower lines or budget offerings, it might not be the case and they might only do batch testing. Maybe Element can answer this as well. Hope you get it sorted out.
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I had the same feeling as you once I saw the zero stop was set.
 
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You got a new scope and something isn't working, I would just put in a box and send it back for a new one or refund. Things slips through QC once a while or damaged during shipping, nothing to sweat about. Clearly complaining about it on the internet will help you getting it fix, only contacting reseller/manufacture will. If they won't help you then that's a different story. 
 
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So I looked at the scope off the rifle and base. The parallax works fine. So it was an issue with the mounts.

I did not cheap on the mounts, I was using 214M Warne 30mm Medium Matte Rings

This is from page 3 of the Helix instructions

Tip: Use a small amount of loc-tite on the threads of your ring screws to keep them from coming loose,
and adhere to the suggested torque specs of your rings.
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So I refer to the Warne manual

    • Once both are correct, tighten the top screws on both rings to scope manufacturers’ recommended torque rating**, maximum of 25 in/lb.

*Torque Spec are for dry threads, DO NOT USE THREAD-LOCKER COMPOUND
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I decided to go down from the max and set them at 20 in/lb and encountered this issue. As you can see, both point at the other for torque specs.

The medium height were not ideal for head position, so I have some high mounts arriving today. I will try 15 in/lb and see if that works.

I'm a little worried about the scope now. I was turning the parallax and it was stuck in position, so what kind of damage could have been done?






 
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For PCP all I use is 10 in/lb, we aren't dealing with 50 bmg recoil here. If you worry about strength then get the mounts with 6 bolts instead of 4 or 2. 



Also agree that warn mounts are the same exact thing as many amazon mounts at half the price, they aren't that bad but I wouldn't put full torque on any of them.....even on nightforce mounts. 
 
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I recently ran into some issues with my element optics helix ffp, i wasnt able to zero it for windage. 
When im trying to adjust windage i can clearly see that its not moving anymore, even though the wheel isnt maxed out and still clicking for adjustments but the cross hair isnt moving at all.

How can i confirm that i have a defective scope?



i emailed element but no response 
 
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For PCP all I use is 10 in/lb, we aren't dealing with 50 bmg recoil here. If you worry about strength then get the mounts with 6 bolts instead of 4 or 2. 



Also agree that warn mounts are the same exact thing as many amazon mounts at half the price, they aren't that bad but I wouldn't put full torque on any of them.....even on nightforce mounts. 
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This is true. I ended stripping the main bolt on my Nightforce rings because of overtorque. If I could give advice to anyone here is to learn how your torque wrench works. I had a new Tekton torque wrench which I used for the first time. I was expecting a "click" when it reached the torque limit but that's not how it worked. It was more of a slight jolt in the handle to indicate torque limit. No fault of Nightforce but I need to see if I could get some replacement bolts. Even if I have to pay for them.

20210411_172906.1634794997.jpg


20210411_173232.1634795143.jpg

 
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Well the nightforce rings that arrived were actually cheap rings some criminal swapped out. They looked just like the “godturtle “ brand you can find on Amazon. I put some warne high on, torque them to 15 in/lb. No problems now. The windage at my zero distance of 30y was only a few clicks off. I just hope the stuff I already did hasn’t damaged the scope. 


I hope people can find this in a search if they are having Issues. 


Element documentation does not suggest a torque setting. 


Per Element directly, they suggest 18 in/lb



15 in/lb works perfectly fine


 
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