Ring-base tolerance

[Edd Panzella]

New guy here - 30 yr shooter & handloader but just bought first Savage. - A 111 center feed in 30-06. My long action is 6 inches between tappings but my scope tube length between obj & eypiece is only 5 inches which brought me to another first for me - a picatinny base by Mike Farrel. I already had warne QD rings. I've read that the picatinny base system follows the weaver pattern but the the recoil groove is a little wider. My warne rings do have fore and aft play in the recoil grooves before they are tightened. I would think that taking up the play in both rings by pushing them towards the muzzle until they contact the front of the groove would give them max stability under recoil but another approach would be to go forward with one and rearward with the other to take out all play but this would put most of the load of recoil on the ring pushed forward. Sorry if this was covered before but I looked and couldn't find it.

[MichaelStrauss]

Put both to the muzzle end of the stick and be happy. You will come to appreciate the versatility of the weaver style bases; I won't use anything else. My favorite ring is the Burris Signature Zee, but I have been wanting to try a set of QD rings. Welcome to the site.

[brianinca]

>>>
Put both to the muzzle end of the stick and be happy
>>>

Perfect.

Edit to add: I like the Warne Maxima's PERMANENT, I use them on my wife's FP10-LE1A (30 mm) on a Farrell G-Force (have 3 on Savages), that's a great rail and the Warnes are awkward to mount but are great in use. I just don't trust quick release anything and especially not Leupold.

Regards,
Brian in CA

[Edd Panzella]

Thanks for the info, guys. I 'm using the Warne QD rings which appear to be the same as their permanent rings but with the crossbolt nut replaced by a one legged wingnut. I did mount the scope with both rings solid against the front of the Picatinny slots and took the gun out on her first trip to the range. After a shoot & clean breakin for 16 rounds I had 4 left so decided to try a group. Cheapo 220 gr roundnose Remington slugs thrown together for a thick brush hunting trip went into 3/4" @ 100yds. (4 shots). Now, one group does not a shooter make, but I sure am encouraged as these rounds were assembled for another rifle with no regard for oal and no load development. BTW, this is an out of the box 111 in '06 that was $350 bucks brand new. I think it's the cheapest '06 Savage makes and it impressed the pants off me. Can't wait for our second date.