I bought a new tikka t3 and must say that I am thoughly impressed with the accuracy, however, I have a concern with the scope mounting/set-up.

I took the factory rings (which I thought were fairly flimsy) off and bought a set of weaver bases and mounts here locally and had the shop put everything on and bore site it. The good news is the rifle shoots extremely well and cut one big raged hole with 3 out of 4 shots. The bad news is the hole was approximately 13" high at 100 yds.

Nowthis wasn't a "sight-in" session at the range, I just wanted to see how it grouped, however, I'm afraid that the scope (slightly older leupy vari-x II)is not going to have enoughrange of adjustment to bringthe shots down to an acceptable height. the shop guys mentioned the word "shim" and I shuddered slightly.

Although I have never had to "shim" a scope before, it gives me the mental impression of something "half arsed". Now this is probably not the case at all, but with the potential accuracy that this gun can obviously produce, I don't ever want to be worried about something like this "failing"at the wrong time.The guys at the store didn't really have too much time tonight as they were closing. Can you guys explain how the "shim" works and comment on its reliability over the long term? I'm not even sure what exactly itcould be shimmed with. Thanks
hb

I have shimmed cheaper scopes before, and didn't like the setup. That was many years ago. But a leupy should be able to adjust down 13MOA. Thats little over 1 full twist usually.

I don't like shimming. I take alot of time lapping my rings making them perfectly concentric as I can. A shim throws all that off.

thanks for the response bc,

I wonder though, do you think 13 moa is nearing the maximum "range" of the scope adjustment, because I worry that if the scope was already in the middle of the "range" or, who knows, it mabe close to the bottom depending on it's set-up with the last rifle I had it on, that it may not go that much farther. I realize I coud just try it andsee but want to be totally prepared and informedin caseI have to make an alternatedecision and I trust the opinions on here much more than the local sporting good store

I'm glad to hear your opinion on the shim, but am unfamiliar alsowith what "lapping" is or how I can do it. Never had a problem like this before. I usually could just slap a scope on, move 10 clicks here and 10 clicks there and was done

thanks again
hb

It bothers me to use shims but they work just fine.

I own rifles that still shoot "very good" that i shimmed back in the 70's... I'd do it again today if i had to as it's really no big deal.

DM

Well, you will never know until you try. Cross that bridge when you come to it. Usually leupold had 40MOA adjustment total, and 20MOA from the center.

Not to throw a curve into the mix but I would check some things first. If the hole was close to centered left to right I would turn the elevation knob all the way up (counting as you go so you know where it was to start) and then count how many turns and clicks till it was all the way down. Divide the total from up to down in half and set theelevation to that position. This will get you to the center of the adjustment range. This can also be done for the windage but if your already centered it's not really needed. Compare where it started to where it is now and see if it was near center to start. If the holewas 13" above point of aim you need to adjust the cross hairs up so if the difference in the original setting and the new setting is in that direction you should be good to dial it in.

If not, I would suggest you look into the Burris Signature series of rings. They have a plastic insert that self aligns to the scope so no lapping is needed and they also make offset inserts that allow up to .040" total adjustment up or down in .005" steps to the tilt of the scope so that your scope can be very close to the center of the optics when sighted in. The inserts also will not mark your scope tube in any way and hold it very securely. I recently put a set on my Win 70 and like them so much I may be replacing the rings on all my guns with them.

Good luck with it.

I have used brass shim stock before. I used to get it at an auto supply store that did engine work. It comes in varying thickness, and works well.
I don't necessarily recommend this practice, just wanted to let you know of an option that's available. It is used to shim worn bearings in an engine.

Thanks for the help guys, I'll let you know what happens

I would talk with the shop that installed the mounts. Sound like you have a miss matched or wrong mounts for the Tikka. I wouldn't shim on a quality rifle and scope. Have the shop make it right.