Saw mention of my name and scope rings - here goes... Not sure which Nightforce you are using, if it has a 56 mm objective you will need fairly high rings. Plus Nightforce scopes are relatively heavy so you will need strong rings to hold them properly.
I believe that scope mounting systems are potentially the weak-link. Most shooters want to get their scope on the rifle with minimal cost and that is about it. Minimal cost may not mean adequate stength, for holding the scope in place without slippage and for resisting accidental drops and abuse. Abuse that bothers me in particularly are forces from the side which would tend to bend the scope over. This happens on hunts and even from a slip onto the cement floor in the basement or whatever.
Another consideration is how well the scope fits into the rings. This is determined by the quality of machining that went into making the rings and also factors like how true the centerline of the rings is to the centerline of the bore. That is why some guys lap their scope rings, to make sure that the scope is not being bent or torqued because the rings are not in a straight line. Things like how true the factory drilled the mounting holes in the receiver of the rifle come into play, and we can't do diddly about that without spending a lot of money having the holes redrilled.
Burris makes neat rings that enable some adjustment of the scope to true it to the centerline or to add some needed elevation by using plastic inserts that are in graduated degrees of thickness - plus the plastic shims prevent scratching the scope tube by poor fitting ring edges. Personally I do not feel that these rings are as strong as I want on most of my rifles. Compared to some other designs they are just not as robust - check out the size of the clamp on each side of the ring for instance. They work but they are not nearly as tough as Warnes or any of the tactical rings such as Badgers - not even close. Unless you have used Badgers/Mk4's you might not appreciate this difference.
If you wish to save some money, check out Warne Maximas - either with or without the detaching arms. Since you already spent the big bucks on a Nightforce I would want the best and would go with Badgers, Mk4's, Farrells, Nightforce, H-S or similar. Badgers come in several sizes, no sweat to get one that will fit your scope perfectly. I believe that
www.badgerordnance.com will give info on optimum ring heights for your scope.
Good luck, hopefully you only buy rings once.
