hi, what should be the minimum gap in between the scop and the barrel?

I like a bus. card thickness as a min.

A gap.

I'm fine as long as scope objective bell doesn't touch and bolt handle clears.

Ah. It's taken me to here to figure out what we're talking about. If the objective was a plastic adjust.ring I wouldn't mind a slight scrape. Just to dampen the vibs. a bit.

just as close as i can get it, without anything hitting, or touching. but then again, do you want scope caps.?

Anything more than "daylight" is a waste.

Hey Bob, For the most part I agree with the above posts.

However, there are exceptions. I've got a buddy in Califoney who kept destroying some $$$High$$$ scopes from a particular manufacturer. As luck would have it, he knew the CEO of the Scope Manufacturer from meeting him on a Hunt. So, when the first one went bad, he called him.

After about 2 repairs and 2 other $$$HIGHER$$$ scopes kept failing, they decided it might be something else.

My buddy shortened the barrel a half inch and that changed the harmonic enough to fix the problem.

I believe it relates to your question because he was using a long scope design with "Reversed Extended Rings". They were designed to be used on a Short Action - in the other direction to Extend the grasp on the Scope Tube.

And I also believe he had it mounted so close that the Scope Tube would bounce just enough to smack the barrel. That could be all wrong, but it is the only thing that ever made sense to me about how the Scopes could have been destroyed in only a few shots.

So, I like them mounted close to the barrel too, but on some rifles a bit of a Gap and the proper Rings are a good idea.

By the way, if you are considering getting new Rings, be sure to look at the Burris Signatures. You can get Eccentric Inserts for them and get the scope close to centered before you ever start cranking in adjustments.

It was suggested on another thread that the gap between the barrel and scope bell be about 1/16" or a bit more to allow brush and small grasses and twigs to pass through and not get caught in the small gap which could cause some innacuracy....personally I like the gap to be real and small.