im picking up my new tikka t3 lite stainless tomarrow with a nikon buckmasters silver shadow (i think thats what its called).

anyway, ive been looking at a lot of scopes at gander mountain and i find that without having my eye about 2-3 inches from the scope, i dont get the full field of vision. and im worried that with the kick of the 7mm, ill end up hittin myself in the eye unless i concentrate on really holding that gun in place. i want to beable to shoot rather comfortably and not have to worry about really packin the gun into my arm. is this normal? any suggestions?

PapaD, heavy recoil comes with having a lightweight rifle in a magnum caliber. That just comes with the territory. But, there is something you can do to make that recoil a little easier on the shoulder. I'm not a big fan of muzzle brakes, but a Sims recoil pad will make a difference. But as you said , "not concentrating on the gun" and "not packing the gun into my arm" will not only affect you accuracy, but it'll also make the you wish you were. Good luck.

i busted my eye open when i was about 16 and shot my dads 7mag for the fist time. it will make you pay attention real fast!

Get the Simmons Aetec scope. 5 inches of eye relief. More than almost any other scope out there. They will hold up to Magnum recoil well.

anything less than 3" is very poor eye relief in my book, i own mostly leupold's but as james b mentioned i do have a simmons aetec 2.8X10X44 on my encore m/l'er barrel and i love it, i paid 140ish for mine, i have heard you can buy them on-line for around 120. i have had mine on the m/l'er barrel for 3 years and no complaints with plenty of eye relief

best of luck,

James...you guys beat me to the draw on that one...

i mean dont get me wrong, im a pretty big guy and kick isnt a big issue with me. It's just that i never have shot a gun of that magnum with a scope before. im 6'4 and 235 incase anyone was wondering.

For the money your spending on the Nikon, if your worried about creasing your eyebrow, I would spend the same amount of money and get a Leupold VXII and have much more eye relief.

and you shouldn't shoot one with that little of eye relief, if you do your gettin what you deserve

it don't matter if your 7'10" and 400 lbs. gettin your eyes crossed ain't no fun

PapaD, Two to three inches is enough eye relief for a 7mm mag. Just make sure your stock is tight against you shoulder. Sighting in and elevated shots from the sitting position are times when you must pay attention. Use a rest or sandbags when sighting in that elevate the rifle enough for you to be in more of an upright position. A low position tends to have you creep up on the scope and possible ring around the eye. When sitting and shooting up hill turn a bit to the side. If you a right hander, turn so your shooting over your left leg. This will be a more stable position and help eliminate a third eyebrow.