Scope mount recommendation

[nwihunter]

I’ve got a Howa Kuiu .308 oredered. I’m working on getting a scope from Schmaltz. Can anyone recommend what base and rings I should get? I’m mounting a Leopold VX-3I 30mm 4.5- 14 x 40

 

[Addicting]

Go on Leupold site and use their ring finder. It will tell you the height. I have been using the back country with good results.

 

[elkhnter]

I just mounted that same scope on a Weathermark and used Talley 1 piece low. Plenty of clearance.

 

[noharleyyet]

I’ve got a Howa Kuiu .308 oredered. I’m working on getting a scope from Schmaltz. Can anyone recommend what base and rings I should get? I’m mounting a Leopold VX-3I 30mm 4.5- 14 x 40

Recently mounted same scope on a 700 with Talley Light Weight Lows.

 

[grandejuan]

I like Conetrol Projectionless rings and bases. I have them on a 270 Weatherby Magnum and a 340 Weatherby Mag. These rifles have banged their way across the lower 48, British Columbia and Alaska, never lost a zero. Also they don't get dirt and crud in any screw slots or other openings. GJ

 

[nrpate05]

I'll put in a vote for the Talley 1 piece lightweight mounts. The one piece design makes them a snap to install. I had lows on my Howa 1500 and it was a good fit for Leupold with 40mm objective.

 

[noharleyyet]

One more thing on the Talley...do lap them.

 

[MThuntr]

Talley Low on all my rifles with 40mm objectives.

 

[Brian in Montana]

Talley 1 piece is pretty simple, tough constructed, and relatively fool proof. I have them on a couple of rifles. I recommend.

 

[hank4elk]

Yep, Talley 1 piece on my MZ & 700.

 

[std7mag]

When you say mount, do you mean base, or rings?
Some rings have integral bases.
Then you have Rugers set up.
For all my other rifles i use EGW one piece base.
Due to them being kinda tall, i can then use low rings. Even with my 50mm objectives.
My choice of rings has been Vortex Vipers. Followed closely by Warne. With a couple Leupolds thrown in the mix.

For rock steady, weight not an object range use i definitely opt for the Warne's.
For light weight, gonna get bumped around, but still able to make the long shots and handle magnum recoil, i use the Vortex.

 

[Boarmaster]

Talley LW one piece.

 

[ImBillT]

I like Leupold standard rings or Burris Signature universal dovetails. The turn in front ring and adjustable rear ring completely eliminates any potential issues related to imperfect alignment of the holes in the received and/or scope base, as well as any issue regarding POI whether those alignments are correct or not. The Burris Signatures with the inserts prevent marring the finish in your scope and grip the scope tube better than a lapped ring, which will sometimes allow more movement than you realize, and with the offset inserts you can adjust elevation with the rings as well. Set the scope to the center or elevation and windage, then get within a few inches of zero at 100-200 yards using just your rings, then fine tune with your scope adjustments. If you just mount a scope, sometimes you wind up having to dial a long way from your scope’s center to get zeroed. That causes a lot of problems with any scope. I know those old school turn-in rings aren’t sexy, but they work very well.

 

[antelopedundee]

I like Leupold standard rings or Burris Signature universal dovetails. The turn in front ring and adjustable rear ring completely eliminates any potential issues related to imperfect alignment of the holes in the received and/or scope base, as well as any issue regarding POI whether those alignments are correct or not. The Burris Signatures with the inserts prevent marring the finish in your scope and grip the scope tube better than a lapped ring, which will sometimes allow more movement than you realize, and with the offset inserts you can adjust elevation with the rings as well. Set the scope to the center or elevation and windage, then get within a few inches of zero at 100-200 yards using just your rings, then fine tune with your scope adjustments. If you just mount a scope, sometimes you wind up having to dial a long way from your scope’s center to get zeroed. That causes a lot of problems with any scope. I know those old school turn-in rings aren’t sexy, but they work very well.

If the front dovetail is too snug then trying to make adjustments with the base screws could result in bending the tube instead of the dovetail moving as it should. Those new ones can be awful tight. A dummy tube with crosshair would be better for that if there was such a thing.

Having never done it, if I turn the windage adjustment left as far as it will go and the elevation adjustment as high as it will go are the crosshairs/reticle still centered in the tube? Or will they appear to have moved northwesterly?

 

[ImBillT]

If the front dovetail is too snug then trying to make adjustments with the base screws could result in bending the tube instead of the dovetail moving as it should. Those new ones can be awful tight. A dummy tube with crosshair would be better for that if there was such a thing.

Having never done it, if I turn the windage adjustment left as far as it will go and the elevation adjustment as high as it will go are the crosshairs/reticle still centered in the tube? Or will they appear to have moved northwesterly?

Grease the front dovetail. Give it a little action back and forth with a wrench to “break it in” somewhat, then leave it approximately centered. Yes, they’re pretty tight, especially the new Leupolds. Based purely on getting movement on target immediately and even with minor adjustments, as well as seeming to have the full expected range of adjustment, I don’t THINK the tube is being bent. If the scope tube was being bent, the erector tube would bump into it before the adjustments were fully dialed. Definitely don’t turn in the front ring the first time by using just your scope tube.


On really old scopes the crosshairs appeared to move, and was rather annoying. On modern scopes, the reticle appears centered in the image no matter how far you move your adjustments.

