ring height recommendations

[SageRat Shooter]

Looking for some wisdom from those of you who have gone before me... I just ordered my Sightron 6-24x50 scope and am going to be running a 20 MOA base.

What height rings should I be looking at to mount this bad boy as close to the barrel as possible, but still have enough clearance for the bolt handle to clear the ocular lens.

I'm looking for something in the tactical side like the Blackhawk 30MM tactical rings but am open to other suggestions.

Thanks,

SRS

[NicfromAlabama]

I've used this photo a good bit lately. But this is my Model 10 FP-SR .308 with a Warne 20 MOA base and Warne low vertical split rings. The scope is a Leupold 8.5-25X50. Scope tube is 30mm. As you can see, I had plenty of room with the low rings on the Warne base. OF course, another brand base and rings will be different. But, perhaps that will give you a point of reference.

http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/nicfin36/IMG_0146_zpsht7bvqbe.jpg (http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/nicfin36/media/IMG_0146_zpsht7bvqbe.jpg.html)

[lone gunman]

i got about the same results as NicfromAlabama using a weaver 20 moa base and Burris medium signature rings. the scope is a leupold VX3 6.5-20x50 30mm

http://i.imgur.com/yxkgT0Ll.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/DtseE4ql.jpg

[SageRat Shooter]

Thanks for the photos and the specs for your setup guys. That does help me a bit as I can go checkout the specifics for those rings.

Happy New Year!! Ohhh... And both of your rigs look really nice! Hope mine looks as good as those when it's all done.

[lone gunman]

your welcome, glad i could help with your options. mine has changed a little since that photo because i added a choate stock to it so it looks a little more like NicfromAlabama's rifle. and since pictures always help or at least i think they do here is what it now looks like.

http://i.imgur.com/A0mrGrYl.jpg

[Fotheringill]

A VERY strong suggestion-

You need to also look at the front end of the scope. Will you have Butler Creek style lens cap there?
I suggest you look at Midway,s or Optics Planet pages for the scope. Each should give you a diagram with measurements for the scope in about ten different places.

You should be able to figure out clearances from the diagram and order the appropriate rings.

[lone gunman]

as Fotheringill said check the web sites and here is a link to midwayusa's guide, a lot of good ring info on there that i forgot about.

https://www.midwayusa.com/howtoguides

[Ratbuster]

The scope bases (picatinny rail) vary in thickness. I have some steel bases that are 1/8" lower than an Aluminum base. Using the steel base with a high Burris signature z ring was the same as the aluminum base with a Burris medium height ring. Also a Burris medium is the same height as a Warne low ring. To make it more confusing Burris measures their rings differently than other manufacturers. I suggest you buy your base and rings from a seller that allows returns.

[SageRat Shooter]

I suggest you buy your base and rings from a seller that allows returns.

I'll be buying both the base and the rings from my local Cabelas store... I think they'll be understanding if I buy Low and Med rings with a Steel 20 MOA rail and just bring back the one that doesn't work... I hope so anyway!!

Thanks again guys... I like doing things right the first time, so much stuff I've learned on this site in just a few weeks.

LH Savage 11/111 LA
Criterion 260 Rem Match Varmint @ 25"-- still 10+ weeks out from NSS
Boyds Coyote Laminate Pro Varmint
Sightron SIII 6-24x50 FFP MOA-2 Reticle--- on the way!!

Will probably add a brake down the road, but not until I've shot it a bit... With as much $ as I'm putting into her, I sure hope she will shoot at least 1 MOA @ 1000 yards.

[lone gunman]

WOW, sounds like a sweet build you got going there. please post up some pictures when your done and let us know how she shoots. i have read nothing but steelier reviews on Criterion barrels but mainly for AR15's since that's more of my thing. i just put together my first long range bolt gun set up but its more budget oriented using a savage 11VT in 308 from DSG and a choate stock to see if i like it or not.

cabela's should let you return the rings you don't use but also consider amazon because they take pretty much anything back and they will probable beat cabela's price too. and just so you know i got my 20 moa weaver rail off amazon for $25.90 not bad i thought.

i have a brake on my AR10 that works really well if your interested they are on sale for almost half price right now. and should be the same thread as your barrel but is your barrel black or is it stainless ? it is made out of stainless steel but nitrated black.

if interested look here: http://www.schuylerarmsco.com/product.vg6-gamma-762-993

and i definitely think she will be a great shooter!

[SageRat Shooter]

Lone Gunman,

Thanks for the kind words on the build. As far as posting pictures when she's done, I will have to have some coaching on that as I am not familiar with the process. I'm actually going to have a local gunsmith install a directional brake for me, that has to be "timed" rather than just a regular "screw it on and go muzzle brake"... That's why I want to shoot it for a bit first, to really see if she shoots well enough to warrant yet another expense. Like I said, "I like to do it right the first time".

