Ran out of elevation at 100

I had my 1 year old Savage 10fp (in 308) out the other day and was working on shot groups and trigger control with a longer than usual stock. I was trying to get a decent length of pull on the rifle before I ordered a custom stock.

anyway the rifle is still pretty new to me and I was just getting it dialed in at 100 yard and was just a little bit low using 168gn Hornady match ammo. I went to dial the scope up and I ran out if elevation. ( Millet 4x16 mil dot mil dot).

After looking at some notes I realized I was running right on the edge of the come ups since the scope was mounted. This does not seem normal.

I was going to get a 20 mao rail later but that would still only leave me with 19 moa of come ups to work with.

How what do I need to check to figure out what off and how do I check it?

I have a Brownells ( i think) one piece rail right now. The rail itself measures pretty straight Same height at both ends.

Is the action of the 10fp flat or straight and level with the barrel??

I had the same problem which got corrected by adding a .010" shim under the rear one piece rail mount. The scope is now zeroed, at mid MOA, at 100 yards. Sending rifle to Savage did not help.

This thing is still basically brand new. I hate to start shimming things already.


won't that mean the scope rail will not have full contact with the action???

You could leave the base alone and get Burris Signature rings and use the offset inserts to correct misalignment and save your elevation range. They work really well, grip the scope very well, and don't leave marks on the scope tube.

Shiming the rear scope mount(doesn't work well on one piece bases) + Burris Signature rings with +/-10 offset inserts was what I did to a LRPV.In the past year,I have heard of many similar problems ,shooting low.Misalignment of barrel to action,or warped action are the major cause,unless it's the wrong base for the gun.A friend sent his 204 back and they replaced the barrel.Good customer service.Call them.Talk to Effie Sullivan.

If your base is a 0 MOA something is wrong. I'd try another scope , 100 yards and no elevation left, something is amiss.

one year old, should be a round read receiver. If you take the screws out of the front or rear separately, dose the base float off the receiver? as in air gap?

If it is a round rear action then take the base off, turn it around 180deg, and put it back on. If the base is the problem then your scope will now be bottomed out instead of topped out..Just a way to prove the base.(if you measured both ends with a caliper and they were the same size then this step probably isnt needed.)

Also something else to look at.

Make sure your base isnt sitting on the recoil lug instead of the action. Some lugs sit a tad higher than the action itself, and if the base hits it it will not allow the front of the base to tighten to the action correctly.

Not sure what a Brownells base is either? Could you post a pic of it?

I think Its a Brownells one piece base with picatinny rail. ( no marks on it )

If I turn it around the base of the rail it hangs over into the loading/ejection port a little.

It pretty much looks like it only fits one way. I did check it with calipers and it was the same at both ends

Could be the scope. I'm no scope expert but I've had a scope do the same thing before on a rifle that I had another scope on in the same bases/rings and it (the previous scope) worked fine. They said the scope was not optically centered. I guess that means that something is a little off inside and it doesn't come close to lining up with the bore when trying to sight it in. The problem was corrected with the Burris Signature rings but I still sent the scope back for replacement.

I've got one other scope I can swap with this one and see what happens.

I 'll do that in the next few days. I just hate losing my zero and have to rework my notes.

Not much of a choice at the moment

Scope? What happened?

The millet should have something in the area of 90 minutes of total elevation travel from full up to full down. Have you verified that? With a 0 moa base your 100 yard zero should be no more than about 10-12 minutes on the come-up side of center.
Another thing that gets exaggerated as the distance goes out is your scope's ability to compensate for scope height. If you have any more than about 5/16" gap(and even that is pretty high - 1/4" or less is better) between the bottom of the objective and the barrel then your rings are too high.

My rifle has the same problem and I've seen several other people with this problem since then. I think Savage screwed up on a batch of rifles. The problem with mine is that I bought it as an action only and installed a Shilen barrel, so sending it to Savage probably wouldn't solve anything. On the bright side, a 20 MOA base solved the problem. If you bought it as a complete rifle, I would send it in and let them fix their problem.
-Dan

After trying 3 scopes and 2 different bases/mounts I sent it to savage with a detailed explanation on what I done.
I got it back a week later with a nice three shot target and no report on what they done or tested. It was exactly the same as before I sent it in. Shimming a new (3 rd) adjustable windage base corrected my problem. My other Savage shot dead on with the same barrel and scope. It has to be a warped receiver.

Hello, from my own experience I would say to try the "Burris Signature" rings with inserts.
If not enough add a 20 MOA base.
I personally love the Burris setup and would try it first.
Hope this helps.

jisco