 

[antelopedundee]

Grease the front dovetail. Give it a little action back and forth with a wrench to “break it in” somewhat, then leave it approximately centered. Yes, they’re pretty tight, especially the new Leupolds. Based purely on getting movement on target immediately and even with minor adjustments, as well as seeming to have the full expected range of adjustment, I don’t THINK the tube is being bent. If the scope tube was being bent, the erector tube would bump into it before the adjustments were fully dialed. Definitely don’t turn in the front ring the first time by using just your scope tube.


On really old scopes the crosshairs appeared to move, and was rather annoying. On modern scopes, the reticle appears centered in the image no matter how far you move your adjustments.

Over 20 years ago I was using the Redfield 1 or 2 piece bases with the front being the dovetail for both. I used a lapping rod or wood dowel to align the rings. Also used the "break in" a bit. A half turn of the rear base windage screws could bend the tube imperceptibly. That being said I never noticed anything out of the ordinary and the scopes are still A+ working. OTOH the dovetails can get too loose rendering them useless. I was told that you could squeeze the dovetail tightly in a vise and fix it, but that never worked for me.

Awhile back I suggested to Leupold it would be great if they could devise something with a grid that goes over the objective end of a scope and allow one to reset a used scope back to mechanical center. Since the reticle doesn't move, it might have been a dumb suggestion maybe.

 

[ImBillT]

Over 20 years ago I was using the Redfield 1 or 2 piece bases with the front being the dovetail for both. I used a lapping rod or wood dowel to align the rings. Also used the "break in" a bit. A half turn of the rear base windage screws could bend the tube imperceptibly. That being said I never noticed anything out of the ordinary and the scopes are still A+ working. OTOH the dovetails can get too loose rendering them useless. I was told that you could squeeze the dovetail tightly in a vise and fix it, but that never worked for me.

Awhile back I suggested to Leupold it would be great if they could devise something with a grid that goes over the objective end of a scope and allow one to reset a used scope back to mechanical center. Since the reticle doesn't move, it might have been a dumb suggestion maybe.

It certainly shouldn’t be bending things enough to get from the elastic region to the plastic region. I like the way those mounts have worked for all my hunting rigs thus far. I guess I can live with a little stress on the tube as long it works great.

As far as centering a used scope goes, if you fixed all the focus issues related to trying to see something mounted to you objective(ask a friend to hold a quarter over the center of your objective and look at the target) the guts would have to be so perfectly centered to show you your scopes center that it would be incredibly difficult to implement.

Super easy method
Turn the adjustment all the way down, and count clicks or marks until it’s all the way back to the top, divide your clicks by two, and return to that location. Now do the same with windage, and if you noticed that either had started a long way from center, then do it again from this point because you probably got shortchanged a little.

Not quite as easy method.
Grab a flashlight and look through the objective. With a little shifting of your head and light position as well as your focus and figuring out what you can see in there, find your erector tube. In most scopes you can see the interface between the adjustment knob and the erector tube as well as the return spring/springs. If you can see them, you can see if the scope will follow a linear or hyperbolic path, and if the erector tube has any chance slipping or binding on the return spring at extreme adjustments. Both things are nice to know if you plan on dialing rather than setting zero and holding off, especially the linear vs hyperbolic path issue. You can also see if the erector tube is approximately centered on the adjustment. If you can’t see erector tube/adjustment knob interface you can still tell if the erector tube is approximately centered in the scope tube. Get it near center. Now dial the elevation all the way one direction, and count clicks until it has traveled as far as it will go in the other direction, and recenter. Repeat for the windage adjustment. If you dial around while watching the erector tube move inside the scope it becomes extremely clear why being a long way from center can cause problems, especially when dialing up or left where instead of hitting resistance when you think you still have adjustment(as in going down and right) you can continue to dial, but the POI won’t change.

I didn’t mention why the new scopes never look like the crosshairs is off-center. In really old scopes, they moved the crosshairs. If you moved the crosshairs left, your shot moved right, just like with iron sights. Newer scopes, although still a LONG WAY BACK, have a fixed crosshairs that is centered over the objective, and adjustments move the image, so now knobs turn the opposite direction as when they moved the crosshairs. There are parts of the image outside your field of view. If all other things are equal, a scope with more adjustment range has a narrower field of view. Changing power, lense diameters(and thus tube diameters), tube length(I think) also change field of view though. It’s all a trade off.

 

[Drake4]

Stand the scope vertical, large objective down on a small mirror (makeup type mirror works great). You'll see 2 reticles...the actual reticle and a reflection. Adjust your windage and elevation and you will see the reflected reticle move. Adjust both directions until the reflection is directly over the top of the stationary reticle. You'll be adjusting opposite direction of the movement of the reticle do the mirror. Really cool and easy to do.

 

[noharleyyet]

Stand the scope vertical, large objective down on a small mirror (makeup type mirror works great). You'll see 2 reticles...the actual reticle and a reflection. Adjust your windage and elevation and you will see the reflected reticle move. Adjust both directions until the reflection is directly over the top of the stationary reticle. You'll be adjusting opposite direction of the movement of the reticle do the mirror. Really cool and easy to do.

Dang, that is slick as snot...if it works.

 

[ImBillT]

Stand the scope vertical, large objective down on a small mirror (makeup type mirror works great). You'll see 2 reticles...the actual reticle and a reflection. Adjust your windage and elevation and you will see the reflected reticle move. Adjust both directions until the reflection is directly over the top of the stationary reticle. You'll be adjusting opposite direction of the movement of the reticle do the mirror. Really cool and easy to do.

I like that!