Sunday when it was time to exit the old stand I was hunting in, I cleared the chamber of my Winchester Model 70 Classic Featherweight Boss and clipped the old string tied to the stand to the front sling swivel. When I started lowering it, the swivel pulled out of the stud and down she went. 15 to 20 feet. The gun landed flat, the bolt side down, in the leaves. I was on an Ozark hill, but fortunately, the gun didn't find any rocks. Aside from a few scratches in the stock, the old -06 appeared no worse for wear.

I fired two shots to see how far off zero it would be and they were both nearly right on. The first was an inch high and the second was in the bull. It was definitely huntable. This was only at 40yds though and I'll have to test more this weekend. It was a sub MOA shooter before. I have heard that after a fall, you sometimes have to have your barrel kryo'd due to warp damage. Is this true? Anyone have problems after a drop like this?

P.S. I am pretty impressed with the Simmons ATECH 2.8x10 for staying dead on. It is not the highest dollar scope I have by far, but is clear and seems to take abuse well.

If the rifle didn't receive any visible damage, I wouldn't worry about the barrel being warped or bent. Check your scope, rings, and bases though, as well as stock and action screws. The fall does not sound very bad, I've had some major tumbles with mine and they survived in good shape. I would check all this and make a trip to the range to confirm zero before hunting with it.

Sounds like a reasonably minor one but I know just how you felt. Like Alyeska said, check stuff that could rattle loose first.

I bounced down a slimy hillside once. First bounce was on top of my .06 and scope. It gives you the willies not knowing where it might shoot then.

i dropped my s&w model 27 on the concrete floor at the indoor range once..... man i was pi$$ed...... i got gggrrrrs on the barrel and the cylinder....

Bird Dog

I've had my Simmons ATEC 2.8-10 on a Remington 8 mag now for three years. I really like it. I had the good fortune to be able to stop a Cabala's often when I was driving truck. I got to compare a lot of scopes and found the ATEC bright, clear and the optics as good as several scopes costing three times as much.

I'm sure happy with mine. After close to 250 or so rounds thru the big 8 mag it's still going strong.

Sorry to hear about dropping your Winchester, I know how sick a guy feels watching something like that.

Managed to drop a rifle out of a Pirogue (kind of a pointed ended flat bottom boat) into 4 1/2" feet of water with a 1/2 foot soft mud bottom. Black water, but cold enought that the snakes and such were at least sluggish.

Step 1: Curse yourself for a fool for not tieing the gun to something that would float.

Step 2: Best to get buck-naked and save the dry clothes for after. Too dark to see through the water, so are going to walk around the bayou feeling for the rifle with your feet and only dive down when you've found somthing that kind-of feels like a rifle.

Step 3: Once your toes get too cold to feel anymore, poke a cane in your search pattern, get out the water, warm up (getting dressed isn't the best option as you are going back in and eventully will want this to all end with dry pants).

Step 4: repeat step #1 through 3 as needed... and add in some bad thoughts about why you don't have a blanket in the boat.

Eventaully you'll find the rifle (and a bunch of branches that feel like a rifle to your feet as well as something real big that "slithers"). Rifle will be mud clogged beyond belief...will KNOW if your scope leaks or not...dump the ammo the rifle contained, can't trust it after that kind of soaking.

Won't mention scope brands....but if you think a good test is to stick in in a water filled sink as see if it bubbles, you are in for a surprise when it falls into 4 or 5 feet of water, sits there for an hour, and then gets tromped on by your numb-toed feet.

pull through cleaners are better than nothing...but you may have to poke a hole thrugh the mud to see daylight. So will wander around (adding some bad thoughts about why youy left home without a real cleaning rod) looking for a reed or twig straight enough and long enough to do you some good working the mud out of the barrel. The rest of it can be washed off with the top (cleanest) layer of bayou water to functioning.

See...another reson to like big-bores..cattail reeds fit the bore.

About now you realize you don't have any oil with you either.

Managed to drop a rifle out of a Pirogue (kind of a pointed ended flat bottom boat) into 4 1/2" feet of water with a 1/2 foot soft mud bottom. Black water, but cold enought that the sakes and suck were at least sluggish.

