Hey Cuts, wished i'd seen this post sooner. Bet a bunch of others have missed it too as there's a lot of Axis rifles out there and every danged one of them is a pain to scope.
I look forward to hearing what you've done with your rifle since your last post. Ever get to drop the hammer a time or two?
Personally I got in a rush to shoot mine(.308), didn't do my homework and grabbed a set of redhead mounts from bass pro. They are a bit heavy(steel but made in U.S.!), and I don't like two screw mounts, preferring 4 screw like came with your centerpoint scope. Those are actually great rings btw, and the scope not to shabby either up till you get to higher magnifications. Both are tough as nails. Anyways, I ordered a Redfield 2x7 and it didn't fit between the rings. Tried two or three other scopes I had and none of them fit
. If I could do it again i'd either have mounted a weaver rail, or bought the slightly offset DNZ mounts which would have allowed my initial scope to fit. I unfortunately picked my scope according to my rings requirements instead of the other way around. I ended up with this Minox 3x9x40, and while its ok and barely does fit, I really don't love my mounts or scope, but I do love my Axis
I've gotten used to palming the bolt to keep from squishing my fingers and it works ok. Maybe someday I'll get the DNZ rings and put that Redfield on there. Looking forward to hearing the results of your setup. J