How much scope clearance is too much?

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Jul 31, 2016
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Washington
Despite my better judgement i listened to the gun genius at chuddela's and went with high scope rings.
I now have a ton of clearance, would i be better off getting lower rings or does it even matter?
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ckleeves

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Feb 25, 2012
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Montrose,Colorado
I wouldn't worry to much about how high it is if you can get a good solid cheek weld on the stock. If your having to lift your cheek off the stock at all I would go to lower rings.

Shoulder the rifle with your eyes closed, get good and comfortable on the stock then open your eyes and see where your looking and go from there.
 

Rolando

FNG
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Jan 27, 2017
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KY
I agree with this ^^

Knowing how I set my rifles up, I'd opt for lower rings.
 

howl

WKR
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Dec 3, 2016
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GA
Having the scope as close to the barrel as possible helps with cheek weld and problems with hitting your mark due to canting and POI/POA variance due to sight height.

Cheek weld is probably obvious. The only tricky part is having the scope so low you end up looking up through the corner of your eye to an extreme that your glasses or contacts get blurry. If you have extreme correction you might need a high mount to get your lens as square to the scope as possible. This fitting to you can vary depending on the shooting position you use.

Canting can throw your shot off because the scope was sighted in to the barrel with the pair aligned vertically. If you cant, you twist the scope and bore out of the alignment they were in.

The sight height issue can make you miss on elevation on very near shots or hit an obstruction close to the barrel. Having the scope mounted very close to the bore makes hitting very close targets or shooting through very near gaps easier because the flight path of the bullet is closer to the line of sight through the scope.

Most of the time low rings are the answer for objectives 40mm and smaller. I consider the scope to barrel gap the same as the barrel to stock gap. A dollar bill fitting about enough.
 

5MilesBack

"DADDY"
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Feb 27, 2012
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After you throw a scope cap on that objective you won't have that much clearance.;)

But as long as your line of sight is good through the scope as it is, it shouldn't be a problem.
 

stevevan

WKR
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Mar 23, 2016
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Your scope is way too high. It's the goal to get the scope as close to the bore as possible. I'm sure you will be able to find lower rings and get proper cheek weld.
 
OP
skaldugwas
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Jul 31, 2016
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Washington
Today I bought a set of low and medium rings, to see which is best. The scope has a 44 objective, but im betting low will work. Thanks for the feedback everyone
 

jherald

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Sep 16, 2012
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Alaska
As low as possible and still have bolt clearance while being able to get a good cheek weld to the stock. Ideally you want to settle in as low as possible on your stock. I go as low as possible on mine. One rifle has 1/4'' bolt clearance and another has 1/8'' clearance. I can settle into them nice and low without any issues in many shooting positions.

It's all in what is good for the individual as well.
 

ATX762

Lil-Rokslider
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Jun 30, 2017
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Austin, TX
Welll....let me be the dissenting opinion here. The right scope height is the height that works for you. I used to listen to the old wisdom of getting the scope right down just a single RCH above the barrel (including height for scope covers, of course) but I found that MOST of the time, I shoot better with a scope height that allows my head to be in a fairly upright position while still maintaining good stock position in my shoulder pocket.

Now, my precision rifles, which i only shoot prone...sort of another story. But this is presuming you're setting up a do-all hunting rifle which you might shoot standing, sitting, kneeling, or prone.

But back to my point, I have been going with a higher scope height on most of my guns, of late. Now, it completely depends on the stock, and the height of the comb, and the drop at the heel etc.

Regardless, for sure, I would not trust anyone's word on what the right scope height is based on a picture. No offense to anyone.

Here is the test that works best.
1. find a target in the middle distance you can aim at.
2. face target.
3. Close eyes and shoulder rifle as you normally do.
4. Open eyes. You should be looking DIRECTLY through the middle of the scope.

You don't actually even need a target. Just close your eyes and mount your rifle naturally while standing. Where is the scope falling in your field of vision? That will tell you the correct scope height.

When I was mounting my scopes right down on the bore (as is commonly suggested) I found I was often looking through the top portion of the scope, and had to readjust my head position to get myself looking though the middle of the scope. That was retarded. So I ended up going to higher rings on many of my rifles. My objective/barrel gap looks like yours on about half of my rifles.

Again, depends on comb height etc AND it depends on your neck length etc etc. Unless you are shooting an m-14, you will have enough cheek weld on almost any hunting rifle. You don't need the "right at the cheekbone" weld. You just need better than "chin weld." And just as importantly you need your head and neck in a natural position. Fit your gun to your body, not your body to the gun.

Anyway-- do this test I describe above before you remount your scope. It might be too high. Or it might be perfect. The side effect of a more natural upright head position, in addition to being more comfortable and shooting faster offhand, is you're less likely to get bit by the scope over your eye. When your scope is too low, you end up inclining your head toward the rifle, which A) means you're looking through the top of your visual plane rather than the middle of it and B) makes you more likely to get whacked by the scope if things go wrong. Too low of a scope also means you are likely to end up raising the buttstock higher than it should be in your shoulder pocket.

Anyway--don't listen to anyone's opinion, just do the test and make your own call. Are you looking through the center of the scope while the butt is nicely mounted in your shoulder pocket? If so, leave it as is. If not, make a change.
 
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skaldugwas
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Jul 31, 2016
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Washington
Low mounts gave me more than enough clearence for a scope cover and made the scope easier to look through to boot. Thanks to everyone for your feedback
 
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