Why does my scope keep hitting my forehead?

[Flint Lock]

I took the Remington 700 that I got at the Hbg gun show to the range for the first time today. I have only shot open sights my whole life and this is my first scoped rifle.

The first thing I noticed when I got the rifle was that the scope appeared to be back way too far. The rear open sight was preventing the scope from moving further. So I had the open sights and removed and the holes plugged. The manual for my scope says to have 3" of eye relief, but even after removing the open sights, I was unable to get 3" of relief and still have a good sight picture.

First shot, the scope hit me right in the middle of the forehead. I moved it forward about 3/4" and tried again. This time I could feel it come within a few thousands of my forehead. After many iterations of this trial and error, I finally wound up with the scope as far forward as it can go and it still kept hitting me or coming very close on every shot. To shoot from my natural anchor position this way, it leaves me with about half of the sight picture available with the scope. I think what was happening was every time I moved the scope forward, I would have to also move my anchor position forward to get a sight picture. The only way I could keep the scope from hitting me was to stay back in my natural anchor position with the scope all the way forward (maybe around 3" of relief), but when I did this I would lose about half the sight picture. In other words, the circle showing the cross hair is only about half the diameter of the rear aperture. Is this normal, or should my field of view be the entire aperture?

I don't have experience with scopes, but something tells me that when I am taking a shot, the last thing I should have to worry about is keeping my head as far back from the scope as possible.

A friend told me that on Remington 700s the rear of the scope should not be much further back than the rear of the tang. With this scope, I can't even put the scope forward enough to that it is near the tang, and if I did I would have a lousy sight picture. The scope I am using is a Sightron 3x9. Could this be the wrong scope for the rifle?

Any advice will be appreciated as I'm half inclined to sell this damn thing and go back to open sights.

[schr8er2000]

I have a Remington 700... and since I hunt areas that sometimes are "close quarters" as far as shooting I use high rise bases... this allows me to still use the open sights...

NO.. the scope is not wrong for your rifle, the only thing I can figure ( without actually watching you shoot ) is that you may be placing your cheek too far forward on the stock. The scopes have adjustments to allow to get a clear picture if the scope is moved forward or back, so you might try moving the scope forward more and adjusting the focal correction on the scope itself.

Good luck....

[FUNDAMENTALS]

Need some information to try and help. What is the make and model of the
scope? Do you know what bases and rings were used. From the de-
scription of your problem, I believe that the scope has been mounted
incorrectly for your "Field of View".

[Kaos]

Pictures will help if you have them, but depending on the scope/rings (as others have said) you may need offset (leaning forward) rings.

[c.sander]

you may need to change your position horizontally relative to the scope to adjust paralax if your scope doesnt. you also may be holding your rifle like a 6 year old girl , what caliber is it? which stock / model is it? not sure why it is moving that far back when you fire it unless you arent holding it properly even if its a 300winmag. your scope position really all comes down to comfort, where you like to rest your cheek, your LOP etc. heres one of my rifles with the scope back as far as possible just where i like it too

[buster]

Is this a used rifle? If so maybe the previous owner cut the stock down for a youth/smaller statured shooter. Just a guess.

[knight0334]

How tight are you holding it to your shoulder? Got a case of jello shoulder?

With many scopes these days, you should be able to adjust the focus on the eye relief to bring the aperture back into focus.

If you still cant get a full view, you need another scope that allows for 3.25-3.5 inches of relief - which is more of what you should have for any gun of 270win/308win power levels and higher. 3 inches is rather close for the accidental or incidental jello shoulder.

[Flint Lock]

I don't squeeze the rifle hard to my shoulder. This would cause shaky accuracy. I hold the rifle comfortable so that I am not tensioning any unnecessary muscle groups. Besides, squeezing the butt into my shoulder would only pull the scope closer to my eye.

The rifle is a Remington 700 in 7mm Rem. Mag. It has a plastic stock so is light weight and kicks a lot more than a heavier would stock would. For this reason, I believe that this scope does not have enough relief for this rifle, or could simply be defective. The manual for the scope says 3" of eye relief, but if I measure 3" from my eye to the scope I can't even see the crosshairs. I am going to look for a scope with about 4" of relief. I'll also try to get a picture on here of the current set-up.

[Dredly]

I don't squeeze the rifle hard to my shoulder. This would cause shaky accuracy. I hold the rifle comfortable so that I am not tensioning any unnecessary muscle groups. Besides, squeezing the butt into my shoulder would only pull the scope closer to my eye.

The rifle is a Remington 700 in 7mm Rem. Mag. It has a plastic stock so is light weight and kicks a lot more than a heavier would stock would. For this reason, I believe that this scope does not have enough relief for this rifle, or could simply be defective. The manual for the scope says 3" of eye relief, but if I measure 3" from my eye to the scope I can't even see the crosshairs. I am going to look for a scope with about 4" of relief. I'll also try to get a picture on here of the current set-up.

I'd suggest getting a picture up first before you buy a new scope. 3" is pretty standard for eye relief. Most of the time I've seen people give themselves the ever popular 1/2 moon scar on their forehead its from not having a firm enough hold on the front of the rifle and it getting away from them

[Kaos]

I don't squeeze the rifle hard to my shoulder. This would cause shaky accuracy. I hold the rifle comfortable so that I am not tensioning any unnecessary muscle groups. Besides, squeezing the butt into my shoulder would only pull the scope closer to my eye.

The rifle is a Remington 700 in 7mm Rem. Mag. It has a plastic stock so is light weight and kicks a lot more than a heavier would stock would. For this reason, I believe that this scope does not have enough relief for this rifle, or could simply be defective. The manual for the scope says 3" of eye relief, but if I measure 3" from my eye to the scope I can't even see the crosshairs. I am going to look for a scope with about 4" of relief. I'll also try to get a picture on here of the current set-up.

You could try adjusting the rear lens some. Keep in mind that your thought of "pulling it tighter would bring the scope closer" isn't exactly accurate...all you're doing is giving that scope a running start.