I had a gunsmith do some work on my grandfathers old 8mm mauser. New trigger, rechambered for 243. win, new laminate stock. It was already drilled and taped for a scope when i got it, and came with what i think are weaver scope bases (2 piece). After i got the gun back from the smith i threw on a burris scope, took it to the range and started my zero process and realized i ran out of windage to adjust any further right. i called burris and they said i should use their "Z" rings witch will give me up to 10 MOA. well i ended up selling the scope but should I have the reciever re-drilled and tapped? someone told me the holes could not be aligned with the bore, or just get a scope with a whole lot of windage adjustments? or do they make a base that could help my problem? i want to use the rifle mostly for groundhogs out to about 400 yds.

Burris no doubt suggested "Signature" Zee rings.

I do too.

flaco

Leupold, Redfield and a few others make rear bases with adjustment. You need to check the hole spacing. I am a Leupold fan in both one piece or two piece mounts. You don't want to redrill unless it is an absolute must.

The course of action you take depends on what the real issue is. Not enough info to give you a good answer. Are the holes misdrilled? Is that confirmed or opinion?

that was an opinion of a friend who is not a gunsmith just a gun guy. the holes don't look misaligned but is there a tool that would help measure that?

Depending on the real issue as z1r said, and if the bases are Weaver, I'd try a set of Millet Angle-Loc rings. I've used them and they do work as advertised.

http://www.millettsights.com/r...gle-loc-steel-rings/

Does anyone in the family know how the gun shot with a scope back when it was an 8mm with the original barrel?

Leave the scope on the rifle and centre both the windage and vertical adjusters (wind right in and right out counting the turns then adjust halfway from right in/out). Bore sight the rifle at an object 100 yards away and see how close or far out the scope is to the object. If bore sighting shows the scope well out on windage it should be quite obvious looking along over the scope and comparing with the barrel. Another way to check this is take scope off rings and all, and run a straight edge along the mount base screw head centres and the barrel. The straight edge should be parallel with the barrel.

If the bore sighting is okay then it is the barrel just not shooting to where it points. Can happen with some firearms and re-crowning the barrel may correct this.

If bases are not parallel then the base holes need to be re-drilled correctly. Don't muck around with rings that can be off set, That just tries to compensate for bad workmanship and puts undue strain on the scope.

I have no idea what eagle27 means when he says "if the bases are not parallel then the base holes need to be redrilled correctly". Have you ever tried to move a hole over .009"?

As others have said, if your holes are misaligned with the bore, then you will need to either use windage-adjustable bases or rings. The Burris Signature Zee rings with their offset inserts are one answer, as would be Millet Angle Loc rings which will allow you to move one ring left and the other right to align the scope. You could replace the Weaver-type bases with the classic Redfield-type bases, the rear of which has a lot of windage adjustment in it (and places no "strain" on the scope since the front ring pivots in its dovetail slot).

You don't say what type Mauser you have. The rear action bridge is somewhat lower than the receiver ring on a Mauser. Various makes of Mausers can vary in how much height difference there is. So, it is possible for you to also have some misalignment in height, resulting in difficulty in getting your gun to shoot either high enough or low enough. If so, you'll need to bush with something like aluminum foil (a small section of beverage can is usually about right) underneath the front ring if it is shooting too high, or underneath the rear ring if it is shooting too low.

Believe me, this isn't "jerry-rigging". Although not a desirable situation, lots of guns have misaligned scope rings for one reason or another. These fixes are invisible and work just fine and no one other than yourself will be any the wiser.

Point taken Stonecreek about trying to move 0.009" but most scopes compensate for some minor misalignment of bases. I have seen bases put on rifles quite visibly out of alignment. With the front base on a Mauser it is possible to move the base forward or back on the receiver ring and drill the mounting holes correctly.
I'm not so sure this is the problem with Nicks rifle as the gunsmith would probably have picked up on visibly misaligned bases (he didn't put them on so nothing to hide).

This is why I recommend centering the scope adjustments and bore sighting just to get a handle on where the bore is pointing compared with the scope. If this shows both are close to same POI then there is an issue with the bullet no going to where the bore is pointing.

I have done a lot of problem solving gunsmithing over the years and the biggest pay off is to carry out basic checks with the equipment first to try pin point the likely cause of the problem before heading down the more expensive road of new scopes, rings, ammo etc.

Just my thoughts anyway. Hope Nick finds the cause and gets back on track with a good accurate rifle.