Mount Question: Pic rail VS traditional mounts?

[fishrmann]

Hi. I've got a Tikka T3 lite in 7mm rem mag that is my primary hunting rifle. It currently has a Nikon Monarch 4-16X on it. During off season I like to shoot, a lot! We have access to a 1k yard range I'm hoping to start spending some time at.

With that said, I'm trying to decide whether or not to stay with traditional scope mounts/rings or go with a PIC rail, likely with some MOA - either 10 or 20. Leaning towards Tikka performance 20moa model rail with integrated recoil lug.

My question - will I gain anything in regards to strength and rigidity going with rail or better off sticking with a higher performance 1 piece base and rings?

Any and all thoughts, suggestions, ideas welcome. Thanks in advance!!

 

[FearNoWind]

I prefer the rail concept.
Once the rail is bedded I can be confident that everything is properly aligned and that it will stay that way. Actions drilled and tapped for scope mounting are often out of alignment (if only slightly) and they are rarely at precisely the same elevation (front to back) with reference to the top of the receiver.

 

[Greyfox]

I think the pic rail, when used with quality rings, in addition to other benefits, offers added strength particularly with the option of having the integral recoil lug which takes the stress off the mount screws during recoil, for heavy scooes using heavy recoiling calibers. In my experience the weakest point in the scope mount system are the receiver screws.

 

[FEENIX]

Another vote for the picatinny rail with 20 MOA cant even if you have enough scope elevation for the 1K yard.

C&P from an optics SME ...

Even though the scope adjustment range may be large enough to get to 1,000 yds, you should use a 20 moa base. That's because off-axis optical aberrations that degrade resolution increase with incidence angle. You should set up your rifle so that the incidence angle is minimized for long distance shots (where resolution matters most).

Assume the base is within +/-10 moa of alignment with the rifle bore. Let's also assume your bullet drops no more than 30 moa at 1,000 yds, and you like to zero your rifle at 100 yds. With a standard base, you would need up to -40 moa of adjustment to get to 1,000 yds. That means you need a total 80 moa of adjustment.

With a 20 moa base you would need up to -20 moa to get to 1,000 yds, but up to 26 moa to get to a 100 yd zero (worse case boresight alignment in each case). That means you need a total 52 moa of adjustment. With a 20 moa base, however, the incidence angle at 1,000 yds is 20 moa less, so the image will have less blur.

 

[sp6x6]

What I like about rail is most my set ups similar where I could swap scopes with rails easy in minutes,usually and check.