New to shooting - questions about accessories and scope mounts

[Joules78]

I recently bought a Savage B22 Precision with the MDT chassis. And a Savage 17 WSM Target rifle (the one with the boyd stock).
First guns in the house and hoping to get them setup so my son (10y) and I can go plinking on the weekends.

How do you know which accessories will work and which ones won't? Example - I saw a Sightron genIII 10x50x60 (25003 model) on craigslist that I thought would be interesting. And a Zeiss 3x9x40mm as well. How do I know which rings will work and which ones won't? Which ones give enough clearance or too much? What should I be thinking about? And if the mount points are static, but the length of the scopes are way different, does the eye piece pretty much stay in the same spot with the additional length just extending out over the barrel? The mounts for the rings are standard for the most part? Recommendations?

Also - If I want to install an arca rail on the bottom of the MDT chassis I would need to get a mlok -> arca plate. Could someone recommend one for the MDT chassis that comes with the Salvage Precision?

Thanks for the help!

 

[1911Shootist]

Welcome!

For the most part, any rifle scope will fit on any rifle... There are some "scout" and "pistol" scopes that have very long eye relief, but you're probably shopping in the normal scope category anyway. You'll need to make the scope fit the rifle and you with correct height rings, and maybe an extended scope mount/rail if you're tall.

Diameter:
Scopes come in different tube diameters (1", 30mm, 34mm are most common), so make sure you're buying the right size rings.

Ring Height:
For height, try to find others with your model of rifle and similar objective lens diameter and go with similar ring heights. Most traditional rifles that don't have a rail under the objective lens, and scopes with objective lenses <42mm can start with Medium height rings, maybe even Low. Aside from scope to barrel interference, if you go too low, you may not be able to get comfortable on the stock... Conversely, if you go too high, you won't get a solid consistent cheek weld and accuracy will suffer. If you have an adjustable comb, you can use that to tailor the stock to your face and the scope height. It's incredibly difficult to get the perfect height rings on the first try without matching someone else's setup... Go into it knowing you'll generate spares, or find a shop that can test fit them for you.

Eye relief:
Eye relief will differ with every scope. This will have to be set up for each shooter. General process, once you've figured out ring height:

1. At max magnification, set scope loosely in the rings so you can move it fore/aft
2. Get in position you'll shoot from most of the time (bench, prone, offhand, etc).
3. Close your eyes and get comfortable on the gun
4. Open your eyes
5. Move scope to correct eye relief and snug it down. Use a torque screwdriver!

Misc Notes:

• Buy quality rings and one piece mounts to avoid having to worry about alignment/lapping.
• How level the scope and rifle are to each other is infinitely less important than how level the reticle is to the earth when you pull the trigger (get a scope level if shooting long range).
• For rimfire rifles, adjustable parallax (aka adjustable objective) is an absolute must. Buy only scopes that can focus down to 25 yards at a minimum.

On the ARCA rail - unless you're planning on investing in that system heavily, I'd maybe focus your budget on better optics & more ammo.

 

[pmclaine]

Good questions.

There is a lot of mystery and angst that can be generated by getting into this sport.

There are pitfalls, money to waste and egos that tell you how it has to be.

If your local club has an Appleseed event I d suggest you and your son join one of those.

You have bought some fine rifles and if you can stretch your budget just a bit more to get two Ruger 10/22s with slings than take an Appleseed event you should find it worthwhile. Couple Winchester 75Ts or similar would also be great training rifles.

Learn some fundamentals with iron sights, crawl before you walk, walk before you jog, you will know when you are ready to run.

Training for safety and fundamentals will serve you well as you move along.

Ask lots of questions. Realize most of the people that answer will want to talk to you about their awesome gun and how awesome they are......just ask me.

I wish you well and hope you and your son enjoy the sport and it becomes something that binds you together for life.

 

[Joules78]

Thanks for the replies! @1911Shootist - Most one piece mounts are going to require that I install a picatinny weaver rail to attach the mount too first right? It doesn't look like it would attach directly on the scope mounts without the rail. I guess I just have to accept that I'm going to buy some stuff that just won't work at first and hopefully I can send it back. I'm hoping to not accumulate a lot of spares at this point.

@pmclaine We don't have a local club. I was just going to drive down to Colorado Springs and shoot at the public range down there. Not sure if they organize events or not. Never been. Hoping to go this weekend if we can get a scope attached.

Some really good things to think about. I appreciate the replies! Thanks for the kind words as well.

 

[chutinlead]

Oh nice. I've had my eye on a savage B22 precision in 22LR. Hope you guys have fun!

 

[1911Shootist]

Thanks for the replies! @1911Shootist - Most one piece mounts are going to require that I install a picatinny weaver rail to attach the mount too first right? It doesn't look like it would attach directly on the scope mounts without the rail. I guess I just have to accept that I'm going to buy some stuff that just won't work at first and hopefully I can send it back. I'm hoping to not accumulate a lot of spares at this point.

@pmclaine We don't have a local club. I was just going to drive down to Colorado Springs and shoot at the public range down there. Not sure if they organize events or not. Never been. Hoping to go this weekend if we can get a scope attached.

Some really good things to think about. I appreciate the replies! Thanks for the kind words as well.

It looks like both the rifles you bought already have scope mounts on them, so you'll just need rings. When I was saying "one piece mount" I meant a one piece base, like on your B22 (as opposed to the two piece bases on the 17).