Originally Posted by
CFJunkie
The only time I ever experienced anything like that was when I had a failure of the scope reticle.
It only ever happened once many years ago and it was with a pretty cheap optic back in the day when I couldn't afford expensive optics and was trying to find bargains.
I was also shooting loads close to Pmax back then and that might have exacerbated the problem.
I normally would have told you to check the scope rail screws (you might not have checked them yet since you would have to remove the scope ring), the ring mounting screws, and the ring screws holding the scope in the rings, but since you said the screws and bolts were all still tight, it sounds like a failure of something internal.
A hot barrel won't result in a 7 inch drop, even at 200 yards. A 40 deg. change in barrel temperature on my 6.5mm barrels will only cause about 1/4 inch drop at 100 yards at most.