Newb37752

Private
Minuteman
Nov 23, 2024
43
12
Tennessee
I have a Christensen arms mpr Competition rifle in 308. Bought it today and slapped a scope on it that didn't have a home (votex viper pst 2) and some medium pmr rings and was ready to go for tomorrow to test it out. As I was starting to clean the rifle I noticed the objective lense barely clears. Like so close it's insane. As I looked however the barel is free floated the entire way down the stock forend and upper (rail? Idk what the hell it would be called) My question is due to the barrel not touching any of the upper and lower forend does it matter that the objective is damn near touching the upper section of the forend? Any help guys would really be greatly appreciated. Attached are a few pictures I did the best I could to get them a few minutes ago.
 

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Shouldn’t hurt. Definitely won’t contact the barrel

I’d install a bipod and go through the motions with that. Make sure it’s not putting pressure on the scope when moving the rifle and what not
 
Well, considering the barrel is free floated inside the handguard and the only contact might be between the scope bell and the handguard, you should be OK.
The only major issue might be recoil bouncing the bell against the handguard enough to cause alignment issues or maybe even crack the glass, but I don't see that happening with a .308.
If everything is tightened properly, it shouldn't be an issue.
 


I don’t think there’s going to be contact out of a .308 but I could be wrong.

Scope flex, not barrel/rail flex. There's not really any downside to going up even 0.125" in ring height vs having your scope bonk the rail every time you shoot. Low-level repetitive shocks can add up. I wouldn't miss a range trip over it but I'd be ordering a taller set of rings to swap on later.

May actually have to grab a couple accels and a datalogger next time I head out to shoot and mock something like this up to see what the transient shock levels are.
 
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Scope flex, not barrel/rail flex. There's not really any downside to going up even 0.125" in ring height vs having your scope bonk the rail every time you shoot. Low-level repetitive shocks can add up. I wouldn't miss a range trip over it but I'd be ordering a taller set of rings to swap on later.

May actually have to grab a couple accels and a datalogger next time I head out to shoot and mock something like this up to see what the transient shock levels are.
i don’t think it’s an issue. It certainly won’t be an accuracy problem and I don’t think the scope will flex. The videos proposing to show such are all with optics mounted on cantilever rails and and fairly low quality. The barrel itself might whip with increasing wavelength the farther away you go from the action, but I don’t think the scope will, in this case. A simple piece of carbon paper taped to the bell will tell, after one shot.
 
I've 'messed up' before and purchased rings so low that my optic was as close to the barrel (same thing with a handguard) that I had about as much clearance as the OPs photo.

It had zero effect on my shooting for almost a year until I purchased a new optic and slightly taller rings to go with it.

If mounted properly and that handguard isn't junk, you'll see no negative effects from a smaller cartridge. With a big magnum, you might see some issues.