Setting Up My Scope....

[sonofeugene]

Any and all comments welcomed.

I brought my new MVP Patrol in .308 home this evening and did some preliminary fitting of the scope (Leupold VX-R 3-9x50) and it became very obvious that the ultra high (.850") Warne quick release rings were going to be way too tall. So, working with some modeling clay to temporarily position the scope, I think their medium height rings at .375" will work just fine. And even though the iron sight (which I want to keep on the rifle and use from time to time) is technically in front of the glass, it does not appear through the scope at either low or high magnification. And no reflections from the iron sight show up either. Below are some pix of where the scope should end up mounted. Good? Not good?

[sonofeugene]

Another photo:

[samboost]

looks good to me

[AreWeFree]

Out of curiosity, what's the cost on the rings you are looking at?

Your setup looks fine, but I'd personally go with a set of aluminum TSP low rings. They mounted perfectly and the machining was excellent.

[dozer wright]

Probably.......

Go even lower. But looks good. Id get the scope as low as possible but thats just me.
On some of my rifles I can just get the dust cover on and off the scope.

[sonofeugene]

Cost of the rings was 106 including shipping from Amazon. Though now it looks like I'll be returning them.

As for mounting the scope as low as possible, I agree, but I also want to keep the iron sights intact as I plan on using them from time to time. Old school, I know, but then I'm old. Or getting there.

One thing I noticed last night while posting the above photos was that there doesn't seem to be enough room for a flip up cover to clear the iron sight. And upon further thought, it appears I've got the scope mounted a bit too far forward. So, this morning before I headed off for work, I went back to the garage and moved the scope back some, more in line with what I've seen on other Patrols and Predators and that, combined with the next higher mount should give me the clearance I need for the flip up cap. The above pix had me getting a cheek weld and then craning my neck and head forward a bit which I think was not good. Of course, until I get it to the range and spend time with it I really won't know if my choice was good, but I think it's a good start. And if I need to buy another set of mounts, so be it.

Also, I'm not that worried about getting the scope down as low as possible. Everything is a compromise and wanting to keep the iron sights is something I want to do. And really, all it means is that I'll have to dial in just a bit more compensation when shooting at something other than 100 yards.

Thanks all for your feedback and I still welcome any comments. This is the first time I've mounted my own scope. And the only other time I had a scope mounted was when I was 16 and put a cheap Weaver on my father's Montgomery Wards Western Field 22.