badger ordnance + sighton sIII question

I just purchased a Sightron SIII 6-24x50 scope for my Model 12 BVSS and was planning on ordering a base and rings for it today but am unsure as to what height of rings I'm going to need. I'm planning on getting a Badger Ordnance Picatinny base (P/N 306-06SAT) but don't know how high of rings to get.. I'm assuming the medium high rings from Badger will probably work (P/N 306-21) as they are 1.0" high but don't know if I could get away with something shorter or actually need something taller.. If anyone has any experience/knowledge on what height I will need I would greatly appreciate it.. I also am planning on putting scope covers on so I need enough clearance between the objective lens and barrel for those to slide over as well.. Thanks..

http://www.badgerordnance.com/index.php

You might want to look at egw base and tps rings, save you some money and they work great. I have the TPS rings on all of my guns.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I decided to see what all the fuss is about and give badger ordnance a try.. I mean, what's another $300 dollars for a base and rings right?! ugh.. I'll update and let you know how they work out and if they seem to be worth the extra money..

Look forward to hearing "if they're worth it". I would think you'd have plenty of clearance with 1" rings, but if you know the base height there is a great little mount height calculator on this site, but basically just take the distance the objective bell (outside diameter) will hang below the bottom of the main scope tube and you need to float this height plus lens cover over the barrel. For example:

50mm objective on 30mm tube -- Depending on brand, maybe 56mm outside diameter plus 2.5mm for lens cap (approximate numbers for the point of example) -- that means you have 15.5mm or .61" of scope and cover to float with your rings and bases -- depending on the length of the scope (and shape) you may or may not have to add a bit for barrel nut clearance. If you do better go with .75" clearance needed, bases range from a couple tenths to half an inch, so subtract your base height from that number and you know how tall your rings need to be.

To get the scope float total (.61" in this example), take your (outside objective diamter)/2 - (main tube diameter)/2, or 28-15 in this example, then add in lens cover allowance and barrel nut. Remember this will give you a tight fit, you probably want 1/8" or so clearance, but this is personal preference.

I got the Badger Ordnance base and rings and was a little surprised at the lack of fit and finish as well as lack of descent packaging.. The rings were sealed in a plastic bag and the base was in a small plastic box that you would usually get things like drill bits and taps in.. I was thinking for $300 they would come in a sweet box with foam cut out slots or something awesome, and maybe even give me a "free" hat or t-shirt or something.. (I had a friend order something from LaRue Tactical and he got hooked up with a bunch of free stuff) Nope.. I was also not excited about the fact that the rings were covered in very thin layer of some sort of sticky substance that I can only assume was a rust preventative? This needed to be cleaned off with alcohol which only took a few minutes but I had assumed with the price tag they would be clean and ready to go.. Again.. Nope..

The base mounting was simple and easy as it fit very well, however I had to follow the instructions from their website as none were included with my base.. The rings similarly were a breeze to mount and my scope fit in nicely. I mounted the scope by inserting a feeler gauge between the bottom of the scope and the base, and then tightening the rings which is supposed to align it with the base/action. This was my first time trying this, but had been suggested by a buddy and it worked perfectly.. The scope was mounted in 5 minutes and as far as I can tell is in perfect alignment.

Sighting in the rifle was unbelievably easy.. My first shot at 100 yards was .25" left and about 10" high.. This makes sense with the 20 MOA base. I was very pleased at how well everything was aligned with the bore, and with a few adjustments I was good to go and shot my best 5 shot group ever with this rifle coming in at .25 MOA using hand loaded 69 gr SMK.. I'm very happy with the Sightron SIII thus far and am happy I went with it over Leupold. My official verdict on the Badger Ordnance base and rings is that they are awesome.. You may not be getting any of the fancy stuff that you might get with other brands, but the quality of the machining is spectacular. While I was surprised about the packaging and having to clean them for having spent that much money, the most important thing to me is function and performance, and thus far I am totally impressed.

Some quick pictures I took..

[img width=600 height=450]http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/ae276/ghelmers/rifle1.jpg[/img]

[img width=600 height=450]http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/ae276/ghelmers/rifle2.jpg[/img]

[img width=600 height=336]http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/ae276/ghelmers/reticle.jpg[/img]

[img width=337 height=450]http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/ae276/ghelmers/group.jpg[/img]

Nice setup! I have the same scope and am very pleased with it.