deerjackie
Well-Known Member
i have a 50 mm scope that is dollar bill close but when i tighten the ring caps down it touches. should i A. shim both ends?B. get taller and less accurate rings? i want it as close as possible. thanks for your help.dj
shimming a scope ring
- Thread starter deerjackie
- Start date
id shim it if no other problems like the bolt touching when racking another round ect,hate to buy new if its a easy fix that will work & not cobbled,all my bolt actions dont have open sites so thats 1 less problem with scope mounting,mike243
If it's "dollar bill close" you can just add shims front and rear and still use the rings you have. I've had to shim several scopes along the way and just shimmed a scope on a 10/22 yesterday to gain more elevation after freefloating the barrel. It's an easy and quick fix. You can buy commercial shim material or just take the cheap route like I do and cut shims from Coke cans. I added three to the 22 yesterday to get where I wanted. Just be sure to cut them slightly smaller than the width of the rings or the shiny ends will detract from the rifle's appearance.
It is good to have your scope as close to the barrel as possible, but to say less accurate is a stretch. I have 50mm scopes on two 7mm Remington magnums, and both guns will shoot under an inch, sometimes 1/2".
deerjackie
Well-Known Member
my iron sights have been removed the day it arrived. i will shim it up or go to next size up. saddle height is .129 not sure what brand or low,med, they are. traded for a few in a bucket! lol
deerjackie
Well-Known Member
will aluminum foil work?
It's thinner than the pop can and probably won't give you the thickness you need without multiple layers. Sometimes I've used up to four thicknesses of the aluminum from drink cans. You'll get about .005" thickness for each piece of aluminum can shim whereas the aluminum foil is only about .001" which isn't much by the time you compress it under the ring. Of course you can always buy the good brass shim stock. The drink can can be cut open and then flattened and cut with ordinary scissors and they're not hard to come by....just check the roadside in front of my house. Just don't use the wife's good sewing scissors or let her know you used them.
What Hillbilly Hunter said.
Coke cans are fine too by the way.
Coke cans are fine too by the way.
I'm a believer in these too. I've got an extra set of signature double dovetail rings that I bought that were too short sitting in the garage. Guess I'll have to buy a new rifle to sit under them since I have them anyway huh?DEER ASSASSIN said:
Blue5
Well-Known Member
I used coke cans on mine!
Personally I wouldn't shim a scope on a centerfire rifle. I'd just buy the correct mounts.
Locksley
Well-Known Member
I would shim it if no other problems like the bolt touching when racking another round ect, hate to buy new if its a easy fix that will work & not cobbled up.If it's "dollar bill close" you can just add shims front and rear and still use the rings you have. I've had to shim several scopes along the way . You can buy commercial shim material or just take the cheap route like I do and cut shims from Coke cans It is good to have your scope as close to the barrel as possible.gbee said:
Sometimes you really need to shim some mounts to get the proper range of scope elevation for long range. You can buy 15, 20, and 30 MOA bases but you may still need to shim those to fine tune the scope settings. My favorite is the Burris Signature rings which you can get within 5 MOA of what you want and then fine tune it a little more while centering the windage. It takes time but is worth it. Of course for the question he asked I'd just place a small shim under the front and back ring both rather than take the scope a lot higher with the next size ring. I've never had a problem with the shims moving. Like Locksley I like scopes as close as possible to the barrel to get a good cheek weld providing the rifle allows it. Sometimes you just can't get where you want without a little cobbling up.
