The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Guns, Politics, Gunsmithing & Reloading Gunsmithing Scope/barrel clearanceGo | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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I just mounted a leupold 4.5-14X on a Sako 6MM PPC sporter rifle. The clearance between the objective bell and the barrel is close, but a sheet of legal pad paper will slide between the barrel and scope. Is that to little clearance? NRA Patron member | ||
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Long as no scope covers enter in, all good. _______________________ | |||
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I agree with BNagel. As long as you have any clearance and the eye relief is good, you are set to go. Larry "Peace is that brief glorious moment in history, when everybody stands around reloading" -- Thomas Jefferson | |||
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Neither will move so .0001 clearance is good. I have milled slots in barrels to clear large objectives too. When the customer wanted low mounts. | |||
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Thanks guys! NRA Patron member | |||
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As long as there clearance, that is all that matters. I like to mount scopes as low as possible, just clearing the barrel. | |||
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The objective lens of my 6x Kahles scope just touched the taper of the barrel forward of the receiver ring on my Schultz and Larsen rifle when mounted in low 26mm original Weaver rings. Could only get the low rings in 26mm and like Saeed I like all scopes mounted as low as possible. A little work with a file on the barrel taper gave me clearance, a bit of cold blue, and the job well done. I have no time in the world for scopes mounted like carry handles and I don't care how classy the rifle, scope or rings. A rifle is a tool to do a job and they do it best with scopes mounted as low as possible. | |||
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Hello df06: Next time you fire your rifle, I suggest placing a thickness of scotch tape between the objective bell and the barrel. Remove the tape when finished shooting and I'll bet you see a witness mark where the scope has contacted it during recoil. Everything flexes to one degree or another when a rifle is fired. The amount that a scope flexes(bends) will depend on a number of factors: diameter and wall thickness of the tube, mass of the bell and distance ahead of the front ring, recoil moment and angle of the stock. It's not a magic dimension, by any means, but I want to see at least.030" between the objective bell and the barrel, and I like a bit more if it's a long scope on something like a 338. Since one can't prove a negative, I can't demonstrate this has "saved" an expensive scope from failure. I does, however, make me feel a lot better knowing the objective lens isn't being "tinged" each time the rifle is fired. Dave Manson | |||
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Dave may have a point with large/long scopes on heavy-recoiling rifles -- you'd be surprised how much bending, twisting, and vibration goes on when a round of 375 H&H is set off in an 8-lb rifle. Just watch how much a baseball bat bends and vibrates when it hits a ball the next time they show a batter in slo-mo on TV. On the other hand, I have a small caliber, heavy barrel varminter on which you have to put a strong light behind the scope bell to see that there actually is a miniscule clearance between it and the barrel. Nary a problem in years of shooting. | |||
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I've experienced the scope flex Dave is talking about with magnums. With scopes mounted .005 off the barrel I've seen slight where marks on the bluing, and have since allowed at least .010 of clearance between the objective bell and the barrel. I would love to see a super slow motion video of this happening to see what exactly is moving. The scope's probably no worse for the where either way but I like to play it safe. | |||
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Guys..... I recall an old method of checking for contact, that used a small/thin sheet of carbon paper. Wow.....does anyone even make carbon paper anymore??!!! Kevin | |||
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I think carbon paper went out with mimeograph machines. Back to the thread topic. Low is definitely better than high, but it's also important that your eye be close to centerline of the scope when you shoulder the gun in order to minimize parallax issues. Dave Manson | |||
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 Hummm, you can probably still buy it for a penny a sheet in the USA. Not so much here in Canada. It would probably still be a penny per sheet, but the government would tack on $1.49 Carbon Tax. You see, you guys hired a high powered, billionaire CEO to run your great big America Corp. We hired a substitute drama teacher to run our frogs legs and maple syrup stand just to the north of you !But he takes better selfies than Vladimir Putin and he has nicer hair than your high powered CEO ! When I was a kid. I had the stick. I had the rock. And I had the mud puddle. I am as adept with them today, as I was back then. Lets see today's kids say that about their IPods, IPads and XBoxes in 45 years! Rod Henrickson | |||
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Good for some issues, but mounting the scope higher helps with point-blank range since the bullet starts out further below the line of sight. To each his own. TomP Our country, right or wrong. When right, to be kept right, when wrong to be put right. Carl Schurz (1829 - 1906) | |||
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As pointed out. To each his own.  scope hight PBR by Rod Henrickson, on FlickrWhen I was a kid. I had the stick. I had the rock. And I had the mud puddle. I am as adept with them today, as I was back then. Lets see today's kids say that about their IPods, IPads and XBoxes in 45 years! Rod Henrickson | |||
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Mounting the scope higher in order to have the illusion of a flatter trajectory is quite a stretch -- both of ballistics, and of the neck  . Of course, it does also provide greater sighting error if the rifle is canted, but that's just a "side" benefit  . | |||
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It does not change the trajectory, that is a function of other parameters. Point-blank range is the range where the bullet is within a set distance from line-of-sight. If the distance is 2 inches, you might as well start out 2 inches low and it will be longer before the bullet returns to that offset from line-of-sight. Nothing's free, and the cost is paid in the fit of cheek and eye to the rifle and sight. TomP Our country, right or wrong. When right, to be kept right, when wrong to be put right. Carl Schurz (1829 - 1906) | |||
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I would not be comfortable with a piece of paper. Obviously, a 6 ppc is a lot less but everything flexs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5pVya7eask Mike Legistine actu quod scripsi? Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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There is no doubt that adjusting scope height does change point blank range. But point blank range is one of those severe trade offs for theory thingys. Using the 300 Winchester and working out the numbers, raising the scope height from the customary 1.5 inches to 3 inches over the center of bore, like you would see in guns with bent over bolt handles and XXX high rings would add an additional 14 yards to your maximum point blank range.It's much like pulling the entire interior, seats and all out of your car to reduce weight to get another 2 miles per hour. You are beginning to argue about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin and it makes one wonder if the expense of comfort and controllability is worth the extra 2 MPH. But to each their own and if it helps people sleep at night it's probably just fine. When I was a kid. I had the stick. I had the rock. And I had the mud puddle. I am as adept with them today, as I was back then. Lets see today's kids say that about their IPods, IPads and XBoxes in 45 years! Rod Henrickson | |||
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I put taller rings on a 6x45mm to get a 250-yard point-blank range with 85-grain Partition Bullets. Most of the time the scope and its quick-release mount will be in a fanny pack, with an aperture sight on the barrel where the open sight used to be. And yes, as Stonecreek pointed out, one of the tradeoffs is worse windage error if the rifle is canted. TomP Our country, right or wrong. When right, to be kept right, when wrong to be put right. Carl Schurz (1829 - 1906) | |||
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