Scope mounting - 7mm rem mag with Zeiss V4

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Hey guys. I bought a new rifle. It is a T3x superlite 7MM rem mag. I also got a Zeiss conquest V4 scope. I bought both items from Cabela's and they will mount the scope for me. My question is - should I trust them to do this for me or is this something I should do on my own? Obviously they do it every day - I am just concerned that some 16 year old kid would mount it and screw something up! Maybe this is not a concern - I don't know as I haven't bought a firearm for a few years. Also - I need to purchase a base and rings for this setup - any recommendations there? I am not sure if this thread should be in the optics or firearms section. Thanks for the help!
 

Mag_7s

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To your point about the 16 year old...I'd suggest doing yourself. Not to say there aren't many competent people at cabelas, i just like knowing the work was done with best intentions. Wheeler makes a good scope mounting kit with torque wrench and common torque bit sizes.
 

Mag_7s

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Lots of good ring/base manufacturers out there. Talley, seekins ect. As of late, I'm a really big fan of Hawkins Precision.
 

Doc Holliday

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Its a very easy thing to do, but one of the most important things to do correctly being a rifle hunter. I would never let anyone else mount my scope, especially an associate at a big box store. Order a torque wrench set and some blue lock tight (for base screws) on amazon, then Get on youtube and search "how to mount a scope". You need to decide between picatinny rail (everybody makes these) & rings or one piece rings (Talley, Hawkins). The Zeiss Conquest V4 all have 30mm tubes, so you will need 30mm rings. Ring height will depend on the bell size of your scope 44-50 = Medium. 56 = High.
 

arrow179

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Like others suggest - do it yourself and spend the money on a torque wrench (I have the wheeler) as you will be amazed how often it comes in handy! Buy a set of levels to mount the scope also.

Hawkins makes awesome rings for tikka if you don’t want to get the pic rail for a scope base. Don’t go cheap on the rings - been there, done that…
 
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180splitg3
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Its a very easy thing to do, but one of the most important things to do correctly being a rifle hunter. I would never let anyone else mount my scope, especially an associate at a big box store. Order a torque wrench set and some blue lock tight (for base screws) on amazon, then Get on youtube and search "how to mount a scope". You need to decide between picatinny rail (everybody makes these) & rings or one piece rings (Talley, Hawkins). The Zeiss Conquest V4 all have 30mm tubes, so you will need 30mm rings. Ring height will depend on the bell size of your scope 44-50 = Medium. 56 = High.
Thank you for the response. Is there any reason not to use one piece rings? It seems like this would be the way to go. Is there any advantage to using a pic rail with rings instead?
 

Doc Holliday

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Thank you for the response. Is there any reason not to use one piece rings? It seems like this would be the way to go. Is there any advantage to using a pic rail with rings instead?
Some people find the one pieces can be limiting on how far back you can mount your scope for proper eye relief. This depends on the scope...Like if you had a Nightforce with relatively small amounts of tube to work with, then a pic rail and rings would allow you more options for mounting. You havent said which Zeiss V4 you got, so not sure if you model is restricting or not.

Another plus for using a pic rail and rings besides mounting locations, is you can just unscrew the base screws and take the scope off with the rings still attached and then remount to that rifle, or another with a pic rail, without having to fiddle with ring screws. If you have several rifles and like to rotate scopes, this would be preferred.

The negative to pic rail and rings IMO is weight. The one pieces are a minimalist, lightweight option.
 

arrow179

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Thank you for the response. Is there any reason not to use one piece rings? It seems like this would be the way to go. Is there any advantage to using a pic rail with rings instead?
A ton of people use the Talley 1-piece rings with good luck. The main advantage to a pic rail is it gives you a little more flexibility with mounting locations depending on eye relief and the scope you are mounting. Some people also say that the mounting surface with a pic rail will be more inline and leaves less room for error of alignment between the 2 rings (basically if the screw holes and 1 piece rings don’t line up 100% true then you could put uneven pressure on the scope tube in the rings).
 
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180splitg3
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Some people find the one pieces can be limiting on how far back you can mount your scope for proper eye relief. This depends on the scope...Like if you had a Nightforce with relatively small amounts of tube to work with, then a pic rail and rings would allow you more options for mounting. You havent said which Zeiss V4 you got, so not sure if you model is restricting or not.

Another plus for using a pic rail and rings besides mounting locations, is you can just unscrew the base screws and take the scope off with the rings still attached and then remount to that rifle, or another with a pic rail, without having to fiddle with ring screws. If you have several rifles and like to rotate scopes, this would be preferred.

