I bought an EGW picatinny base for my older savage 110 243 flat back. I need to get more elevation and have been reading about people using beer cans to shim. With Christmas around the corner and needing to cut up some credit cards before they get used😁 would a plastic like that work also? Anybody tried?

Why not just buy the proper base?

Payne, I tried that once on a 22mag I was having problems with. Used shim stock from work, not AL can. Regardless, it gave me more problems. Buy yourself the base you want for Christmas, less headache. Buy once cry once. We're talking $20-30.

Payne Ranch.... Listen to what these guys said

I hunt a lot in Oklahoma and I've seen scopes shimmed with everything from lead tape to aluminum cans and this was done by competent people...… but the end result was always the same - FAILURE!

I shimmed one with aluminum foil folded over several times when I couldn't find a base to provide more elevation. 19 years later it's still holding zero just fine. At some point I will take it apart and make it "right" but I doubt the critters will ever know the difference.

I don't see why plastic credit card wouldn't work. However some cards are thicker than others and might provide way too much elevation. When shimming a little is a lot!!!

I'd be lying if I said I never used a cut piece of aluminum can to shim a base to zero a rifle!! If you cut it to fit just right, and level out the hole punch, it will work. The shim needs to be 100% flat and level, though. If you use a nail to punch your hole for the base screw and the shim has some high spots from the lip of the hole, it won't work well. A hole punch or something that will make a hole with no rolled or lipped edges works best.

While not the best option shimming can work. Have done a few over the years. Chad provided some good advice

Here's how I look at a scope base.

Rifle action, is the foundation of a building.
Scope is a wall of the building.
Scope base is the connection of the sole plate of the wall, to the foundation.
Scope rings are the top plate and the hurricane straps holding the roof down.

Now, when the big bad wolf huffs, and he puffs, I want the wall to stay connected to the house. When a scope is knocked into something, I want to know it is still well connected to the action.

Sell your base and buy the 20MOA.

Thanks for the input. For those saying buy the proper base, this is a base sold for my savage 110 pre-accutrigger with flat back. I have had the rifle since I was 10, and I guess originally it had some tape in the rings. I put the two piece base back on, different scopes, different rings, and still needed more elevation to zero. Not sure what option I have other than shimming or buying the adjustable rings.

20 MOA picatinny rail.

The thick part goes toward the rear of the action.

Fireman I think you are misunderstanding my issue. I shouldn't need a 20 MOA base to get enough elevation to shoot at 100 yards. I must just have an issue with the rifle as multiple bases and scopes have the same result.

Are you running out of travel impact down, or impact up?

Have you shot the rifle or just using a bore sighter at this point?

I had a 350 Rem Mag once that I thought was going to be a issue after bore sighting. I only had 3 clicks left before bottoming out the adjustment. When I got around to shooting the gun it was a non-issue as the adjustment needed to go the opposite way.

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