Scope tube ding/knick?

Had a little upset tonight, I was putting my Nikon P223 3-9x40 on my newley acquired Marlin Xt17V 17hmr (yes i know the P223 is not meant for 17hmr ) anyways, while mounting it I was tightening down the windage knobs of the rear leupold base mount to the recommended 45"lbs, when my torx bit decided to round out on me and send the tip of the bit into the receiver (not much scrapage), the trunk of the ring (nice scrape), and finally making full contact with the scope tube just infront of the magnification ring. It made a nice ding,knick whatever you wanna call it, but didn't actually dent in the tube itself, just gave it a nice ding that grabs your fingernail quite well. Would you guys say the scope is most likely fine? I know obviously the only way to truly know is by going out and shooting the gun, but i have yet to put a round through it yet and am worried that since i dont have a baseline established for its normal accuracy potential, the scope may cause for it to shoot worse than it actually does. Im guessing its fine, but figured I'd see what your thoughts were.

Also, I have had one experience with Nikon's warranty with this exact scope where the reticle broke right in the center if the crosshair, which they replaced the scope for free minus shipping cost to California. This took approximately 4-6 weeks however. Has anyone else had any experience with Nikon's customer service if this scope does turn out to have been damaged? (Also, I know this is my fault 100% and am willing to pay for the fix but, when you have brands like Vortex (which I have used), or Leupold that will replace the scope or fix it no matter the cause, it would be nice to know if Nikon provides the same).

At least it's just a Nikon!! I'm kidding of course, but your scope should be fine minus the cosmetic damage. I don't have any experience with their customer support so I can't help you there.

The scope should be fine as long as the tube is not damaged(minus scratch). Nikon also has a no fault policy. So if the internals of the scope are damaged they will fix it no questions asked.

Nikon scope scrape

I can't imagine that a little scrape will affect the scope function at all. At the very least if the function is affected Nikon will stand behind the scope with their No Fault Warranty. You absolutely can use a P-223 scope with any cal. you choose. Just go to Spot On and pick your scope,cal and ammo. Make sure you also measure scope height, mid bore to mid barrel and enter that number. Now you are dialed in for .17HMR. One of my favorite critter getting rounds. I shoot it suppressed and often times if there are multiple targets they can't tell where the shots are coming from. 3 coyotes in 15 seconds one even. All head shots inside of 100 yards.

Thanks for the responses guys! I figured that I really had nothing to worry about. Looks like tonight will be decent weather (6 mph winds or so and 74°) hopefully will be able to try some loads out. I have 17gr Hornady Vmax, 17gr CCI TNT, and 20gr Hornady XTP. Ill let you guys know what the outcome is tonight!

Enjoy!

DucksN'Bucks said:

Thanks for the responses guys! I figured that I really had nothing to worry about. Looks like tonight will be decent weather (6 mph winds or so and 74°) hopefully will be able to try some loads out. I have 17gr Hornady Vmax, 17gr CCI TNT, and 20gr Hornady XTP. Ill let you guys know what the outcome is tonight!

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You had me at 74 Deg! We are 108 right now in N. TX. Time for a vacation!

Last nights shooting didnt go as great as I would've hoped. I shot the 20gr xtp's, 17gr tnt's, and the 17gr vmax's. The TNT's shot the best 5shot group of 2 1/2" at 100yds, followed by the vmax at 3 1/8", and lastly the xtp's at 3 1/2". I am very disappointed in these groups as I can shoot my .22lr just as well if not better at this distance, and my main reasonfor purchasing the 17hmr was to enable myself to get a little more range ~150yds, while still maintaining a quiet report and nonexistent recoil impulse.

As I stated earlier, my rifle is a Marlin XT17V with the brown laminated stock and heavy contour blued barrel. I had the torque set at 25"lbs in the front at 20"lbs in the rear. I cleaned the barrel before shooting the rifle for the first time and then cleaned it after every shot for the first 7. I allowed the barrel to be what felt still cool to the touch while shooting. shooting was from a bench with a sandbag used to rest the forearm. Since doing my prior shooting I have taken apart the rifle and retourqued the actuon screws to 20"lbs and 15"lbs. I will also use a gun vise to shoot the groups the next time around to fully eliminate the chance of wiggling. If anyone else has any opinions on what else to try/do please let me know!
Thanks!

I slipped on some ice a couple years back and fell flat on my back while my rifle was on my shoulder. Fell hard enough to put 3 dime sized dings in the scope and bust the stock through the wrist.

Needless to say, the zero on the scope didnt change and the accuracy never changed either. I hunted with it for 2 more seasons until the rifle was destroyed in a fire.

I would think that the scope would be fine with a now has a couple small character marks