Step 1: Curse yourself for a fool for not tieing the gun to soemthing that would float.
Step 2: Best to get buck-naked and save the dry clothes for after. Too dark to see theough the water, too muccy to dive for it, so are going to walk around the bayou feeling for the rifle with your feet.

Step 3: Once your toes get too cold to feel anymore, poke a cane in your search pattern, get out the water, warm up (getting dressed isn't the best option as you are going back in and eventully will want this to all end with dry pants).

Step 4: repeat step #1 through 3 as needed... and add in some bad thoughts about why you don't have a blanket in the boat.

Eventaully you'll find the rifle (and a bunch of branches that feel like a rifle to your feet as well as something real big that "slithers" across your feet). Rifle will be mud clogged beyond belief...will KNOW if your scope leaks or not...dump the ammo the rifle contained, can't trust it after that kind of soaking.

Won't mention scope brands....but if you think a good test is to stick in in a water filled sink as see if it bubbles, you are in for a surprise when it falls into 4 or 5 feet of water, sits there for an hour, and then gets tromped on by your numb-toed feet.


Darn I'm still laughing about that one. I was hunting elk up near the Montana border and had packed in about 25 miles on horses when one rolled on my partners 300 magnum. Made a nice pistol. We wound some wire around the wrist of the stock and he hunted with the open sights on it. He did get his elk, but shot it at about 25 yards. He was afraid to shoot to far.

Really helps to have another group in anothere boat pass by to see what the naked guy taking a swim in the middle of December is doing.

As i've gotten older, have to REALLY like that rifle to go in after it like that. Would show more restraint...mark the spot...back to the Jeep for the back up rifle...promise to come back the next day with a real big magnet.

Darn I'm still laughing about that one. I was hunting elk up near the Montana border and had packed in about 25 miles on horses when one rolled on my partners 300 magnum. Made a nice pistol. We wound some wire around the wrist of the stock and he hunted with the open sights on it. He did get his elk, but shot it at about 25 yards. He was afraid to shoot to far.

Wow, I'm glad mine wasn't severe like that! I was real pleased to see the group was still completely huntable. I am just concerned if it will still be a tack driver. I tightened the action screws up. The mounts and rings are pretty much lock-tited and can't relly be tightened anymore. We'll see this weekend.

The ATECH is a clear, bright, and evidentally durable scope forthe money. I am going to try to keep it out of the swamp ribbonstone!

I know what you mean about those Aetech Simmons scopes. The one I fell on was a Simmons White Tail Classic I got from Cabelas. Made in Taiwan, not China and that was a good scope. A great scope for the money. In sliding down that hill after falling on top of my rifle, I stayed on top of it for quite a ways. I managed to pack the eye piece full of mud. It worked just fine until I knocked it off the hood of the truck in it's Gunboot. It landed top edge down on the handle of the case and smacked the snot out of the ocular bell of that scope, bent the tube...
I didn't make a sound. Too shocked, peeved with myself to say a word.

I'll sheepishly admit I've dropped 2 rifles out of trees. I wouldn't fret too much over a bearrel getting bent -- possible, sure, but not too likely. Far more likely would be damage (obvious or hidden) to the scope or mount. In my two cases, this first time theere wasn't even a scratch on the rifle and the zero remained perfect. The second time, I heard internal scope parts rattling around when I picked the rifle up -- NOT a good sign! :)

Years ago I feel on my Remington 660 bolt. Scope and everything was fine according to the Smith "but" had I needed to shoot the trigger was done in.
My Marlin 336/35 was not put in it's case properly this year . The zipper was not closed . At the end of the days hunt I took the case out of the truck and the rifle bounced on the pavement. I mean bounced. I felt sick. :o :mad:
Two big scares on the stock but the william peep took the blow with no effect . The sites were fine.

Well best send it in for a check over .Some damage you do not see first hand.

