Ring lapping

[eightyeight mag]

Yep. And they are about 400 bucks too.
Not cheap.
Looks like a fun rifle.

 

[Ura-Ki]

I surely is!

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

i just put'm on and torque to 2 "ugga duggas" and call it a day.

 

[bolus]

Like race car tires. Slicks are completely flat without tread to get more surface area touching the pavement. Lapping increases surface area of contact between the rings and scope and holds better.

I lapped a set of Badger rings, the expensive ones that are serialized so you know they came from the same forging. The lapping showed that they were still not lined up perfectly and there would have been some hairline gaps between the scope and rings. The alignment also includes the rail that they are attached to and lapping takes out that error as well.

 

[Kruel J]

I guess my thought is why NOT check those expensive rings??

 

[Velzey]

I like it when you lap the rings so much that when you tighten the screws down the scope moves freely, back and fourth.. free floating
Seen it a half dozen times

 

[powersbj]

I lap and put a dab of light machine oil on the rings to help keep any moisture out, i torque to spec and have never had one move. Im not a believer in locktight or onionskin double back tape, none of it is nessicary... disclaimer, I don't shoot really big calibers....

 

[po18guy]

I would use a very thin film of 3M #8008 Weatherstrip Adhesive & Gasket Maker. Once snugged down, its .0005" film bonded to scope and ring would resist pretty much any and all movement. The plus is that, when removing, it will roll off and ball up in your fingers. The caveat is that one must have the scope located correctly fore and aft, as well as rotationally.

The Burris Signature rings have no such problem. Neither do Sako/Tikka's Opti-Lock. Both use a polymer ring between scope and steel mount ring.

 

[eldbillbo]

I try to use mounts that are 1 pc made from 1 piece of aluminum from a quality manufacturer. I will lap rings that mount on a base or cheaper quality mounts. It's funny how in the old days no one bought expensive rings or lapped their scopes yet put meat on the table every deer season. I think a lot of people tend to want to blame their rifle or their optics for their own lack of ability to group small. But if it lapping brings you comfort you should do it. I do .

On a side note lapping is a good way to find imperfections in rings as well as bases. My uncle asked me to zero his .300 Weatherby mag he was having issues with it so he bought new rings and I decided to lap it and while lapping I discovered that screw holes for mounts on the receiver were off center so they were not aligned thus requiring shimming and lapping to get it to line up as there was a lot of stress put on the scope and he was having problems with keeping it zeroed. Unfortunately he had a friend who is kind of a gun know it all thought it was a barrel problem so he paid a lot of money to replace the barrel which did not need to be done.

The locktite method Joe mentioned is really good too, tends to squeeze out where not needed and fill in there it is needed when the rings are tightened. I will on occasion use that instead of or in addition too depending on the rings.

 

[4x401]

I have a wheeler lapping kit. I lap everything, even Cheap Vortex scope to cheap Chinese UTG rings
Lapping and bedding are cheap and effective. Not to do so is just laziness

I agree to a point.

"Economy" scope rings/ mounts need to be lapped.

But expierence has shown me that higher end manufacturers (Leupold, Warne, etc.) really don't need it.

 

[HB of CJ]

I used to lap in the scope rings to insure that the cross hairs were exactly centered to point of aim right to left with the scope adjustments exactly centered. Hard to do. Sometimes there was just a non adjustable misalignment usually between the receiver mounting area and the barrel.

Wondering now what the bench rest shooting crowd does to get that final one percent of max accuracy.

 

[SageRatSafaris]

If there are tooling marks on the inside of your Warne rings, return them or submit a warranty claim! QC guy was asleep that day, who knows what else he didn't check.