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Re: Scope height

Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 6:13 pm
by SteveD
Scope rings off the shelf are typically available in four different heights, low, medium, high and sometimes extra high. That corresponds roughly to ¼”, ½”, ¾” and 1’ as measured from the top of the base to the bottom of the scope tube.

There are some scope rings that give a measurement from the top of the base to the middle of the ring. Just subtract half of the diameter of the scope tube (1”, 30mm or 34mm) to get the amount of height that ring will give you.

If you want to go higher than what off the shelf rings will give you there are moderately sized risers for clamp on type scope mounts like for the Anschutz. It is tougher for High Power as the system needs to be a lot stronger than for a Smallbore rifle.

To get higher that what rings will go you can have a scope base made like the DW TOOL CO one in the pic I posted. If you have one of those that is 1 1/4” high then you can add low, medium or high rings to get to the Standard limit of 2” from the top of the receiver to the bottom of the scope tube. Bases like that often slope forward to center the scope adjustment where we use them. Otherwise you sometimes run out of scope adjustment at Rams.

Some combination of the above gets you from the lowest possible mounting position to 1 ½” for Hunter or 2” for Standard in roughly ¼” increments.

You might ask to look through different peoples rifles at a shoot. The correct height is whatever works best for you. It is a matter of preference and your physique and how you position the rifle. You want your eye to be looking straight through the center of the scope when you have a natural, comfortable and repeatable head position with proper eye relief.

Re: Scope height

Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 6:49 pm
by nemo
Hi Steve,

thank you for the answer, but it appears that I have not asked correctly. So let me try again.

Let us say that one has acquired a rifle and a scope. Now, the question is how to determine the scope height, so that in a correct rifle position, in your words "when you have a natural, comfortable and repeatable head position with proper eye relief", one has a good view through the scope, again in your words "eye to be looking straight through the center of the scope", and can buy the correct height of a scope ring. In practical terms, how does one temporarily mount the scope at an (arbitrary) height, so that one can determine whether one has a good view through the scope?

It seems impractical, even neglecting the considerable price, buying a plurality of scope rings of different heights, mounting the cope into the lowest height scope ring, determining that one does not have a good view through the scope - thus the height being incorrect, and repeating the exercise with the next scope ring height(s) until finding the closes to ideal height of a scope ring.

Kindest regards,

N

Re: Scope height

Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2016 7:38 am
by DavidABQ
I hate to tell you but I found the correct height by obtaining numerous set of scope rings of different heights.

The low and extra low rings will probably be too low for you so toss those out unless everything else is too high.

That leaves the medium and high rings so now you are down to 2 sets of rings to buy or borrow.

Is there someone near you with the same rifle, for example if you and a buddy have an Anschutz 1712 Silhouette model then try their ring height out on their rifle. That should narrow down your search.

BTW: I have used medium height rings from Leupold, Warne, BKL and now a set of Nikon A-Series rings. All worked well for me height wise.

Re: Scope height

Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2016 8:54 am
by SteveD
nemo wrote:
It seems impractical, even neglecting the considerable price, buying a plurality of scope rings of different heights, mounting the cope.......

Kindest regards,

N
Hello Nemo,

I hope that you are well.

I understand the impracticality you express. Initially you might try a block of wood that you have modified to reflect the shape of the receiver and scope tube. It would be most helpful if you can get someone that understands what you are trying to accomplish in scope setup to look at your head/rifle/eyes position while you are trying it out. You could do this first and ask that person to measure the distance for the top of the receiver the the bottom of the scope tube. This would get you started.

You would still want to try it in actual use before settling on a final height and rings would be required for that. What seems to be good initially may change once you have used it for a while

Good luck!

Best regards,

Steve

Re: Scope height

Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2016 9:14 am
by DavidABQ
Hey Steve,

I like your idea of someone measuring the height to the center of his eye but instead of using some block of wood why not just use his rifle with the scope and rings removed?

Nemo, remove the current scope and ring combination if it is not the correct height and shoulder the rifle. Have someone measure up with a tape measure so yo can read the height. Measure from the top of the receiver to where you can read the tape measure. Now you know how high it is for you to look through the center of the scope; lets call this the "eye height measurement."

Just subtract the radius of the scope tube; 0.500 inches for a 1 in tube and 0.591 inches if you have a 30 millimeter scope tube.

The difference between the eye height measurement and the scope tube radius value is the height from the receiver to the saddle of the scope ring.

Very easy to do with a friend to help and it should get you fairly close when you buy a set of scope rings.

**==

Re: Scope height

Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2016 9:51 am
by nemo
Hi DavidABQ and SteveD,

I was rather dismayed after reading David's initial response, but after Steve's replay and final David's post, an extremely rare event for me occurred - I think that I have an idea. Actually two of them.

I had, after much experimentation with stock and open sights adjustments, arrived at a correct height of the open sights for an air rifle. So, why do I not just mount the rear sight on the silhouette rifle and adjust the height by the use of sight risers?

Alternatively, if I measure the difference between the comb and the center of the rear sight on the air rifle, that measurement would give me a good first order approximation. I say first order, because the comb on the air rifle is shaped differently than the one on the Robertson's stock. However, I can then fashion a wooden spacer (I have access to a nice shop) and do the final adjustment by mounting the spacer to different height sight raisers.

Thank you, gentlemen, for your time and willingness to share your thoughts.

Kindest regards,

N

Re: Scope height

Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2016 2:34 pm
by DavidABQ
nemo wrote:Hi DavidABQ and SteveD,

I was rather dismayed after reading David's initial response, but after Steve's replay and final David's post, an extremely rare event for me occurred

Kindest regards,

N
Nemo, are you telling that my post was helpful?

That is a surprise. I was trying to emulate Jerry but I obviously did something incorrectly if I was helpful.
:-o

Re: Scope height

Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2016 4:43 pm
by nemo
Hi DavidABQ,

apparently, my ability to express myself in English is failing me; the second time in this thread. ;-( So, not wishing to leave any doubts in your mind, yes, your post was extremely helpful.

I am sorry, I am not sure what your reference to Jerry alludes to.

Kindest regards,

N