Years ago, I accidently kicked my Ruger #1 out of a tripod stand. Hit on a deadfall and the soft ground. Couldn't find any visible damage to rifle or scope (Leupold VXII). Decided to check it's zero after the hunt and found POI to be about a foot high and right. Good thing no game was seen during the hunt after dropping. Re-zero'd the scope and continued using the combination for several years until selling the rifle.

Yeah, I did drop my rifle out of a tree stand, sorta.... the rifle happened to be slung over my shoulder, bolt open and empty, when the top rung of a hand made stand pulled out of the tree....
When I woke up, I was holding the 2x4 rung....
Actually, I was very lucky, and neither me or the rifle were injured- other than getting the wind knocked outta me, and a whack on the head.
The rifle, a Ruger 77 in 280, was fine, as was the scope, a Leupold 2-7.
This happened years ago, but, as I recall, the rifle wasn't even knocked off zero.
I rarely use tree stands any more :)

Yeah, i dropped one of my Rem 700's out of a tripod. Leupold vxII 3x9, still zero'd just fine. Didn't hafta touch it to finish the season.

UPON FURTHER REVIEW

The Atech didn't come though so well after all. I took it to the range tonight and cranked it up to 10 and the picture was very blurry. If you set it to 6 to 2.8, it was clear. The points of impact were consistent at any single setting, but when you changes powers, it seemed to drift about 1 inch at 100. Once I got the scope off, you could see that the back eye piece is "bent" slightly for lack of a better word. Off center may be a better way to put it. Not much, but enough that you can notice. I suppose that thing wasn't meant to be dropped from 15 to 20 ft onto the ground. Looks like I will have to get another Burris. I wonder if Simmons would repair it at all?

All a mater of how it hits and what it hits...from that height and with that kind of weight, are generting a good bit of force....if it hits directly on that occular housing on hard pack ground or rock, doubt any sporting scope would escape undamaged. Get lucky and hit leaves, soft earth, or spongy ground, might have a chance.

While I have not personally dropped a rifle out of a treestand-YET, I did see my ex brother in law do so after shooting a deer with his Marlin 1895. Lucky for him it landed straight up in the mud, and all we had to do was clean the mud out of the barrel. Can't say as to how accurate it was after that, but he wasn't much of a shot anyway, so it probably didn't matter. I have thought many times about using some type of lanyard while in the stand, in case I fall asleep, I at least will keep the rifle attached to me. Climbing in or out and raising/lowering the rifle, just use good rope and good care.

I personally wouldn't bother with cryo for anything. It's supposedly one of those miracle cures for the innaccurate barrel, but I don't buy it. Besides, if you bent your barrel, you'll have to rebarrel it anyway, because cryo won't straighten it out, all that does, supposedly, is to align the molecules in the steel to take out minor stress. Look on the bright side, if you have to rebarrel, you can get a Lilja, Shilen or Pac-Nor barrel to replace this one. If you don't, you're no worse off than you were before the fall.

Last season my Brother in Law and myself were out hunting. He had downed a nice buck with his Marlin 1895. We tied a rope to his rack and then to a broom handle size stick and proceeded to drag out the deer toghether. We came to one point where we had to cross a deep ravine (Sp?) that had a small creek in it. We decided to each grab two legs of the deer and toss it accross the ravine and then each cross on our own. All went well until end of the toss when we both at the same time remebered about that drag rope tied to the deer. The stick at the other end of the rope caught his gun that was layed against a tree and took it into the creek, about a 10 foot drop into 4-6 inches of water. When we got down to the gun the fall had bent his scope rings (a set of weaver see-through, not the stronges in the world IMO ) and the front of the scope we got the gun cleaned up and he tossed the rings and damaged Bushnell scope and hunted the rest of the seaon with the factory open sights. I'll never forget the look on his face watching his 45/70 fly through the air and into the creek! Funny thing, barely a sratch on the gun from the whole deal.

