I am having similar trouble with my Mod. 70 .375 H&H. With a 2x7 Leupold shotgun scope and Leupold QD rings there is very little if any adjustment fore and aft. I'm only 5'6" so I need to crawl the stock a bit. I have heard that Talley makes an offset ring for just this sort of thing, but its not on their website and I haven't called them just yet. First I'm going to get a stock with about 1/2 to 3/4 inch less LOP.

Another thing. How old is the scope. Earlier models of the 1.75x6 had a very short scope tube, but about 2 years ago they lengthened the tube to allow for more adjustment and better fit.

And now, just to highjack the thread a bit, one unigue feature of the Dakota action is the follower that stacks the first cartridge going into the magazine (and the last one coming out) on the left side instead of the right side, so it is opposite to the M70, CZ 550, Ruger 77, Mauser 98, etc.

I used one of these followers (highly polished), along with the spring meant for a .416 Dakota M76 African, in the box of a CZ 550 Magnum that was rebarreled to .375 RUM. It improved the feeding to flawless, even with the slightly rebated .375 RUM rim. Of course polishing the feed ramp and slightly re-shaping the feed rails and polishing the insides of the CZ box helped too.

Nice trick for improving the feeding of the CZ 550 Magnum. Now back to Dakotas.

Saeed,
You have measured the older 1.75-6X Leupold. The newer 1.75-6E (E for "extended") is 1/4" longer tube than the 2.5-8X.

Roughly 5-3/8" between the bells on the 1.75-6E
vs.
5-1/8" for the 2.5-8X.

I think that all the Dakota 76 actions are the same except for the bottom metal and bolt face, and the rails and feed ramp being tweaked for the cartridge being used.

They have a Winchester M-70 style separate box and then the the floor plate is used to add depth to go from the 3 round capacity of the Classic 76 to the 4 round capacity of the Safari 76 and African 76.

I guess you have the three round box, that is 3.75" or so in length, since you are able to use those long nosed Walterhogs through the box. Your box has got to be longer than the M70 length.

So, I think the actions are all the same except bottom metal and whether the boltface is .404 Jeffery size or .416 Rigby size.

Am I right?

I think you have the Classic 76 action with a .404 Jeffery boltface and a Rigby length box that is only three rounds deep, simply because you do not have the pocket plate protruding from the belly of the stock.

Dakota told me that they would only build an African grade .416 Dakota, with 4 rounds down. Hence I must build my own of synthetic and stainless and three rounds down if I want a damage-resistant 9-pound-scoped rifle such as your .375/404.

BTW, the SiGARMS Mauser 98 Magnum (uncut square bridge with no scope mounting allowances) in .450 Dakota weighs 9.5 lbs., and is very muzzle light, and has no recoil lug on the barrel. Built like a Dakota 76 African, but at least MOA accurate with its skinny 24-1/2" barrel.