Patch: Red makes a good point about the eye relief. When I make changes to the scope on my 30-06, I always have my wife help me with the relief.

After tightening the rings, Iset the scope to max power. With my wife standing by my side, I hold the rifle so I can get a full field of view through the scope. Using a ruler, my wife will then measure the distance from the scope to the nearest part of my body to make sure it is no closer than 3 inches.

This has saved me from any nasty surprises.

For what it is worth:

the first time I fired a scoped rifle, my first "real" rifle, I was wearing a baseball cap. The rifle was a 30-30. The recoil caused the scope to whack in to the brim of my cap, knocking my hat and ear protection off.

Scared the piss out of me and the guys at the range got a good laugh when I jumped back

Good luck with the scope. Hopefully you will have a macho looking scar and a good war story to go with it.

~Robert

You will learn after a while to hold the gun firm enough. No matter how hard i hold my 12 gauge when i shoot my slugs i always hit my self in the cheeck with my hand cause it drives my thumb intwo me. But you wont notice it when a deer walks in. Havnt shot my muzzleloader yet. Hopefully gona take it out this year.