Rifle Scopes Can rings be too low? (Barrel reflection)

[earthquake]

Is there such a thing as scope rings that are too low? Not talking about contacting the barrel with the objective, or not being able to get your cheek rest low enough to see through it. Those are obvious. I'm talking about things like:
*reflections (of light) off a non-painted barrel.
*Heat mirage
*NV bridge visible, albeit not in focus, but as a somewhat noticable"blur" in the image?

I thought maybe I was experiencing this yesterday with weird "haziness" in an otherwise steller optic. It wasn't all the time, but sometimes I swear I am getting interference with my NV bridge (MPA) and maybe even reflected light off the barrel.

My scope is only a few mm above the barrel.
Should I paint the barrel? Black? Dull gray?
Get higher rings? Both? Or is it all in my head? Has anyone else experienced this and fixed it?

 

[MBanning]

You could try removing the nv bridge and run a piece of dark tape down the barrel to test your theory. That would eliminate the glare and get the bridge out of the way.
On my 26" barrel 22-250 with 9" Thunderbeast can i see the suppressor at low magnification. This rifle has low rings and a 20 moa rail.

 

[308pirate]

They can be too low even if the scope doesn't touch anything and you can still see through the scope. When your neck feels crooked and uncomfortable, you might benefit from elevating the comb and then setting the scope in higher rings to match.

 

[Killswitch Engage]

raw stainless barrels produce more mirage/heat transfer to atmosphere than painted barrels for sure in my experience. it can be very noticeable in even the best optic and ring height wont have much of an impact on it.

 

[earthquake]

I was taught, or always thought....get that scope low, low, low!
I'll experiment with either a sunshade or dulling the barrel. Like Killswitch said, I don't think a few extra mm of ring height would help, especially with mirage.
Wasn't sure if a black barrel would be better or worse.

 

[Fig]

I was too, but now I think it doesn’t matter that much as long as you know exactly what that distance is.

 

[308pirate]

I was taught, or always thought....get that scope low, low, low!
I'll experiment with either a sunshade or dulling the barrel. Like Killswitch said, I don't think a few extra mm of ring height would help, especially with mirage.
Wasn't sure if a black barrel would be better or worse.

If mirage is your problem, add a mirage band over the barrel like iron sight target shooters have been doing for decades.

 

[308pirate]

I was taught, or always thought....get that scope low, low, low!

Well let's think that through......if you don't cant the scope, the height over bore is really a non-issue as long as you input it correctly in your ballistic solver (whichever that may be). But the scope's height has a direct impact on how comfortably and naturally your head lies on the stock and behind it.

 

[bourbonbent]

If mirage is your problem, add a mirage band over the barrel like iron sight target shooters have been doing for decades.

Bingo, beat me to it.

 

[stello1001]

I've never had a problem

 

[Burdy]

If it's not touching, then the answer to your question is "no."

Edit... After watching video below...I am wrong.

 

[Gunfighter14e2]

Can rings be to low? Depending your target yes they can.

 

[Ryan7839]

As already mentioned, the only time that I've had an issue is when running a can and a sleeve. I hate seeing that blur through the optic!

 

[pineoak]

I've always wondered about scopes mounted within 2mm of the barrel.

Slow motion video of high speed cameras show how much the scopes bend/oscillate under recoil.

Scope slap?

 

[stello1001]

I've always wondered about scopes mounted within 2mm of the barrel.

Slow motion video of high speed cameras show how much the scopes bend/oscillate under recoil.

Scope slap?

Links???

 

[RifleBlog]

I've always wondered about scopes mounted within 2mm of the barrel.

Slow motion video of high speed cameras show how much the scopes bend/oscillate under recoil.

Scope slap?

I’ve seen a few people dent their objectives from barrel whip, usually on rifles like the one above where they’re really proud of how close it is to the barrel.

More of an issue on larger calibers / magnums, probably would be fine on 223 or 6 / 6.5CM.

 

[spife7980]

Links???

THis is a big 50 but its very illustrative

 

[10ring1]

Don't own a NV and don't know how it's mounted but could you be getting a blur from picking up the end of your barrel? Especially if you have a low scope and a 20/30 moa rail. Just a thought

 

[Steel head]

THis is a big 50 but its very illustrative

That’s a lot of flexing!

 

[stello1001]

THis is a big 50 but its very illustrative

That's pretty fucking awesome that they were able to capture this on video, thanks for posting. I've always thought if anything was going to flex under recoil it would be a mount and not rings as I find rings to be a more sturdy or rigid but that's just my thinking and nothing to back this up with. In the video though, we can see the rail where the mount is on being the one that flexes the most and comes up from the back.

Idk though, I don't mean any disrespect and I'm not trying to argue with you spife, but unless someone shows me proof of this happening on a 6.5 creedmoor like mine, I have a hard time believing that I will encounter problems because of my objective making contact with my rifle under recoil.

 

[ohiofarmer]

That's pretty fucking awesome that they were able to capture this on video, thanks for posting. I've always thought if anything was going to flex under recoil it would be a mount and not rings as I find rings to be a more sturdy or rigid but that's just my thinking and nothing to back this up with. In the video though, we can see the rail where the mount is on being the one that flexes the most and comes up from the back.

Idk though, I don't mean any disrespect and I'm not trying to argue with you spife, but unless someone shows me proof of this happening on a 6.5 creedmoor like mine, I have a hard time believing that I will encounter problems because of my objective making contact with my rifle under recoil.

I’m not an engineer, but I don’t see how that video is in any way illustrative of 99.9% of scope/base/rail setups. The scope and base are on a long cantilevered rail in the video. If the rail were firmly affixed to a receiver underneath, there’s no way it would move like that.

 

[spife7980]

True, its a pretty extreme example to get those extreme but highly visible results.

But then when you get these people who only leave enough room to slide a single piece of paper through you can almost always show them a shiny spot on the bottom of the scopes objective bell where it was contacting the barrel.

 

[morganlamprecht]

only leave enough room to slide a single piece of paper through you can almost always show them a shiny spot on the bottom of the scopes objective bell where it was contacting the barrel.

facts...i moved a scope from one action to another...barely had any clearance, way lower than i normally run...didnt want to remount in another set of rings...said ef it...scope wouldnt hold zero at all...pull it off, shiny spot on top of the barrel and bottom of the scope, higher rings, problems went away

 

[bourbonbent]

Oscillation happens every time anything dumps energy into something else. Arrows, barrels, scopes, all of it. Whether you’re aware of it or can see it is another story.

Physics don’t care, that shit is gonna flex. The 50 is just an exaggerated example, and shows it very obviously.

How much oscillation is dependent on a lot of factors, but it happens every single time you pull the trigger. Some things are just more obvious/extreme.

 

[stello1001]

True, its a pretty extreme example to get those extreme but highly visible results.

But then when you get these people who only leave enough room to slide a single piece of paper through you can almost always show them a shiny spot on the bottom of the scopes objective bell where it was contacting the barrel.

I will look for that in my rifle/scope.

 

[earthquake]

Shiny chrome barrel, 20moa rail, bright sun, low rings, NV bridge. Can't be a good combo. I'm gonna get taller rings and try a sunshade.