Ruben you came to the right place. Yes, if you are serious about 1000 yard shooting, you need the tapered bases or some other sort of compensation. Let me tell you how I know.
I have a sister rifle, The 700 VS in .308. I bought the Leupold 6.5x20 LRT just like you are going to get. I have shot a 1000 yard match with this rifle and some Hornady 178 gr. A-max. Here is the quick proof.
You can see the white target boards 1000 yards in the background, the little black dots beneath are the targets. You will also notice the red tips of my A-Max in my box.
In this picture you can see the Rem 700 Vs with the Leupold 6.5x20mm LRT and 4" sun shade.
Here was my problem. I ran out of elevation even with the 30mm tube. I thought all was lost. However, the guy spoting for me told me to hold a bit higher. Pretty soon I got one on the target and I was holding above the #4 marking board that was above and beyond my target as I was on station #4. I started to hold on one of the intersections of the 4 and then adjusted my elevation and windage from there. Despite my shortcomings, I ended up shooting a quite nice 385-10x out of 400 off of my bipod. The other hard core shooters were pretty impressed. I ended up adjusting up 120 clicks (1/4" clicks, so that equals 30 MOA) from my 100 yard zero. Keep in mind this was up 30 MOA while still holding about 10-15' high over the actual target.
So despite the brags by Leupold about the extra elevation adjustment that comes along with our 30mm tube, with the .308, you are still probably going to come up just short at 100 yards. Now, I found that as long as there is a nice big number board above the target with a distinct number that has a specific intersection you can hold on much like the center of the x ring, you might be able to compensate. The only problem with that, I made do, but I don't have the real satisfaction of knowing my rifle can be effective out to 1000 yards.
Makes me wonder why Leupold doesn't simply leave between 10-20 MOA for lowering elevation and then put the other 40-50 MOA on raising the elevation. Instead they center the scope. I wonder if they can adjust that at the factory? If so, instead of spending all of that money on a new tapered base, I would consider sending the scope back and having its center adjusted. I am going to check on that and get back to you.
So, if you really want to shoot long range, you need that extra MOA, it is crucial. Otherwise you end up going half ass like I did. Sure it works, but it really leaves you feeling left out of the real long shooters circles. By the way, what kind of mount are you planning on getting? I have the Leupold Dual Dovetail dual bases and Medium Dual Dovetail medium 30mm rings. I bought the super high's but they were super high. The scope fits perfectly with the mediums on my VS and from my understanding, the only difference between our guns is you have a little bit nicer stock. I just painted my gun too, I am really happy with the camo job I did on it. Sorry this is so long, but you asked for info and you got it!
[This message has been edited by El Rojo (edited October 22, 2000).]