My barrel is stainless and bead blasted finish, so I also like the idea that the local guy will blend the brake so it looks like part of the actual barrel and the brake is already bead blasted.

I hope you're right about her being a great shooter!!

[lone gunman]

OK i understand about the brake, i have seen the ones that are blended in and look like they were milled as part of the barrel so that makes sense.

and pictures are easy but i have been doing it for years now, i hang out on many sites. you just need to sign up to a site like http://photobucket.com/ that's the one i use and its free. once you join you simply upload picture from your computer or you can drag them to load them to photo bucket. you will also have the option to load from the cloud if you use that, i don't. once you load some pictures to it you simply go to your library and it will show all the pictures you uploaded. each picture will have several links below them and the one titled IMG is the one you just copy and paste to what ever you are posting on this site. it is really easy but if you have trouble just post up or if you like IM me and i will help once i see i got a message.

take care! and good luck!

[SageRat Shooter]

Thanks LG.. :-)

I may just IM you with the photo(s) when I get it done.... I'm not "all up" in the social media thing. I was just happy that I could get signed up for this site correctly... LOL! I will admit, that after looking through all of these threads that have photos of all of the Beautiful rifles guys have built, http://www.savageshooters.com/showthread.php?30832-Tacticool-pics it sure made we want to add mine to the list when she's all done. :eagerness:

[lone gunman]

your welcome!

and i understand about the social media thing, i don't do face book or any of the other stuff like it. but i do hang out on firearm forums and two 4wheeling forums. i have hosted pics for one or two other people on other forums after they emailed them to me but if i delete them from my photo bucket account then they also will disappear on here too.

[SageRat Shooter]

Well guys... I've got an update. I went with the BlackHawk 20 MOA rail and Medium BlackHawk Tactical 30MM Rings... Scope looks like it's setting just like LG's and Bama's setup above. Now all that remains is to put the new 260 barrel on her (still 6-10 weeks out). Got it sighted in @ 100 yards yesterday! Man I sure like the scope in FFP. This is my first one, and I'm very happy with it thus far. I can actually see the bullet holes better through the scope than I can with an actual spotting scope (although it wasn't a good spotting scope). And for any of you other guys that may have been wondering if the reticle remains completely viewable inside the scope when it's turned up to 24X.... It does!! I can still see all my hash marks. Unlike the Vortex Viper PST.

Sightron also comes with a very nice Neoprene scope cover now, as apposed to the cheap plastic lens caps...

[lone gunman]

sounds good so far glad to hear your happy with the rail and rings. i have never really used a FFP scope although i have looked through a few vortex ones. i grew up using SFP scopes and have always gone that way when buying new scopes. and i hear nothing but good things about sightron scopes but have yet to be able to look through one. i have given some thought to trying one of their 10-50x60 scopes but without looking through one i just cant do it. keep us posted and let us know when you get the barrel and everything together.

[SageRat Shooter]

LG,

Thanks again for the help you gave me in regards to the rings... As for my recommendation on the Sightron SIII (mine is 6-24).... I only had an opportunity to look through the Vortex PST prior to making my decision. It was clear, but I wasn't very pleased that I couldn't see about 3 or 4 of the MOA hash marks on the bottom post when at 24X... Coupled with watching Richard Utting's Youtube review of the Sightron vs the PST, which he clearly favored over the PST (primarily glass quality and clarity)...

As much as I was hesitant to buy "sights unseen" I ordered the Sightron from Optics Planet when they had a sale going ($765.00) which was $200.00 less than the PST also. All I can say is that "I'm glad I did" The glass is the clearest I've EVER looked through (which have all been hunting scopes... (Leupold, bushnell, redfield).

The FFP reticle is rather small when turned down to 6-9X, but I figure I'll rarely ever shoot at anything that close where I'd have to turn it down that far. especially with the parallax adjustment dial on the side of the scope now as apposed to the front objective. Something to note: I had to turn my scope down to about 16x after my barrel got hot, because the mirage was really messing with my picture.... So, keep that in mind with your 10-50....

I haven't been able to put it through an actual "tracking test" yet, but I'm pretty confident those will be spot on too. I have noticed that in low light conditions it's not the greatest for light gathering... Perhaps the illuminated reticle would solve that problem, but I'm more a day time shooter myself.

Bottom line.... I'm very happy that I went with the Sightron!!!! Even more so that it was $200.00 less than the nearest competitor (Vortex PST). Barrel is still probably 6-10 weeks out, but it's the last piece I'm waiting on for the build to be finished (with the exception of fine tuning accuracy). I sure hope it shoots little bug holes when it's all done... :laser: