Good Morning,
I'm still getting caffeinated so forgive me if I ramble a bit. I'll try and keep everything clear and concise on this info dump. You may not like some of what I'm going to say but it’s not to pick on or patronize you but rather steer you down the path that is going to lead you to the most success with least amount of headaches. The upside is you already have a solid gun that needs little. I'm going to ignore the fact you’re a southpaw and I realize there are much less options for y’all.
Being 6'7" is very cool except when you need to by kuiu pants (they make talls now whoop) and shoot guns and fit in cars. Since we are talking about rifles, I'm NOT going to not talk at all about shotguns which is a whole nother world. The most important part of the gun interacting with your physiology is the stock to shoulder and cheek interaction. The "comfort" and angle and position of your arm amounts to nothing. The second most important part is your hand to grip and trigger interaction. Your arm does come into play here, but I will talk about it in a minute. Your neck and shoulder aren’t that much different than a 5'8" man. So, the stock interaction with your body is good with the standard LOP. Scopes, rings, guns, stocks and all the pieces are designed around a standard LOP. You have already figured this out by having eye relief problems. If you’re not in the scopes eye box right you can have all kinds of problems with limited field of view, parallax, and focus problems. These problems will hinder you to become a good shot with your gun. As you have figured out there is no good solution to getting the mechanics of your gun working right with a LOP pad. This is why everyone has said ditch the LOP pad. So, let’s give that a try. What do you have to lose? You can put it back later if you say this guy was an idiot and nothing works.
Mechanics wise your front scope ring is too far back. I know why you have it this way but you need to have it grabbing onto the receiver at the correct place which is 1/2" forward of where it is and where the recoil pin on that tikka is. This will move the scope more forward and increase your eye box problems. yet another reason to ditch the LOP pad. The scope rings to receiver placement and interaction IS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THING. If your scope isn't mounted well getting good groups is going to be impossible. This connection needs to be bomb proof and sturdy. Formidious has a write up here somewhere about scope mounting on a tikka with sports match rings. Here is a link to eBay for the rings. They are 30mm. Yes, they are coming from the UK. These are the best rings for a tikka period, unless you decide to use a picatinny rail.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sportsmatc...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
So now we have the LOP back to standard. The scope moved back forward mounted in sportmatch rings with the recoil pin installed and properly degreased and lock tighted. Yes, it feels like a kid’s gun. But your shoulder and cheek are now on the correct place on your gun and in the correct relation to your scope without having to crane your neck forward. everything is comfortable and natural. Shoulder the gun with your eyes closed and then open them. Can you see the scope well? Do this on minimum and maximum power. Pay special attention to your shouldering correctly in the pocket. Pay special attention to your cheek placement and neck hold. Get in a couple different positions including prone and micro adjust your scope forward or back to get the eye box perfect.
Now what do we do with your gorilla hands and pterodactyl arms. This is where things get a touch tricky and you may want a different stock for your gun. Your palm interaction to the stock and trigger finger placement on the trigger is of the second most physiological importance. I couldn't get comfortable behind the stock tikka stock and ordered a mesa precision stock. My paws were just too large. On most guns when I place my palm on the gun in the correct place it puts my trigger finger catching the trigger in the first joint crease and not on the center of the pad. I learned how to shoot all my guns pulling the trigger in the first crease. This isn’t ideal for many reasons. It’s nearly impossible to get a straight rearward trigger pull in the crease. I have learned how to do it. It took a while. your index finger needs to be touching the trigger in a relaxed position on the center of the pad. 90% of the time upgrading stocks to something like a mesa precision with a bigger palm swell will help you get that paw of yours in the correct place for your index finger to fall on the trigger correctly. I can’t find that axial precision makes a lefty inlet.
https://mesaprecisionarms.com/products/rifle-stocks/tikka/tikka-altitude-stocks/
But what about my pterodactyl arm reburn.
. Man, your arm is just there to hold your wrist for ya. It truly doesn’t matter where you put it or how it feels. You will acclimate to it. Your grip matters a ton. But what your arm is doing amounts to a hill of beans.
Scope wise. The 2 undisputed champs are going to be SWFA 3-9 or a Night force. Stay away from the NX8 night force. It is a fantastic scope and I love mine but the eye box and exit pupil is very unforgiving especially at 32 power. Here is a link for the SWFA. Yes, it’s a mil scope. Yes, you should just learn how to shoot mils. There is so many benefits. But that is an argument that has beat that horse to death here multiple times. Frankly, I don't want to have it again. Yes, it’s only a 9 power. You don't "need" more magnification. I routinely bang a 10" circle at 500 with my night force NXS 2.5-10 scope. Either scope will serve you well. If you have the cash the night force has all the bells and whistles and features, you could ask for. But the most important parts the dials and return to zero both functions equally well. One just cost 50% less than the other.
SWFA 3-9x42 SS HD 30mm Riflescope Details SKU: SS39X42MQ Finish: Matte Reticle: MIL-Quad Tube Diameter (mm): 30 Elevation Knob: Exposed Target (.1 MIL) Windage Knob: Exposed Target (.1 MIL) Parallax Setting: Fixed Focus Focal Plane: First
www.swfa.com
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