another tikka question.

Nekarsulm

Hi guys. I have a tikka .223 and need to get the scopescope up a bit off the barrel. When it's slid back far enough to suit my eye relief, the front of scope is just touching the barrel.
SO....do I go for higher (1" inch) mounts or go for a picatinney rail and keep the current mounts?
Tikka' s have a wider dove tail on top of the receiver than most and choice is more limited.
Have been quoted €78 for a pair of Weaver mounts to suit. Or OptiLock mounts at €175. The shop dismissed a rail.

Cass

Nekarsulm wrote: »

The shop dismissed a rail.

Why? A rail is a much better mounting system than a dovetail rail.

I'd go for a rail which in itself will raise the "mounting platform" 5 - 7 mm (1/4").

To determine the right height rings you need to clear the barrel you measure the objective lens of the scope including the housing. A 50 mm scope will usually be about 56 mm from outside to outside of housing. You halve this for 26 mm. You then take 4-5 mm as the "gap" you need between the housing of the scope and the the barrel. So you need rings that are 30 - 31mm high.

Now if you have a rail at between 5 - 7 mm in height you can take this from the overall height of the rings. So if you need 31 mm rings take the height of the rail off it (31 mm - 5 mm) and you're left with 26 mm. Use the sizing chart for each brand (found on their website) of rings to determine the size as each manufacturer has different ways to measure.

If in doubt if the rings you chose will be high enough go for the higher ones and make sure you have enough clearance. Keeping the scope as close to the barrel as possible is important, but not vital. The higher off the barrel the scope is the more elevation you will use to zero, but it won't effect the guns performance. The only concern regarding the height of the scope off the barrel is your eye relief. If it's too high you'll be shooting in an uncomfortable and awkward manner which may effect your shooting. However only you can determine if this is the case.

lefthooker

Nekarsulm wrote: »

The shop dismissed a rail.

Probably cos they wanted to sell you weaver or opti lock rings.

SO....do I go for higher (1" inch) mounts or go for a picatinney rail and keep the current mounts?

If I'm reading it right you're using dovetail rings. They won't work with a picatinny rail so regardless of what system you go for you'll need new rings. Personally I'd go for a rail and rings to suit.

One other option, if you're happy with eye relief and scope height, is to shim you're rings and see if the scope clears the barrel.

Nekarsulm

Yes I suppose their supplier sells rings, not rails.