Savage chamber to long for most scopes.
- Thread starter greggrhall
- Start date
I had the same problem with my Savage 116 weather warrior in .300 Win mag.
When I mounted all 4 of my scopes one after the other, none would clear the bell housing. I had to go buy a Bushnell 3200 3-9x40 and use an extension ring to JUST BARELY make it fit. (I also had to grind down a big Vee shaped area in the front of the extension ring to give me about 1 cm of play for the ever important eye relief.) I couldn't believe that the action was so long.
I had to take the gun to the store and physically take the scopes out of the display cases and hold them up to the gun/rings to see if they would clear the rings enough. I tried 9 different scopes including 2 leupolds, and the bushnell was the only one to fit (just barely)
When I mounted all 4 of my scopes one after the other, none would clear the bell housing. I had to go buy a Bushnell 3200 3-9x40 and use an extension ring to JUST BARELY make it fit. (I also had to grind down a big Vee shaped area in the front of the extension ring to give me about 1 cm of play for the ever important eye relief.) I couldn't believe that the action was so long.
I had to take the gun to the store and physically take the scopes out of the display cases and hold them up to the gun/rings to see if they would clear the rings enough. I tried 9 different scopes including 2 leupolds, and the bushnell was the only one to fit (just barely)
manbearpig
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Somewhere in the Third World
either get a 1-piece picatinny rail that will allow you to mount any scope as far back as you like, as well as red dot sights, or look around for an older style long-tube scope.
they hardly make them anymore - almost all new scopes are of the 'compact' tube length - but they used to be quite common. for example a modern scope like a 3-9x40mm is around 12 inches long... the same in an older long-tube scope would be around 15" long.
forget about trying to mount a modern compact length scope on a 2-piece or traditional fixed scope mount. even if you manage to find one that fits you will have absolutely no room to move it further back if you ever need to.
they hardly make them anymore - almost all new scopes are of the 'compact' tube length - but they used to be quite common. for example a modern scope like a 3-9x40mm is around 12 inches long... the same in an older long-tube scope would be around 15" long.
forget about trying to mount a modern compact length scope on a 2-piece or traditional fixed scope mount. even if you manage to find one that fits you will have absolutely no room to move it further back if you ever need to.
manbearpig
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Somewhere in the Third World
the Farrell Industries base is $80 at Brownells, but a good investment and a very well made steel rail. if you are planning on longer distance shots, the 20 MOA rail is the same price as the flat.
search farrell standard moa at brownells.com to find them. they have 4 types of 1-piece bases for Savage long actions, one for round top and one for flat rear receivers and both come in 0 MOA and 20 MOA variations.
low rings should be fine with these, especially with the 20 MOA version. they are milled out on the bottom and offer plenty of room for loading and ejection (milled out on both sides so the rail is good for right or left hand rifles). mine fit my 700LA receiver perfectly, but i skim-bedded it to the receiver with JB weld for the hell of it.
they also sell an aluminum 1-piece base manufactured by Brownells for $50, but IMO the extra $30 for a solid steel precision base is worth the investment. if you end up not liking it it wont take long to sell in the EE.
for an inexpensive, yet rock solid set of rings you can try the Warne Maxima TPA steel rings for $30, again at Brownells:
you can get quick release weaver rings, both the Warne and Leupolds are good, but they will cost you twice as much and have bits sticking out that snag
search farrell standard moa at brownells.com to find them. they have 4 types of 1-piece bases for Savage long actions, one for round top and one for flat rear receivers and both come in 0 MOA and 20 MOA variations.
low rings should be fine with these, especially with the 20 MOA version. they are milled out on the bottom and offer plenty of room for loading and ejection (milled out on both sides so the rail is good for right or left hand rifles). mine fit my 700LA receiver perfectly, but i skim-bedded it to the receiver with JB weld for the hell of it.
they also sell an aluminum 1-piece base manufactured by Brownells for $50, but IMO the extra $30 for a solid steel precision base is worth the investment. if you end up not liking it it wont take long to sell in the EE.
for an inexpensive, yet rock solid set of rings you can try the Warne Maxima TPA steel rings for $30, again at Brownells:
you can get quick release weaver rings, both the Warne and Leupolds are good, but they will cost you twice as much and have bits sticking out that snag
highlander
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Newfoundland
There is a standard Weaver base that goes on long action Savages that actually allows for the use of normal sized scopes; I believe the base number is 402. It screws on to the rear, I believe, and extends out over the bolt area.
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Contrary to what appears obvious to you the one piece or front extension base will not interfere with the ejection of spent casings. If you wish to continue to use weaver style bases use either a #402 base (402 is gloss, 402 M is matte and 402S is silver) and this will extend the front ring back far enough to mount most scopes. You can also use an extension weaver ring that will project the front ring back. Many people don't like the look of extension bases and or one piece bases like Leupold but thats how you make the scopes fit on long action guns especially the Savage 110's or 116's. Using the Leupold standard one piece base also allows for windage adjustment which is not a bad thing as some Savage's have the base holes drilled slightly off to one side of center (usually the right). Phil.
