Does the 700 have dove tails or is there a rail mounted to it? If it has a rail I would shim the rail. I would try swapping the rings front to rear first, sounds like something isn't right. Maybe even new rings or try a different scope to see if it's the scope.
well i double checked everything again as well as back off on the scope settings. still couldnt bring it up high enough on the boresighter so i made 2 shims per ring from a coke can. seemed to work. was able to boresight it w/ some play to spare on the scopes elevation settings. now i got to try it at the range. i too thought leupold was rock solid. would expect something like this from a simonds or tasco but ive had both of them as well and never had issues w/ either like this. maybe i should have stayed w/ them!