Rifle Scopes Can't understand it...

[craigp40]

Hopefully I can explain this well enough, but it's really confusing me.

I have a Win 70 SA with a 20 MOA Seekins base on it. It mostly wears a Mark 4 4.5-14 scope, but today I swapped it with a higher powered Nikon 1" scope that has ~45 MOA of travel. I wasn't even sure if I could get it zeroed at 100yds without the scope hitting bottom, but when I put it on and zeroed it, I only have about 12 MOA of elevation left. I never really noticed it with the Mark 4 because I had plenty of travel left. Somewhat confused, I took the scopes off of 2 other rifles that have 20 MOA bases (Badger and EGW) and mounted the Mark 4 and Nikon just to see where they landed in my bore sighter. They were way off. I mounted all different combinations of scopes and rifles and the only one not consistent is the Win 70.

Can you make the assumption that if you move the same scope between different rifles with 20 MOA bases that you shouldn't have to move it much more than a few MOA to get it zeroed? What could be screwed up on my Win 70 that puts it that far out from the other two rifles? Is the base messed up? Action? I plan on calling Glen on Monday, but am I missing something?

 

[Trigger Monkey]

Re: Can't understand it...

I had a similar problem with a Seekins base, in fact a Badger as well, but in short the base was flexing while torqued to the action giving me about 20 MOA instead of 30 MOA. I talked to Glenn about it and he recommended to remove the two rear screws and torque the front screws to spec. If there is a space between the rear of the base and the action, I needed to bed the base to the action. I did this and sure enough there was space between the action and base so I bedded the base and sure enough the problem was solved. This sounds like what is happening to you so try the above and see what you get.

 

[craigp40]

Re: Can't understand it...

Bingo! Thanks Trigger! I followed the test that Glenn mentioned to you and it shows that I've got about 12-15 MOA of flex in my base. I guess that is why people buy custom actions.

Now I just need to research how to bed a scope base. I've done actions before, but not a base. Can't imagine it being that difficult.

 

[Trigger Monkey]

Re: Can't understand it...

It's not that hard, same basic principle really, just on a much smaller scale.

 

[Joeyhotfizzle]

Re: Can't understand it...

Here's a link for a DIY bedding for your base: http://www.snipercentral.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=11315

 

[craigp40]

Re: Can't understand it...

Thanks for this link. I was looking at the same one this morning. Really easy.

 

[ck50bmg]

Re: Can't understand it...

Craig,

Just get George to build you a rifle on Martys action and you won't have this problem. Hope to see you a Reade Range this spring, Sang & I will be there. I will try to get up with you soon.

Clark K

 

[LoneWolfUSMC]

Re: Can't understand it...

Another reason why I always bed one piece bases.

 

[BigBrother]

Re: Can't understand it...

I've been having what sounds like a similar problem over here:

http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1053544&page=1

My question is, if I get my base back from Badger and it doesn't fix it, and the test described here comes back with similar results as the OP, what should I be complaining to Remington about- an uneven action? I have a good rapport with one of the guys there so they'll probably fix it for me. I just need to know how to exactly describe the problem...

 

[craigp40]

Re: Can't understand it...

Remington does not manufacture their actions to the same tight tolerances that the high end base manufacturers do (e.g. Seekins, Badger, etc.). If they did, you would be paying a lot more. I think if you took the route of trying to get Rem to fix/replace it, you would be dealing with this for a loooongggg time. If the rifle shoots well, I would just bed the rear of the base. I did mine 2 nights ago and it was a piece of cake. Took me under an hour to do 2 rifles, and that included prep time. Fixed my issues as well. Just make sure you don't get any bedding material in the action screw holes. I had a scare with one of my rifles when I took the base off and saw that the bedding material pushed the clay out that I had put in. Luckily, I was able to knock it out with a punch, but I was figuring I would have to get my holes retapped.

 

[BigBrother]

Re: Can't understand it...

One other thing- will a sheet of paper be enough to test if there's a gap? Will it be visible to the naked eye? I need a way to easily gauge, once I tighten the front two, if there is space in the rear. Thanks.

 

[LoneWolfUSMC]

Re: Can't understand it...

I could see light through the gap in mine.

A sheet or paper may work.

 

[craigp40]

Re: Can't understand it...

After I tightened the two front screws, I was able to press down on the rear of the base and see movement. I also confirmed with a bore sighter by observing where the cross hairs landed on the grid when all screws were torqued, and then the delta when only the front 2 screws were tightened. It becomes very obvious when you do that and let's you see roughly how many MOA you'll gain back by bedding it.

 

[BigBrother]

Re: Can't understand it...

Thanks!!!