one scope, two rifles?

[cabinetguy]

so here is my dilemma, i have a savage 110fp i bought about six years ago, still without a scope. its really no more useful than a paperweight. i just bought a 308 ar lower, which i plan on making it a dmr type rifle. i only can afford a scope for one. im wondering if there is any slick way to make one scope work with two rifles. im thinking zero with one rifle, remove the scope, and re-zero with the other, carefully noting windage and elevation changes. assuming i have good mounts, is this possible? long term, when employment is better, i will get two scopes, but im looking into bridging the gap so my wife doesnt kill me.

[Uriah02]

I'd say just pic one. Even with careful annotations to windage and elevation the moving the scope will loose the zero. It doesn't take much to offset zero once it has been made. If you want to keep switching between rifles at least re-zero it on a semi-regular basis.

[cabinetguy]

yeah, i understand, i guess im looking for a first shot kill when unicorn season opens up. i plan on buying the scope with the savage in mind, and buying irons for the ar till i can get a scope for it. still, if anyone has experience swapping scopes, let me know, im all ears.

[sleepur606]

Supposedly, the mounts from Larue with the throw levers are capable of maintaining zero even after being removed and reinstalled. If you were going to buy a single scope, I would try something along the lines of those one piece mounts and put a one piece rail on the bolt action. To ease the transition between bolt gun and AR, I would suggest a 0 MOA base on the bolt gun, however, this will limit your overall range depending on the elevation travel of your scope.

Realistically though, I would suggest you buy a scope for the bolt gun and keep the irons for the AR and get good with both. That way, you're good with the irons on the AR and more proficient in the use of the scope. Then you can buy another scope for the AR platform and have less of a learning curve.

Also, if you end up with two separate scopes, you don't have to compromise between something for long range with the bolt gun and medium/long range with the AR.

Hope that all helps.

[bruce_ventura]

The scope should re-install to within 1 MOA after removing. Your plan will work better if your scoope has good micrometer-style turret knobs, as opposed to little screws with hash marks. Using a torque wrench to tighten the mount screws might improve the results.

[WestOfPecos]

I have set all my rifles to use (almost) any of my scopes, and you can do the same too, but the set up does cost some money:
- I installed a picatinny rail on all my hunting rifles. They cost between $40 and $180 per rifle, depending upon the rifle ( a bit more if you need to drill it, unless you do it yourself, whnich I don't - I only install them)
- Then I set up Warne QD (quick detach) rings on all my scopes. They can be removed/ reinstalled in 5 seconds. They cost about $50 per pair. They keep their zero through a dismount/ remount cycle (never more than +/- 0.5 moa, good enough for hunting)
- I zeroed each scope on each rifle, and wrote down, for each, the number of clicks for each (rifle, scope) combination. This took a long time, and a lot of ammo, as I had a lot of scopes and rifle combinations... To tell you the truth, there are some combinations I have never zeroed, where I don't think I will ever match the scope and the rifle.
- Now, when I bring a rifle back into the safe, before cleaning it I take the scope off and put it on a safe shelf, then clean up, then store the rifle. When I want a rifle, I pick the scope I want, mount it, look up the adjustments, dial them in, and voila:-)

Hope this helps. Take care -

[thegrayham]

I am liking this idea. I have my .22 AR and my big one and I don't feel like buying a nice red dot and a nice scope for each. This should let me interchange the 2 fairly easily. And both have irons anyway as a backup. Thanks for the idea.

I have set all my rifles to use (almost) any of my scopes, and you can do the same too, but the set up does cost some money:
- I installed a picatinny rail on all my hunting rifles. They cost between $40 and $180 per rifle, depending upon the rifle ( a bit more if you need to drill it, unless you do it yourself, whnich I don't - I only install them)
- Then I set up Warne QD (quick detach) rings on all my scopes. They can be removed/ reinstalled in 5 seconds. They cost about $50 per pair. They keep their zero through a dismount/ remount cycle (never more than +/- 0.5 moa, good enough for hunting)
- I zeroed each scope on each rifle, and wrote down, for each, the number of clicks for each (rifle, scope) combination. This took a long time, and a lot of ammo, as I had a lot of scopes and rifle combinations... To tell you the truth, there are some combinations I have never zeroed, where I don't think I will ever match the scope and the rifle.
- Now, when I bring a rifle back into the safe, before cleaning it I take the scope off and put it on a safe shelf, then clean up, then store the rifle. When I want a rifle, I pick the scope I want, mount it, look up the adjustments, dial them in, and voila:-)

Hope this helps. Take care -

[Biigg50]

A good mount will keep thing close for same caliber rifles, but not for different calibers. On 2-308 guns it sould work fairly well and not cause to much wear on the scope, but to go from a 22 to a 308 would be a lot of adjustments for the scope. If you have a weaver type rail on each gun and a high quality throw lever mount it should work fine.

[ZX-10R]

I was in your position once. I just ended up buying scopes for every rifle since zeroing every time I swapped was silly and a waste of time.

[Capita159]

I was in your position once. I just ended up buying scopes for every rifle since zeroing every time I swapped was silly and a waste of time.

Agreed!

[Divernhunter]

Buy a Leupold 3X9X40 for the savage then later after it is built get a scope for the AR. I would be scoping the savage long before I even thought about the AR.