- Location
- Vancouver Island
Sooo... I'd been meaning to bed the scope-mounting rail on my 6BR for a while now. When I first installed the rail, there was a small bit of play between the rear of the action and the bottom of the rail, but when the screws were tightened to spec, it cleared up. Still, didn't like the fact that the rail was essentially being bent into shape by this; didn't have enough time to do things right, tho.
Finally, work slowed up a bit, giving me some free time, so grabbing some Devcon that I didn't have a use for, and after reading/viewing all the articles and videos on the subject I could find, I did the prep work and bedded the beast - let it cure for a week (overkill on the wait, but there's always stuff getting in the way of fun...) and took it out to the range.
I knew that I would have to re-zero after the disassembling/bedding/reassembling process, so at 100 yards, I aimed at the center of a target, and fired a round. No hole, but I did see a puff of dust from behind the target - it seemed high. Aimed the second shot at the bottom of the target, and I'm just barely on paper at the top of the target. "No problems - just need to adjust POI downwards", he thinks to himself.
Well - as you may have guessed by now, I can't move POI downwards far enough to get POI and POA to line up at 100 - I ran out of clicks with the POI about 4" higher than POA.
Salient technical details: Scope is a Sightron 10-50x60 SIII - their website says that it has 50 MOA of E-W adjustment (which I'd assume is the same in the vertical department). Rail is a Farrell 20 MOA, action is a Savage PTA, and rings are Burris Signature Zee's, with the plastic inserts).
Any ideas here? My thoughts, in increasing order of nastiness:
- Did I build up too much bedding under the rear of the rail (easy to remedy by re-bedding and going easier on the devcon);
- Is a 20MOA rail too much for 100 yard work (can replace with a 10 or 0 MOA rail);
- Did I bend the scope by mounting it in a slightly radiused rail for a year or so (Don't want to contemplate this option...)?
It just hit me that I might be able to get it closer to zero by using the eccentric inserts in the rings and setting the scope high in front and/or low in back to bring the POA up; I'm pretty sure the inserts in there currently are the non-eccentric ones. (If I'm doing the math correctly, a +10MOA corrective insert at the front should get me back on paper with 5 or 6 MOA to spare.)
Which leads me to one more question (for bonus marks) - if you're setting up your rifle with a 100 yard zero, where would you ideally want your zero setting falling in your elevation adjustment range? In the center of the elevation adjustment range (i.e. so that you can click 25MOA up and 25MOA down), to maximumize the available clicks for windage adjustment, or somewhat closer to the bottom of the elevation adjustment range, in order to give more flexibility for setting up for longer-distance shorts? Or do you care, just as long as it's zeroed?
Thanks for any thoughts you can pass along about the above.
ShooNew.
Finally, work slowed up a bit, giving me some free time, so grabbing some Devcon that I didn't have a use for, and after reading/viewing all the articles and videos on the subject I could find, I did the prep work and bedded the beast - let it cure for a week (overkill on the wait, but there's always stuff getting in the way of fun...) and took it out to the range.
I knew that I would have to re-zero after the disassembling/bedding/reassembling process, so at 100 yards, I aimed at the center of a target, and fired a round. No hole, but I did see a puff of dust from behind the target - it seemed high. Aimed the second shot at the bottom of the target, and I'm just barely on paper at the top of the target. "No problems - just need to adjust POI downwards", he thinks to himself.
Well - as you may have guessed by now, I can't move POI downwards far enough to get POI and POA to line up at 100 - I ran out of clicks with the POI about 4" higher than POA.
Salient technical details: Scope is a Sightron 10-50x60 SIII - their website says that it has 50 MOA of E-W adjustment (which I'd assume is the same in the vertical department). Rail is a Farrell 20 MOA, action is a Savage PTA, and rings are Burris Signature Zee's, with the plastic inserts).
Any ideas here? My thoughts, in increasing order of nastiness:
- Did I build up too much bedding under the rear of the rail (easy to remedy by re-bedding and going easier on the devcon);
- Is a 20MOA rail too much for 100 yard work (can replace with a 10 or 0 MOA rail);
- Did I bend the scope by mounting it in a slightly radiused rail for a year or so (Don't want to contemplate this option...)?
It just hit me that I might be able to get it closer to zero by using the eccentric inserts in the rings and setting the scope high in front and/or low in back to bring the POA up; I'm pretty sure the inserts in there currently are the non-eccentric ones. (If I'm doing the math correctly, a +10MOA corrective insert at the front should get me back on paper with 5 or 6 MOA to spare.)
Which leads me to one more question (for bonus marks) - if you're setting up your rifle with a 100 yard zero, where would you ideally want your zero setting falling in your elevation adjustment range? In the center of the elevation adjustment range (i.e. so that you can click 25MOA up and 25MOA down), to maximumize the available clicks for windage adjustment, or somewhat closer to the bottom of the elevation adjustment range, in order to give more flexibility for setting up for longer-distance shorts? Or do you care, just as long as it's zeroed?
Thanks for any thoughts you can pass along about the above.
ShooNew.
