I recently bought a Savage 111 Trophy Hunter XP that came from the factory with a scope installed and bore sighted. I took to t

[M.A.T]

I recently bought a Savage 111 Trophy Hunter XP that came from the factory with a scope installed and bore sighted. I took to the range to sight it in and I did. At the range it was shooting great, in fact I shot 3/4 MOA group. And when I was at home a few days later I realized that the scope rings were loose. So the question is if the rings were loose when I was shooting would the make the gun shoot eratically. And if I take the scope off it's bases how much would that change it's zero.

[fezzant]

Taking the scope off its bases will almost certainly change the zero. How much depends on too many factors to guess, but it could be significant. Loose rings will usually make for poor groups.

I actually had the same issue with my Savage 111 - the scope is OK, but the bases and rings they ship with the factory installed scope are junk. They are made of aluminum and do not stand up to any abuse at all. Mine actually broke completely off on a hunt. Get rid of them and put on something else - I used Burris and have never had another issue.

[jhjimbo]

By loose do you mean you could move the scope by hand? If so you need to level the scope again and tighten the screws then check at the range again. If you mean you could tighten the screws a little more, but the scope did not move, the POI is probably still the same.
If you remove the rings from the base with scope in them, it will be close to zero when re installed. Quick detachable mounts would come back to a perfect zero as they were designed to do so.

[M.A.T]

Both rings weren't loose just the front rings and by loose I mean I could see them rattle around when I jiggled them. And the gun I was shooting was a .30-06 with 150 gr bullets so it wasn't anything with too heavy recoil.

[jhjimbo]

Tighten the front screws, I use blue LocTite on them. Clean them first with alcohol to remove any oil and then apply a dab of LocTite. Tighten securely. Once the front is done, remove the rear and do the same for them.
Then it is off to the range to re-zero - about 2" high at 100yds should be good for a 30-06.