Is there anything special I should know about installing a new scope on my 30-06 Remington 700??

Question

I just bought a new scope to replace my cheap one I bought when I first bought this rifle. Is there anything special I should know about mounting it in regards to the rings and base? I plan to use the same Leupold rings and base from before, should I just buy new ones? I had the gun shop do it for me when I purchased the rifle but I bought a new scope and boresight laser and want to learn how to do it myself. It shouldn't be that hard right?? Any tips would be appreciated.

Answer 1

I agree with 2nd Amendment, if the scope have roughly the same size objective and OAL you should have no problems doing this yourself.

Answer 2

After you put it on and you look through it, things should look real close, not really really far away.

Seriously, if you didn't have a problem with the old rings, keep it simple. Drop the new scope into the old rings and see how it fits. A trick to get the scope in the ballpark is remove the bolt, look through the barrel and point it at the target. Without moving the rifle, look through the scope. See how far off it is. From there, use the laser sight.

Answer 3

I would...

Remove the old scope

Install the new scope using a touch of blue thread locker in the screws in the rings.

Tighten the screws just enough that you can insure the reticles are in line and are vertical and horizontal.

Then torque them down.

Bore site your rifle

Then fine tune it for the range you want to shoot at

Make sure that your spent rounds will not hit the scope when you extract them.

Make sure you set the scope far enough forward or back in the rings to make it comfortable.

Happy shooting...

Answer 4

Second Amendment Defender pretty much said it all.

The only thing I might ad is Objective Clearance. Is the front dimension of the new scope the same size or larger? Once the old scope is removed and the new one is sitting in the rings, is there still a little gap between the objective and barrel? If they touch you will need higher rings.

Hopefully you have a simple swap over. Good Shooting.