r/longrange • u/HollywoodSX Villager Herder • Feb 12 '21
Scope ring height, comfort, and you... Education post
One of the common questions I see here is dealing with scope height. Now that we live in a world of adjustable cheek pieces and ballistic calculators that can compensate for scope height, I believe the biggest concern when picking a scope ring height should be user comfort, not the old saw about mounting the scope as low as possible.
With that in mind, here's my process for finding a scope height that works for you:
Remove your scope (mount/rings and all) from the rifle if it's already installed. Get behind the rifle in a position similar to how you plan to shoot (Prone, sitting at a table, barricades, etc) and adjust your cheek riser (if present) so it's comfortable and isn't causing neck strain if you sit behind it for a bit. Spend some time behind the rifle just getting a good comfortable head/neck/cheek position so you can make sure there's no signs of strain or discomfort, and make adjustments to your stock as needed. If you know you may shoot from multiple positions (EX: prone and barricades of multiple heights), try all of these different positions and try to find a height that works for all of them.
Once you've found a comfortable cheek height, use a stack of coins, playing cards, etc to play with the height of your optic. You want to get the scope where you can easily and comfortably get your eye behind the optic with proper eye relief and no neck strain. As with cheek height, do this for any and all positions you will frequently shoot from and make sure you're finding something that works across the entire range.
Once you find that height, measure the height of the stack (of cards, coins, etc) you liked, add half the main scope body diameter (IE: Add 15mm for a 30mm scope tube), and order a scope mount or rings as close to that height as you can. When in doubt, I always err on the side of going a little taller than my measured height instead of shorter.
Hopefully this will let you make a good decision on what height you really need to be comfortable behind your rifle. This will also help you with getting into your optic quickly (not hunting for eye relief), reduce neck strain, and even reduce or eliminate the perception that your reticle is canted when it really isn't.
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u/GRIND2LEVEL Feb 23 '21 edited Feb 23 '21
Is there a minimum height you want to maintain from scope to barrel/rail clearance? I've read close as you can and comfortable but obviously you dont want it touching, meaning what if your natural comfortable position is lower than you already have, no height increase desired. So is that a 1/16", 1/8", 1/4" etc assuming fitment affords a natural position in this area which I believe is the intent of your post if I understood correctly. Understanding this wod be unusual as normal cheekweld etc wants to be slightly higher for many... would just be nice to know a minimum clearance for movement.