Been there done that. Italio river near Yakatut ak. Big trees there. I was moose hunting in record rainfall and climbed up about 80 feet . I was trying to get another look at a moose I had seen from the ground, slipped and had to decide between grabbing a branch or dropping the rifle. I could feel every branch it hit on the way down. After I recovered it I checked it over and it seemed fine. Of course I ran into a moose the next day and it was shooting all over the place. In the light of the morning I could barely see a hairline crack in the scope ring. I was out in a camp a plane ride away from a villiage that probably didn't have a gunsmith. The rest of the story sounds like I made it up. But anyway after it ran off I looked for it and found it trying to double back alongside a river. I shot it about 40 feet away with a 454 casull I had with me.Told you it sounds like a story.
Goldbelt :D

I am very confused about the Atech. Wed when I went to the range, it was very blurry at 6x and up. Clear below. I came home that night and removed it from the rifle, and the next morning it was clear as a bell at all ranges. What the heck? I tightened the reticle focus in the back way down since I think that is where the damage is. The tube looks slightly out of shape there. Maybe tightening it down is what got the focus fixed. I think I will send it to Simmons repair shop in Georgia and have them examine/fix it.

Though I don't have any experiences to relate, I DO feel y'alls pain. :) hurt's just to think about dropping my rifle.

Gents,

Dropped a Browning A-bolt from the barn stand back about 93, on opening day. The scope was KIA, but deceptively so, as it would hold its zero for 5 or 6 rounds, and then not so much. I wish it would have broken clean in two, as then it would have been obvious, and not have ruined the season.

At the time it was the only rifle that I owned for hunting, and ever since then I have had a back-up.

I feel your pain,

Steve

i didnt fall out of a tree, but friday i was out hunting and we were making a drive i came to a small creek and where i was at was a small little waterfall about a foot high i looked around to see where the best place to cross was and both sides of me was open water or skim ice on top but where the waterfall was, was solid 3" ice so i decided to cross there it was about 10 foot wide so i started to cross was a step from the other side when my foot came out from underneath me and i had my rifle slung over my shoulder , the sling slid off and the rifle hit the ice then i landed on top of it (im 270 lbs) the scope took the full force of the drop i had to pick the ice out of the side turret cap. luckily we were about done with the drive i was hoping being that it is a zeiss that it wouldnt be off or broke. i went home and bore sighted it to see what it looked like i had to move it left about 5 inches according to the bore sighter and about 2 inches up then went out and shot it and had to move it back 5 inches right and was good up and down so it moved a little but not to much and goes to show how good my boresighter is. i personally think that if i had a $50 scope on that rifle i wouldve had to go and buy another scope that day. the next time i cross with the rifle in my hands that way i dont end up on top the rifle again :( . btw, hunting ends today and i didnt bring my rifle up all season, we have an all doe season in coupleweeks i might go out to see if i can get some meat in the freezer then. till then good luck with your hunts

Its probably a good idea to have iron sights and a backup handgun in a sutuitable caliber when on a hunt. I never dropped a rifle from a tree stand but did drop an early nickle M29 from a nifty shoulder holster. Fell about 10 feet but was unhurt. Always used a saftey strap holster for hunting after that.

I was culling kangaroos on a friend's property at night using a spotlight and I hopped out of the bed of the pickup to go and tag the one I'd just dispatched.
I stood my 1914 Short Lee Enfield 303/25 up and rested it in the small gap between the bed and the cab.....DON'T EVER DO THIS!! :mad:
As I walked toward the roo my mate, who was driving, moved the truck forward........ :eek:
As you can imagine the rifle got stuck via the barrel & I had to get him to move the truck back slowly to dislodge it, all the while hoping it hadn't been bent in the first place and wouldn't be bent getting it out. :(
I tried it out and it was pretty much on target.
Then I took a rabbit with it and 2 more roos that night. :rolleyes:
The rabbit was even taken at 60m with the scope set on 3x so it was shooting fine.
I've never been more worried in my life though! :confused:
Talk about a relief! :rolleyes:

I was hunting rabbits one winter and stepped on some ice under the snow while descending a hill. My feet went out from under me faster than I could react and I landed on my shotgun. I am glad I had a Mossberg with me instead of my favorite double as it ended up with a 2 piece butt stock.

Not completely personal experience. My Grandfather died from a gunshot wound sustained when he dropped his rifle from a tree.

LLS