I just purchased a Savage MK II rimfire, with Burris Zee Signature rings to mount my Tasco scope. Since this is the first time I've had to personally do this, I figured it'd be best to ask a rather humbling question. The rings slide right into their bases, but when screwed in still have 1 cm wide both ways by 1/8 cm high space, leading to instability. I'm pretty sure I need to slide in some wood to insert into this space to get the tight fit I desire. Any advice as to what to do or what to do it with is greatly appreciated.

There shouldn't be any play between the rings and rifle. My guess at this distance is that you've got rings for a Weaver type base but your rifle has a rimfire dovetail. Does the rifle have two long grooves on the top of the action, about 1 cm apart; or screw holes on top for a separate base. A Weaver base is about 2 cm wide. There's where the extra 1 cm comes from. Post your ring's part number and someone can check what they're for.

Bye
Jack

My rifle is as pictured in the link below:
http://www.savagearms.com/markiibv.htm

The rings are Burris 1" Zee Signatures, part number 420521.
The problem stems from a small amount of clearance space above the bases which the rings have when screwed in, leading to a rattle.

Bases are installed, no grooves for rails. Bases are factory. Thanks for the quick reply.

Burris zee rings are weaver style rings for sure, not sure what bases your gun came with but Jack's conclusion sounds right to me. Burris zee rings are really nice

That's a rimfire gun and almost certainly has the narrower rimfire base. If there aren't cross-slots in the base (that the steel cross-pin of the rings will fit into), then it's not a weaver-style base. Get the garden-variety rimfire 'tip-off' rings and you'll be set.

That's a rimfire gun and almost certainly has the narrower rimfire base. If there aren't cross-slots in the base (that the steel cross-pin of the rings will fit into), then it's not a weaver-style base. Get the garden-variety rimfire 'tip-off' rings and you'll be set.

This is the best part. The bases have the slots and appear to be weaver styled, and are in fact nearly 2 cm across. Its a vertical clearance issue thats affecting me. The space between the metal bases and the metal of the rings is about as thick as a few index cards. Thanks for the replies.

Hmmmm. Just learned something. I've got two scopes here mounted with Weavers. One set is about 35 years old, and the rings rest on the top flats of the bases. The other set is only a couple of years old and the rings rest on the outside bevel. There's space for a business card between the top flats of the one piece base and the rings. Looking at the diagram of the Zee ring at the bottom of this page on the Burris site shows a relief cut above the bevel on the left side of the ring. The right side has a flex cut. So my guess is that the rings aren't designed to rest on the top flats of the bases, but on the bevels. I'd screw the rings on tight, without the scope. If they don't wiggle, add the scope and go shooting. Be sure the ring to base screws are on the same side.
http://www.burrisoptics.com/rings.html

Bye
Jack

Regardless of my attempts, the two metal "v" cuts which I assume the rings will rest upon the bases with, have a alarming amount of "Play" even when the crossing screw is put in. Thanks for your time guys, I'm not sure if this is operator error, incompatible equipment, or defective goods. It seemed pretty straight forward to me, but then again I'm sitting here with a heck of a nice looking, though useless rifle until I can get this sorted out.

They are either the wrong style rings for that base as I have z-rings as well and they work great or you can try the millet rings.

Here's the mount fit listing from Burris

http://www.burrisoptics.com/mountfit.html

Anyway to get a picture of the offending parts?

My room mates a tech guy. I'll try to get pics asap. Before I try, do I need to upload pics to photobucket or can I directly upload them onto this site?

Hope these work.

From the first blurry one, it looks like the wrong mounts for the system.

You're OK - you have the Weaver 2-piece mount and the Burris "Z" ring, which is an appropiate combination.

The rings are clamping onto the side rail with the grooves cut into the ring base. If the crossbolt is tightened properly there should be no rocking of the rings on the mount. The "Z" rings should take a fairly snug fit to the mount when sliding on and at times I have to use a soft-faced mallet to encourage them onto the mount.

Have about a half dozen scopes mounted using this combination and no problems to date.

Soory I didn't get back sooner. kdub's summed it up. I've only encountered Zee-rings once, but those screws need considerable torque.

Bye
Jack

Well this adds some more interest. The rings slide onto the mounts quite easily, without force. I talked to Savage today, and they say that I need .22 rings. I talked to someone who has the same rifle, and was told Burris Zee Signatures were the way to go. Midwayusa has these: http://www.midwayusa.com/rewriteaproduct/598729, and I guess I'll be returning the ones I have to exchange. I was always told that the lower to the gun the scope was, the better. But I see that the upper end .22 rings are all sold "extra high." Any reasoning for this?

In addition, before I ordered, I specifically asked Midway if this combination would work with my specific rifle, and was told it was perfect. I will not hold this setback against the company however, as the goods came quickly. Well mainly I'm just pleased with the birthday discount I got in my email, saving money is always good.

Hey, proof that nice guys don't finish last!!

Dan

This is like vuja dey all over again..

1. Check the mount chart...look for a mount for your gun.

2. Yes in theory the lower the scope is to the barrel axis, the better off you will be....but that's not always true and it certainly isn't true if your objective touches the barrel.
The way the Savage is built, there is little drop off from the top of the receiver to the top of the barrel. SOooo in order to mount a scope with a large objective, you need higher mounts.

You should see the gyrations you have to go through to mount a scope with a 56mm or 60 mm AO

The newer Weaver base is .830" wide across the bevels, if that's any help.

Bye
Jack