I screwed up on scope choice

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RJ556

Buckeye
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I thought I made the right choice, buying a new Leupold 1.5x5 for my new K1A in 6.5x55 Swede. It appears that I messed up. After mounting it, set on 5 power, I found that I come up about an inch short of eye relief even when "crawling the stock" as much as practical. You really need a good 5" of eye relief or a scope that extends farther back. I can find no such scope that I want to put on this rifle. After trying several other scopes in my inventory, the only one that works well is a burris 2.75x scout scope. I really did not want to be limited to less than 4x. I suppose I could make a 150 to 200 yard shot on a deer under ideal conditions, but how many deer are shot under "ideal" shooting conditions? I know that most of my opportunities will come at a much shorter range, but don't you just hate it when you see a damn nise deer out there and you have to say, "I better not chance it that far away". I may try extension rings but they are ugly and will buy me only another 1/2"back. Any suggestions guys?
 

45flattop

Single-Sixer
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May 8, 2005
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392
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Jackson, MS USA
Well you chose a good scope, can't fault a Leupold, I don't know what a
K1A is or how its mounted but could you get some offset rings to move
it to the rear a bit?
 

wwb

Hunter
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45flattop":3mu00w5u said:
...... offset rings....

The obvious solution, but I'm not sure if anyone makes them to fit the bastard Ruger half-moon cutouts.

Remember the original M77 that took Weaver bases? It wasn't broke, so why did they "fix" it?
 

JimHnSTL

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4BO_T.jpg.jpg
 

Silent Sam

Blackhawk
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Common issue w/ #1s. Not hard to deal w/ though. I think it's more an issue of tube length than eye relief. Shouldn't need a lot w/ the Swede. The newer "short mag" type of scopes don't work well on a #1. Offset rings work in a lot of cases but some really don't like the way they look. One member here won't use them for that reason and has found a line of scopes that work for him. Don't remember member's name or scope brand so maybe he will find your post and comment. Bushnell tubes are generally pretty long if that helps. Frankly I'm glad Bill "fixed what wasn't broke" and developed the Ruger mounting system and decided to include them w/ the gun purchase. I bet they have sold a lot of rifles on that point alone and properly installed (which is easy) they are rock solid w/ a minimum # of parts that you don't have to hunt down.
 

RJ556

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Silent Sam, I will agree that Rugers scope mount system is a good one. That has helped me decide on buying Rugers vs some other guns over the years. I know about the offset rings. I just think they are ugly AND very heavy and as I said in my initial post, you only gain 1/2" by using them. I have looked into Bushnell scopes and from what I have found dimension and eye relief/wise, they do not fare any better than the Leupold that I bought. If one of the quality scope makers would market a scope which addressed these issues, I think they would sell enough of them to #1 and other falling block owners to make it worth there while.
 

Sugar River

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Aug 25, 2008
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S Florida
JR,
Welcome to the nightmare known as No 1 scope mounting.
You've summed up the dilemma pretty well.
I've tried extension rings and scout scopes.
Since I only shoot No 1's in larger cals (405, 450-400, 45-70) I find the scout solution to work pretty well.

If I were intent on mounting a conventional scope on a No 1, I'd probably try this, though it's not clear how much more relief it would buy.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?p ... ber=178948

Pete
 

wunbe

Buckeye
Joined
May 19, 2002
Messages
1,240
Location
Reston VA USA
Another option is the Burris rails that fit into the divots on the Ruger #1 receivers. They give you just enough back space for that scope IIRC. I use them whenever I have the same problem. There is still a potential aesthetics problem...but utility trumps looks in my book.

Also, the Ruger VX !! 2-7 is a fine affordable scope that gives you ample spacing options on #1s. It is ideal in terms of size for the K1A. Most of my 30 or so #1s wear that scope or the Ruger fixed 6X.

The 2-7 also comes in an LR reticle that I really like.

Good luck,
wunbe
 

RJ556

Buckeye
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Sugar River, I saw those Burris to Weaver converters but they only get you about a half inch like the extension rings. And Wanbe, I did not know Ruger was in the scope business. I'll have to do a search on that. Has anyone tried the Nikon Omega scopes. They have 5" of eye relief throughout the magnification range. Ofcourse stubby short tubes could negate the eye relief gain. Nikon does not publish the dimensions of the dofferent parts of the scope like Leupold does. I will be able to send the Leupold 1.5x5 back for a refund since I did not mount it. I am going to make damn sure the next scope I buy will work for sure BEFORE I fork out the money for it. Thanks for the input guys.
 

wunbe

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Sorry the VX II scope brand in question is of course Leupold. The critical design factors that makes them work so well are generous eye relief and the flexible positioning range they offer.

wunbe
 

dfletcher

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Leaving California .....
RJ556":2uad3efb said:
I thought I made the right choice, buying a new Leupold 1.5x5 for my new K1A in 6.5x55 Swede. It appears that I messed up. After mounting it, set on 5 power, I found that I come up about an inch short of eye relief even when "crawling the stock" as much as practical. You really need a good 5" of eye relief or a scope that extends farther back. I can find no such scope that I want to put on this rifle. After trying several other scopes in my inventory, the only one that works well is a burris 2.75x scout scope. I really did not want to be limited to less than 4x. I suppose I could make a 150 to 200 yard shot on a deer under ideal conditions, but how many deer are shot under "ideal" shooting conditions? I know that most of my opportunities will come at a much shorter range, but don't you just hate it when you see a damn nise deer out there and you have to say, "I better not chance it that far away". I may try extension rings but they are ugly and will buy me only another 1/2"back. Any suggestions guys?

This is going to be an odd suggestion but here goes - use the Nikon 2 to 7X SHOTGUN scope. Tons of eye relief and indistinguishable from their rifle scopes except that their parallax is set at 75 yds, not 100 yds. The Leupold Rifleman & Burris Timberline rifle scopes come close, but the Nikon has lots of eye relief and I think can cure the problem.

The Nikon costs about $150.00 and is not a short bodied scope.
 

RJ556

Buckeye
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Dfletcher, I am dooing just about exactly that. I have ordered a Nikon Omega 1.65x5x scope. They are made for using on muzzleloaders at extended range. Parallex is set at 100yds, which is better for my rifle. I looked at one on one of those stocks at gun shops that are made for trying out scopes. It has at LEAST 5" of eye relief and appears to have more than that. I also made some measurements on the scope from the back of the adjustment turret to tha eyepiece to determine how far back the scope will sit. I checked out the Leupold VX-II as one member suggested, but the Nikon has it beat in eye relief for my purposes. Also, on the scopes I checked out, if the Leupold optics are any better than the Nikon, I sure can't tell it. I should have the scope by the end of the week. I'll report how it works out.
 

RJ556

Buckeye
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I received the Nikon Omega scope. The objective bell (36mm) will clear the barrel rib OK with medimum rings. Now all I need is the offset rings from Ruger, which should be here in a week or so. To me having proper eye relief is: closing your eyes, bringing the rifle to your shoulder in the shooting position with a "natural" cheek weld and when you open your eyes, you should have a full edge to edge view through the scope at any power setting you expect to have your scope set on for shooting or hunting. From some of the scopes that have been recommended, either my eyes are sunk way back in my head, my head is very thin profiled, viewed from the side or some guys are really crawling up on the stocks of their #1's to see through their scopes. I do appreciate all of the input and I will post some pics once I get my rig together. Thanks RJ
 

single action

Single-Sixer
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412
Location
Utah
when mounting the scope on a number one remember that you will probably being wearing a jacket of some type that will increase the problem. sa
 

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