Rem700 .223 'Tactical' + Leupold 30mm tube VX-III..

[Bic]

.. 8.5 -25X 50mm LR. (objective is 54mm O.D.)

anyone have that set-up? what height/brand of rings? I'm thinking Leupold Mk4 'High' but will those clear the heavy barrel? I don't plan on fitting scope covers in order to get it as close as poss. to the bore.

[billt]

.. 8.5 -25X 50mm LR. (objective is 54mm O.D.)

anyone have that set-up? what height/brand of rings? I'm thinking Leupold Mk4 'High' but will those clear the heavy barrel? I don't plan on fitting scope covers in order to get it as close as poss. to the bore.

To give you some idea, these are Leupold Mark IV Steel "Super High" Rings on my Bushmaster Modular Carbine. The scope is a Nikon P-223, 3-9X with a 40 MM Objective front lens. The plain of the barrel / receiver will be the same regardless of the thickness of the barrel. On an AR-15 you will most likely be mounting on a the flat plane of the rail itself. And as you can see, it requires higher rings than on a bolt action repeater that normally has a slight step down where the barrel screws into the receiver.

To play it safe you could go with the Mark IV Super High Rings, (which you'll almost certainly need with a 50 MM front lens), then if it still requires more clearance you could simply employ a pair of 1/2" riser blocks. These are inexpensive so even if you don't use them you will have them for a future installation down the road. I've seen these risers for around $10.00 a pair.

[billt]

One other thing I failed to mention is in an AR-15 compared to a Remington 700 you have a much more straight line stock configuration. This requires higher rings to get a proper field of view from your scope, regardless of size. With a 700, depending on stock configuration, your cheek weld is usually much higher in relationship to the centerline of the bore, allowing the use of lower rings. In all of my Remington 700's I've always been able to get a good sight picture using the lowest rings I could get away with. As long as the front objective lens cleared, I was good to go.

The only other thing is if you go to a 20 MOA tapered base. This will cause the front objective to drop lower because of the downward tilt of the base. The longer the scope, the worse this condition will be. Sun shades and scope lens covers add to the lack of clearance with tapered bases. This can require higher rings to offset that difference.

[Bic]

Excellent advice - thanks Bill. It is going on a 700. Thanks also for the TV advice last month - that works great too!!