ol eagle eyes

Just setting up my new gun and want to make sure everything is correct this time. A few years ago I bought myself a muzzleloader (the Knight Elite in my sig) and despite the reviews and experimenting with several loads (including those that Randy Wakeman found best) and two things are happening. For one, I am lucky to get a 4" pattern at 100 which I am very dissapointed with, and also from time to time it seems to get way off. I missed 4 deer last year. So this year I am going to try to start from scratch...

Just bought what is supposed to be one of the most accurate deer guns (again) a Savage 220F.

Purchased a Bushnell Elite 4200 3-9x40

Bases are 2x weaver 402M (I think those were the numbers, its the extended 2-piece ones).

Rings I got are Warne medium 1" fixed.

Does this sound like a good combo?

Any advice for setting this up? Which screws am I suppose to loctite, just the bases right? How tight do you all tighten everything, do I need a torque wrench to do it proper?

I plan on setting it up this weekend. I'd like to go to that method where you site it in so that the bullet goes up to 3" high and 3" low and figure out what that range is, if I remember reading right it was something like 160 yards for the barnes expander, anything around there will cover pretty much all my hunting so I like the method of not having to think to elevate the gun or anything like that.

bigcountry

Not a fan of the weaver rings. But sounds like a winning combo. I have two 4200 and find them high quality. One doens't track perfectly, but its a deer scope and you set it and forget it.

I have an elite and get 1.5-2MOA at 100 yards, and get 3MOA out to 200 yards. I rebedded mine so it didn't rock or pivot in the stock. I glassed the stock to basically make it freefloated.

ol eagle eyes

No weaver rings, I got Warne maxima rings, basically the exact same setup as outlined here: http://www.chuckhawks.com/savage_slug_gun.htm except I got the elite 4200 instead of his 3200 (same 3x9-40 though), same rings, not sure of his bases though but the only ones I could easily find in stock were the weaver extension bases (402M).

I guess my main question is I want to set this thing up right and not sure if I should be loctiting some of the screws and or how critical the tighness is.

My elite is a seperate issue and I'll probably work on it next year.

bigcountry

Well of course, you need to lock tite (blue, not red) everything dealing with a scope mount. Also before degrease.

I like the maximas. Heavy but the only rings I found that could hold my scope on my 460smith. Only thing I don't like about em is, they usualy put ring marks on your scope. Its impossible to to lap the rings due to how they screw together.

ol eagle eyes

Bigcountry, do you loctite the rings too or just the bases? For some reason I was thinking that, but sounds like you mean everything. Thanks

ol eagle eyes

OK I just mocked up everything... not sure how I like using the extended bases, for the front its necessary but for the back it placing the ring to far forward. Can I not use that cross bar piece and slide the rear mount back on the base? Think I might try again and see if the local stores have the standard rear mount before I secure everything. Also, the screw in the front mount wont go in all the way, the hole is too shallow so I'll have to grind down the screw I guess.

bigcountry

Locktite blue everything that you don't want to come off. Little difficult with the maximas because the way they go together. Riding a harley for many years has tought me, locktite everything.

bigcountry

You can, get away with the cross bar. I don't. But if had millet rings on a weaver base, that what you would do.