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Well I went and ordered my first Savage. It is a Weather Warrior in 7mmRemMag with blind mag. For the time being I am going to take my Zeiss Conquest 4.5-14x44 scope from my other rifle and mount on this one. Now i need mounts. Was thinking of two piece bases so there is more room for shell to eject. Do I need to worry about this? Is one piece/two piece base better than the other? What size mounts do I need? This is going to be my carry around hunting rifle.
A one-piece base will cover up a small part of your action port at the top. While it does take a little bit of your "loading" room (not really enough to matter), it won't hinder ejection at all. A two-piece base will give a little more room to load (and weighs a slight bit less). In theory, a one piece base will make the action a bit more sturdy. In reality, you'd never know it if it did help at all. On a one-piece, you also have a better chance of your scope staying on target if you get an base screw (or even two) that works loose. You'd still have three screws (or two) holding the base steady. On a two-piece, one loose screw doesn't leave much strength to the base that is only secured by one screw. But, if you mount your bases right, it shouldn't ever be a problem, anyway. If I was going to use standard rings, I would be more inclined to use a one-piece base (along with bedding said base) in order to have a better chance of the rings aligning properly. Many actions are not straight enough to give proper scope ring alignment just based on the trueness of the top of the action. Lapping the rings would also be advised in order to keep from stressing your scope. If you are willing to use the burris signature rings (the ones with the plastic inserts), ring alignment isn't a problem, regardless of action distortion or base set-up used. With that being said, I use two-piece standard bases on all my hunting rifles, along with signature rings. Don't have any trouble with that set-up. On target rifles, I use one-piece picatinny bases. The reason for that is that I often swap around scopes and like to have more options for mounting positions with the multiple slots depending on what I'm getting into. I use signature zee rings for these rifles.
As for which mounts you need, do you have an action with a flat top at the rear, or is it round on top at the front and rear of action?
I do not mind using Burris. In fact I think my brother gets good deals on them. I am not sure what action it is because I have not recieved it yet. I was hoping to be able to get the mounts before I got the rifle. Guess I will have to wait. I have never heard of lapping the rings. I have a lot to learn. I usually use out of box rifles but I got the bug to try and build a LR shooter. I am going to have to figure out how to bed the action too.
Most likely, you will have a round rear, but I'd hate to tell you the wrong thing. Lapping the rings is a process that trues the rings to give a straight grip on your scope to avoid exerting any flex on your tube, or having an edge of a ring bite into it. You install your base and rings. Then you take two pieces of metal rod and mount them in the rings. Both bars will be tapered to a point on one end. These ends need to point toward each other. If your set-up is true, the ends points will line up perfectly, telling you that your scope rings are perfectly aligned. If they are not, they need lapped. To do this, you place a metal bar that is (1" diameter), with a lapping compound applied, in the lower half of the rings. Secure the top half of the rings to the bottom half "mounting" the lapping bar. Slowly polish the inside of the rings with the bar. Do it a little at a time while remounting the two alignment bars and checking their position often. It shouldn't take much lapping to square up the mating surfaces. There are kits availabe for just this process. They will have more detailed directiond. Or you can just use the burris signature rings and forget all about the headache of worrying if your set-up is trued. The inserts will automatically self-align to the scope tube. I know of no easier way to protect a good scope form mis-aligned ring damage.
As for bedding, doing the action is not a bad idea, but I was talking about bedding a scope base. This is just like bedding an action in that is creates a new mating surface to bolt against, and it is one that perfectly matches your base so that when you tighten it down, it isn't flexed. Many actions and one piece bases won't fit flush to each other. To allow them to blot together without stress, you need to fill the void with a bedding agent. If you go with a two-piece base, you don't need to worry about it.
Thanks for the info. I picked up my rifle yesterday and it is round on the front and rear. I am going to go with the Burris Signature Rings and two piece base. I am going to be mounting my Zeiss Conquest in 4.5-14x44 on it. What ring heighth do you think I need?
Hopefully someone on here that has that set-up can chime in here and confirm..... but I've always been able to mount my bushnell and nikon 40mm scopes in medium rings with plenty of clearance. Enough that I think your conquest would also fit. But think ahead- are you going to use scope covers? Those things vary between brands as to thickness. A safe bet would be high rings, but I tend to think that mediums would work. There are fit charts out there for each brand of rings/bases. Probably on their website. But another member might be able to give you an exact answer from experience.
If I am not to late I use the Burris set up and a 42mm scope with medium rings and there is plenty of clearance.
Burris has a chart on their web site to confirm this so go to that site and look up and be sure.
I have the 110 FP in 7mm rem mag due in any day and the Burris extreme tactical are in the cabinet waiting for it, 30mm rings with a 2 piece base and a super sniper 20x42 scope just waiting for their new home. Now if the thumbhole stock would come in I'll be good to go.