Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Coin trick for choosing ring height

I know I'm bound to not be the only one to do this, but since I still hear questions about what height rings fit what scopes on what rifles, I thought it might be worthwhile to illustrate this handy method. I also still run into people who don't necessarily understand the concepts of cheek-weld and non-critical eye relief, they just know that their scope/stock combo doesn't fit their face and eye correctly. For me, I typically like as low a mounting position as possible, depending on the stock choice.

Since many manufacturers list ring heights online these days, a person can easily find out what best fits them with nothing more than their rifle, their chosen scope, a set of calipers, and a handful of pocket change. If using a weaver, piccatiny, or dual dovetail base, it is best to go ahead and get the base mounted on the rifle. Put the rifle in your vice and start stacking quarters where the rings are going to sit. Gently place your scope atop the coin stacks and see if the bell clears the barrel and your bolt handle clears the occular. If need be, a strip of scotch tape across each coin stack will help keep it from toppling. Fine tuning for height can be done with thinner coins or combinations of multiple coin types. Pay attention to eye relief length to make sure the test positioning isn't way off from front to back, as a rearward position may often have increased likelihood of the objective bell making contact with a tapering barrel shank.




This stack of coins measures roughly .250" with my calipers and when situated atop the Burris bases, provides just enough clearance to allow the 4-16x50 Viper PST. Looking around at rings in the desired price range, SWFA 30mm lows are .250" in height. Who'd think that low rings on relatively slim base would clear that scope? Not me, but the coin measurement proved it. It works. I can fit a couple of business cards under the front of the scope, but that's about it.



On the flipside, a person can also look at available listed ring heights for the rings they want to use and do mock-ups before ordering. Mixing and matching coin combos can get very close to nearly any available ring height. If a one-piece unit is desired, such as the Talley Alloy, the coin stacks are simply placed atop the naked front and rear action bridges. Scotch tape does come in handy when working with round top actions and it bears remembering that front and rear heights are different on many actions. A few long strips of masking tape across the scope and down onto the stock can allow you to shoulder the rifle to check eye-relief. I did this one just last week and found that Talley 30mm Extra Lows should work on my 223AI #4 contour M700 with my 2.5-10x42mm Nikon Monarch X. That's what I ordered and cheek-weld is great.

Here are a couple more that don't allow much daylight between the glass and the barrel. They fit my face well.


Leupold VX-R 4-12x50 on Sendero contour M700. (Measurements showed the .250" SWFA rings would be a touch too short, and it turned out to be true. Those are Weavers that are a touch higher.)


Leupold VX-II 3-9x40 on a factory sporter M700 with Talley Extra-Lows.



Leupold 3.5-10x40 in lowest possible Ruger rings with Lilja #3 contour on a M77.

Now somebody is going to make packs of varying width shims for just this purpose.






Dave

Good tip by the way.




Clark

You might very well be right, and shims may already be out there just for this purpose. But coins are dang easy and who doesn't have a bucket of change lying around?

Gage blocks....Jo-blocks

But they cost more than a handful of change

This is a nice tip. Thanks for sharing

Cool idea. Thanks for sharing

I've found people usually think they need higher rings than they really do - especially on short action rifles and with 30mm tubes

Great tip. I use gauge blocks or pins, because they're in the drawer. This is the best use of pocket change I've seen in a while.

Thanks for sharing.

Spent an hour trying different Warne rings last night (and they are a pain to take on and off) to get the right height. Great tip and thanks for sharing!!!!.

Some times you learn good stuff here... thanks

Good tip, don't forget the Butler Creek cover if you use one.

Be Safe,

Good tip. Never tried this but it makes sense. I used a taper gauge for a long time. Loaned the set out and have not got a new pair since.

Great tip. I just recently used this method for for ring choice on a new rifle and it saved me the hassle of returning medium height rings when the lows were sufficient.

Stacked pieces of strips cut from index cards or other, (file folder), do well also and offer plenty of accuracy.

twofish

Good tip! Thanks for posting.

I like it. Thanks!

twofish.

When I really want a scope to sit low, I take the barreled action and clamp it to the Bridgeport mill table sideways and feed it into a 1" or so end mill. I can drop it an 1/8" easy without compromising any strength. Got this tip from David Miller in Tucson.

Nice tip. Followed this one all the way through. I keep screenshots of this kin of helpful kind of stuff - does a pretty good of a backup for the old memory.

Thanks Jpro.
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