The negative to pic rail and rings IMO is weight. The one pieces are a minimalist, lightweight option.
OK, that makes sense. I have the Zeiss V4 3-12 44mm scope. It is new in the box and I could return it if I wanted to. I have read some reviews on it and it sounds like a quality scope. I will be using this for mule deer and elk and don't plan to shoot much past 400 yards. If this were your build, would you go with a pic rail and rings or one piece rings? I don't have enough experience with firearms to have a strong opinion. I appreciate your time!
 

Doc Holliday

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OK, that makes sense. I have the Zeiss V4 3-12 44mm scope. It is new in the box and I could return it if I wanted to. I have read some reviews on it and it sounds like a quality scope. I will be using this for mule deer and elk and don't plan to shoot much past 400 yards. If this were your build, would you go with a pic rail and rings or one piece rings? I don't have enough experience with firearms to have a strong opinion. I appreciate your time!
I would try Talley 1 piece mediums. That's a good price Cabelas has on them $44.99

Call Talley to confirm, but I think you will want to do 20# of torque on the base screws and 17# on the ring screws.
 

TN2shot07

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1. Definitely do it yourself, few will put more time and care in
2. I used the same scope on a 270 last season, another vote for the Talleys
 

KenLee

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To your point about the 16 year old...I'd suggest doing yourself. Not to say there aren't many competent people at cabelas, i just like knowing the work was done with best intentions. Wheeler makes a good scope mounting kit with torque wrench and common torque bit sizes.
I'd also buy a cheap Winchester gunsmith tool set. Not really high quality, but for $15 it has the bits Wheeler leaves out.
 

SDHNTR

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Absolutely do it yourself. Degrease all of your screws and screw holes. Use blue Loctite. Talleys can be made to work with good lapping and use on light kicking rifles and lightweight scopes. But the stress induced from their rings that aren’t round will eventually cause them to crack with recoil and a heavy scope. There are much better choices IMO.
 
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180splitg3
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Absolutely do it yourself. Degrease all of your screws and screw holes. Use blue Loctite. Talleys can be made to work with good lapping and use on light kicking rifles and lightweight scopes. But the stress induced from their rings that aren’t round will eventually cause them to crack with recoil and a heavy scope. There are much better choices IMO.
Thanks for the input. What scope mounting setup would you recommend for this build?
 

SDHNTR

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Build? It’s a factory rifle right?

Ideally, I’d use the integral dovetail the rifle already has and Sportsmatch T084 rings. That said, I’m not sure if you are going to be able to mount that scope without a rail. I don’t even think Talleys would work. I think that scope tube is quite short with minimal mounting space.
 
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180splitg3
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Build? It’s a factory rifle right?

Ideally, I’d use the integral dovetail the rifle already has and Sportsmatch T084 rings. That said, I’m not sure if you are going to be able to mount that scope without a rail. I don’t even think Talleys would work. I think that scope tube is quite short with minimal mounting space.
Yes, it's a factory rifle so I realize it's not a build - wrong wording there. I'll look into some rings that work with the Tikka dovetail - thanks.
 

SDHNTR

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I don’t mean to burst your bubble, but I think you’ll be well served by returning that scope and buying an SWFA 3-9 or 6x, or Trijicon Credo. You’ll not be out any more money, may even save some, yet you’ll have a much more reliable and more capable rig that will also be easier to mount properly. Just my thoughts.
 
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180splitg3
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I don’t mean to burst your bubble, but I think you’ll be well served by returning that scope and buying an SWFA 3-9 or 6x, or Trijicon Credo. You’ll not be out any more money, may even save some, yet you’ll have a much more reliable and more capable rig that will also be easier to mount properly. Just my thoughts.
something like this? - https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/swarovski-optik-z3-rifle-scope

It's $100 more than the Zeiss Conquest. What would you say is the biggest difference between the two scopes?
 

SDHNTR

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Imo, nope! Sorry to say that. The Zeiss V4 and the Swaro Z series fall into the same category. Nice glass and lightweight, so they show well on paper and in a big box store case, but they are questionable from a reliability standpoint. I’ve owned both. Unfortunately, and it drives me nuts to have to say this, lightweight scopes = unreliable scopes. What makes them light, thin tubes and plastic internal parts, is what makes them fail too.

Spend some time reading the scope evaluation forum here. You’ll learn a lot.

I’ve already stated above what scopes I would choose if it were my rig. Please don’t take offense. I don’t mean to twist panties, but unfortunately good scopes don’t say Swaro or Zeiss on the side (nor Leupold or Vortex for that matter). Binoculars and spotting scopes, yes, Swaro and Zeiss make great viewing tools, but rifle scopes, nope. Mechanics matter.
 
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