Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing cutting down talley lightweight scope mounts.

Lows are barely too low and mediums are too high for my rifle. Need to split the difference. Does anybody here that can do that or will Talley do custom heights ?

Call Talley, they did a custom set for me a couple of years ago.

I did. Their response was that there is only .1" difference... I guess they know better than me what my scope mount height should be...

For that little how about adding shims under the lows? I hate shims on principle but sometimes you compromise. If done right they are nearly invisible. Certainly not distracting. Call them spacers, sounds better.

I can't see me being able to live with shims. Even if you can't really tell I'll know they're there. I've already moved on to another build and will live with it being not quite right until I can find something better to hold my scopes. These were the first Talleys I've tried and after the "it's only .1" difference" comment they will be the last. It's like the smith who told me I didn't need a lighter than 3lb trigger. If they think they know better than me what I need then f'em.

Or there is file time if you're a bit talented and patient. And measure often as you go.

I'm probably going to talk to the guys at the cnc machine shop I deliver to occasionally and see if they can do me a favor. I don't know squat about what it would take and they may tell me it's too big of a deal to set up or they may be able to help. Either way I can use the rifle as is . It just bugs me being ever so slightly higher than I want. Heck , it's a 7mm wsm so I just need to shoot it a little and I'll need a new barrel . Rework the whole thing again and go in another direction.

How much do you need taken off and what is the action it is to fit on. I would need to know what the radius is on the front and rear rings to do it.

They need to come down .05 " and they are on a model 70 classic wsm short action.

I know I'm being anal about it but to give you an idea the with lows I can kind of see daylight between the bell and barrel but a piece of notebook paper won't slide between so the medium are the full .1"+ above the barrel. It's just not "right " when I look at it. Looks like bubba who doesn't know any better mounted the scope.

You may be surprised that they might touch when you shoot if you go that low

If I went with the lows I would be concerned and that's why I want to cut down mediums. If a #5 lilja flexes .05 at 1.5" from the action I'll have more to worry about than just the scope.

WOW that's a very different experience than I had, they were very accommodating and actually sent me 2 sets that had different amounts taken off (model 70 as well). I kept one and sent the other back and the cost was nothing. May be different people running the place now??

Like you I couldn't get use to the thought of shims, I'm sure others can do it for you

The no part of the email didn't surprise me or offend me but the flippant "it's only .1" difference" part rubbed me really wrong. If I think it's a problem then it's a problem. If the didn't want to make it their problem to fix I can understand but to imply it isn't a problem is disrespectful to me. Instant hair raise on the back of my neck.

How well does the scope line up with your eye when you mount the rifle?

It's just a hair high but I've got a cheek pad that I'll adjust the foam in to get it right. It is more anesthetic than function. At this point I'm going to paint the stock and go shooting....when I find some brass ! I keep hearing October for WW 7mm wsm brass. I've started a 6.5 saum project so I'm just not into the 7mm wsm at the moment.

It's not about the barrel flexing so much as it is the scope tube, mounts and action. The objective lens bell is heavy with all that glass and it is cantilevered from the forward ring by 2+ inches or more. You need to see a high speed video of a scope tube flexing when a heavy recoiling rifle is fired. It is amazing how much everything moves. This one is not directly applicable, but does show what happens when a medium recoil cartridge is fired: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeXOloDxk6U
IMHO, 0.1" should be a minimum.

RAN

Contact 16bore here on the forum. He machines Talleys for Tikka's and may be able to do what you need for your rifle. Check his post and you can see what they do for the Tikka.

http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/xx210/16bore/2Talleyrings.jpg

Thanks , I'll see what he can do.

How thick is a strip of aluminum pop can? You could trim it to fit the shape of the base and drill holes for the mounting screws. one or two thicknesses between the low base and the receiver might just get you the perfect height.