Too close?

SwL_Wildcat

SwL_Wildcat

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Any further west and I'd have to learn Japanese..
I'm on the fence on this one.

I had a set of 30mm medium Leupold rings in the ring bin. I'm thinking it's probably OK, but so very close...

I can get a piece of newspaper between the scope and the barrel.

qzL9vdq.jpg


But not 2 pieces...

wJu08d9.jpg


Run em or get a set of high?
 
I`ve had this happen also a time or two. I cut a shim out of a beer can, placed it on the lower ring and it worked like a charm. Didn`t go crazy on torquing the rings down,
gun shoot like a champ and never left a mark on the scope. I wouldn`t hesitate to do it again.
 
Bad Bob said:
I`ve had this happen also a time or two. I cut a shim out of a beer can, placed it on the lower ring and it worked like a charm. Didn`t go crazy on torquing the rings down,
gun shoot like a champ and never left a mark on the scope. I wouldn`t hesitate to do it again.
Click to expand...

It's a heavy barrel (Remington 5R) 308. Not much recoil or barrel whip... But it's still pretty close, 0.003 ~ 0.004" of clearance. Did you shim both front and rear or just the front?
 
SwL_Wildcat said:
It's a heavy barrel (Remington 5R) 308. Not much recoil or barrel whip... But it's still pretty close, 0.003 ~ 0.004" of clearance. Did you shim both front and rear or just the front?
Click to expand...

Just the front. I know some will say you should not do that, shim the base only. Just relating what I tried and I think as long as you don`t over tighten the rings, which isn`t necessary anyway, I don`t see why it would hurt anything.Actually I have a Sako A1V .222 Rem with a Zeiss 4.5-14x44 mounted that way right now and it is crazy accurate and consistent.
 
grauhanen said:
Is it comfortable to look through the scope? Would it be more comfortable if the scope were a bit higher?
Click to expand...

Height is already a bit higher than I like. Eye relief and sight picture are good.

DMS1 said:
Are these rings direct to the action or clamped to a base/rail? I have shimmed bases a few times, but not the lower half of a scope ring.
Click to expand...

They are the Leupold standard bases and rings. The front ring drops in and twists 90 degrees to lock it in. There is no way to shim that. The only option would be to remove the base from the rifle and put a bit of shim between the action and the base.

I really don't think it's going to be an issue.

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I like a solid cheek weld so I generally mount my scopes as low as possible. If you don`t feel comfortable trying it, try it first with a disposable scope? Don`t get me wrong, I would never tell you what to do or not do, just saying I`ve done it several times over the years and never had an issue or put a mark on a scope and it always worked just fine.
 
Bad Bob said:
I like a solid cheek weld so I generally mount my scopes as low as possible. If you don`t feel comfortable trying it, try it first with a disposable scope? Don`t get me wrong, I would never tell you what to do or not do, just saying I`ve done it several times over the years and never had an issue or put a mark on a scope and it always worked just fine.
Click to expand...

I think I am going to run a few rounds through it sighting it in and watch the clearance. If it doesn't touch when it warms up I'll leave it alone. If I can't get a paper through it after a few rounds I'll pull it and shim the bottom ID of the front ring.

Thanks.
 
Shoot it. Enjoy it. No worries.
All my scopes have always been 'tight' to the barrel.
I've seen some guys who have their scopes 1/2" or higher off their barrels...then watch them 'hunt' for the sweet spot and often can not utilize the cheekpiece on the stock. Yours is perfect imho...
 
SwL_Wildcat said:
I think I am going to run a few rounds through it sighting it in and watch the clearance. If it doesn't touch when it warms up I'll leave it alone. If I can't get a paper through it after a few rounds I'll pull it and shim the bottom ID of the front ring.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

That is what I would do, I bet you end up just leaving it as is.
Cheers,
Bob
 
My hunting rifle's scope is about 3 sheets of paper off the barrel and I was told by someone I feel knows more than I do that it was fine. It's a 6.5x55 so recoil isn't crazy but it is a light barrel. A .308 in a heavy barrel might be good with less, it probably doesn't wiggle much.
 
SwL_Wildcat said:
I'm on the fence on this one.

I had a set of 30mm medium Leupold rings in the ring bin. I'm thinking it's probably OK, but so very close...

I can get a piece of newspaper between the scope and the barrel.

qzL9vdq.jpg


But not 2 pieces...

wJu08d9.jpg


Run em or get a set of high?
Click to expand...

If you can use finger pressure to flex the scope such that it contacts the barrel, then you need to do something. You're probably fine either way, but then there is a reason why we are supposed to have some clearance.

SwL_Wildcat said:
It's a heavy barrel (Remington 5R) 308. Not much recoil or barrel whip... But it's still pretty close, 0.003 ~ 0.004" of clearance. Did you shim both front and rear or just the front?
Click to expand...

If it were me I'd shim them both, just to avoid losing out on elevation travel. If you are getting into the longer ranges you want the back end higher than the front. Even if you aren't getting into longer ranges, maintaining a 0 MOA can't helps keep the zero in the middle of the elevation drum and the centre of the lense.
 
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