mattakaspeeedy

Hey guys I have a Howa 1500 .223 and have just purchased the bushnell AR223 4.5-18x40 scope.

Which would be the best way to mount it ?
Mount it with rings directly to the receiver or to a picatinny rail ?
Also does anyone know if I need medium or high mounts ?
Does anyone else have this sort of setup ?
What are you opinions on the scope ?

Thanks

troutbum

You have a great rifle, It's a sporting bolt action. I would go for good regular base's and good ring.s, The best That I can afford. I would mount it as low as i can with out bell housing touching BBL. Piccy rails I only use on some Milatary rifle's i have. I think your rifle will look better to. Good luck.

homers brother

You're probably going to need "medium" height rings with a 40mm objective, but what TB posted is generally the direction you want to go. Keep it as low as you can, with the scope bell just off the barrel.

My "standard" mount is a leupold one-piece base with matching rings appropriate to the size of the scope's objective. I don't use Pic's on hunting rifles. They tend to be much taller than the leupold base.

Topgun 3006

What they said, although I prefer the two piece Leupold system!

Centaur 1

I don't like the rings that mount right to the receiver. If you need to remove the scope from the rifle, everything needs to be taken apart. I prefer the picatinny rail, it's basically a weaver base that has extra slots to give you more mounting options.

I have the same scope in the 3-12x40mm option on my Daniel Defense AR-15 and I love it, and the adjustable turrets are great. I sight in my rifle with my deer hunting load, then remove the screw and adjust the turrets to zero. I take my rifle to the range at least once a week and I can adjust the scope for my target loads. Then when I go hunting, all I need to do is adjust the scope so the zeros lines up and it's sighted back in for the hunting loads.

Sheridan

I would not put a "rail" on a boltgun, but that's just personal preference.

AR only way to fly !

Shotgun for home defense.......................why not.

Lasers, lights, red (green) dot - you're all good.

All a matter of ones "taste" IMO.

homers brother

Nor would I. It's one thing on any rig if the scope needs to come off. You're dealing with just two attachment points in most cases. If you're going beyond that, you'd just as well disassemble the whole thing and re-torque everything back up while you're at it - and there's usually a reason you're disassembling beyond removing the optic anyway.

Most ARs anymore come with the rail integral to the upper receiver. There's no additional height added on its account. Not so with a stock bolt gun. A Leupold-style base is still going to add some height, but not as much as the rail will. I still pay attention to things like cheek weld though, so maybe I'm just a little bit old-fashioned?

Nomercy448

I'm a fan of Leupold 1piece mounts, but if it tickles your fancy, a 1pc pic rail that bridges the ejection port can produce an optic platform that's just as robust as anything else, and it gives more opportunity for ring position to perfectly match your scope design and your eye position along the stock. Depending on the brand of base and rings, you might find that the pic rail + low OR med rings might be the same height as Leup's med rings.

I don't have any particular aversion to pic rails where needed, but I'd honestly rather see a single pic rail on a bolt action hog rifle's forend meant for mounting a kill light than I would an AR covered in rails that aren't getting used. Using pic rails as optic mounts makes sense, so if that's what you're after, do it.

Ridge Runner

I use pic rails with med rings on scopes up to 56mm obj.
RR

Centaur 1

I get the feeling that not everyone understands what a picatinny rail is. It's nothing more than a weaver base with slots that are wider, and placed at fixed intervals along the rail. The width of the slot allows you to use rings that have a much stronger ring to base interface. The fact that these slots are along the entire length of the base guarantees that whichever scope you mount to the rifle, it will be able to be mounted with proper eye relief for the user. Although you can purchase any configuration that suites your fancy, picatinny rail does not automatically mean that you're adding anything forward of the receiver. This short article explains the difference. http://blog.cheaperthandirt.com/weav...catinny-rails/