Scope resting on barrel..

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NitwiT

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I'll be able to put up pics of this at a later date.. but for now something came to mind.

I added scope covers to my rifle a week ago or so, and have noticed that the rubber seal to the 50mm front of the scope is resting on the barrel..

I'm going to go ahead and assume this is a bad thing, would the only way to fix it be to get taller scope rings?

Mark
 
I always understood it to be that scope contact with the barrel is bad, and I'm not sure that rubber scope rings would provide a cushioned enough buffer to be okay.

I can't say for sure though.
 
NitwiT said:
I'll be able to put up pics of this at a later date.. but for now something came to mind.

I added scope covers to my rifle a week ago or so, and have noticed that the rubber seal to the 50mm front of the scope is resting on the barrel..

I'm going to go ahead and assume this is a bad thing, would the only way to fix it be to get taller scope rings?

Mark
Click to expand...


I have run into this before and simply cut away the scope cover until there was about .020 -.025 thou clearance (about 7 - 8 sheets of paper). This was on a gun with a heavy barrel though. If the barrel were a sporter I'd be concerned with the barrel whip causing contact.

A goodtip if you decide to do this is take the scope cap off and pinch it so that the area that needs to be cut has the same radius as the barrel. Then cut it straight down with a untility knife. When you let go you will have a nice round cut that matches the barrel. Just be carfull not to cut to much away or the cap may split. I have cut them pretty thin though and they still work fine.

Make sure you have enough clearance without the cap on to do this, if there isn't you wil need higher rings.

Dave
 
Yeah its not really a good thing. The upward pressure on the scope will likely change your POI. I'd recomend at a minium trimming the cap so it fits without interferance or even better probably is go one size higher of rings and you should have lots of space.
 
Just in case you haven't gotten the picture yet.

The barrel of a gun moves when it's shot. The way you get the most accurate gun is to have nothing touching the barrel other than the action (see mysticplayer). The more things that are touching the barrel (i.e. scope) the more it throws the accuracy off.

Secondly, scopes are precision instruments. They are usually pretty fragile or finicky. You don't exactly want a steel tube hitting one every time you take a shot. I have never encountered a scope that liked to be hit.
 
Mark: If I understand correctly it's not the scope touching the barrel but the scope cap, I see no problem as long as the cap does NOT need to forced on in some way. The pressure on the scope would be negligible - if any.--- John 303.
 
John303 said:
Mark: If I understand correctly it's not the scope touching the barrel but the scope cap, I see no problem as long as the cap does NOT need to forced on in some way. The pressure on the scope would be negligible - if any.--- John 303.
Click to expand...

The barrel moves around when fired. If you have anything wedged between the barrel and scope, that’s bad! You may not notice anything right away but you'll see something go wrong sooner or later. There must be clearance all the way around the barrel, especially clearance from the scope.
 
NiTwiT,

I remember your seeing your thread a while ago when you were deciding what rifle to buy. What did you end up going with? Congrats in any case, hope it's working out well for you.

RG

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Hey Ruffed,

I ended up buying a Tikka T3 Varmint HB S/S in .308. To that I added a 6.5-20x50 Vortex Viper.

Rifle shoots WAY better than I can, Wapitywacker (CGN member) took me out to the mission range, and had also loaded a few 150 grain bullets for fun. His group at 100 yards was about 1/2". Mine were worse, and the recoil suprised the hell out of me :D.
When I calmed down, I tried 200 yards for fun, almost had a heart attack when the first two rounds went through the same hole!

I love this rifle, and I think I found a plus to packing a heavier rifle while hunting. In the excitement of looking down 100 yards at a black bear, I noticed my hands and heart were going wild, but the rifle wasn't jumping that badly, I think the extra pounds helped correct my nervousness.

Mark
 
Well... lets say first of all, the story isn't a great one. The bear was a smaller one, I'd guess about 2.5 years, and the first shot I pulled the snot out of in excitement. It went through his front foreleg, around the elbow. He took off at a good clip towards the top of the hill. I reloaded and sent another round into his rear leg, since he was booking it away from me. This knocked him down, and all that was left was to kill it.

As I said, it's not a great story, and I will not let it happen again. Barnes TSX, here I come..

Mark
 
congratulations

For your second time hunting, and I assume you were by yourself last weekend?, I don't think anyone can fault you Mark. That's a ton of adrenaline to contain. Congrats. Unfortunately, things don't always turn out as planned . The good news is that you kept your head enough to put him down. There is no wounded bear out there dying an ugly death. You now have some experience under you belt for next time. It'll be a little easier to control the excitement. Get out and practice. Get off the bench and practice field positions. Shot placement is key. From the sounds of it I don't think TSX's would have made any difference.

Cheers,
Lee
 
I know they wouldnt have made a difference, but I'm well aware that my Tikka places 180 grain rounds (federal power shok) up to an inch wide at 200 yards.. while perfectly acceptable for hunting, in the field, I want to know exactly where my bullet will go, and end up. Reasons are simple, quick kill, and maximum meat protection. :D
 
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