This is my first post on this forum and I hope some of you can help me.

I purchased a gun with Conetrol mounts and rings and a poor scope. I removed the scope and rings being very careful not to mix up the front and back rings/caps.

Now I cannot be sure I've got them back together again. There is a large gap between the studs that fit in the base holes and some of the rings are canted/tilted but the caps seem to be fine, perfectly aligned and smooth on all sides.

Am I not tightening the cone screws enough, they are already tight around the scope body and I don't want to crush the scope.

Can any of you offer suggestions on what I might be doing wrong. I made the classic mistake of not taking pictures of the assembly before I took it apart and Conetrol themselves sent instructions but only the basics.

Thanks

First, you are a wise man to be working on scope mounting with Conetrols in April. It will at least give you a fighting chance to complete your project by the Autumn hunting seasons.

I've only dismounted/remounted a scope once in Conetrols and can't remember (or my brain has blocked the traumatic memories) of exactly how to best approach putting that devilish little jigsaw puzzle back together, but I can tell you that I found it was hugely fortunate that I was working with a slick gloss-finished scope rather than a matte scope since I don't think I would ever have gotten the crosshairs level with the stickier matte finish.

If you'll run a search with the Google machine you can probably find several treatises on the best approaches to mounting Conetrols. Writing such long pieces must be cathartic for people who have been through the Conetrol experience.

One thing about it: You won't be tempted to swap out scopes willy-nilly on a rifle mounted with Conetrols. I know that the scope on mine with stay there as long as I am living.

Good luck and best wishes for your eventual success.

Conetrol rings are true works of art and work beautifully. The problem is, installing them is like tying both your shoes at the same time using only one hand.

Here's how you do it......with apoligies to my friend StoneC(aka WeaverMan).

First you break the sharp inside edge of the ring halves. I use a soft cratex bit in a Dremel tool.....VERY carefully.

Then....and this is the good part....you VERY SLIGHTLY expand each ring half. I gently bump each 1" ring half, with a leather mallet, over a 1.25" brass bar. When laid against the scope body, the ring half should slip around....like it was greased. DO NOT over-expand!!

Then proceed to assemble scope and rings to rifle. The scope should rotate quite easily.......until cone screws are snugged down.

One other thing.....DO NOT overtighten cone screws.

Hope this helps.

Kevin

Kevin,

Thanks, but I already took them apart(very carefully).

It's getting it back together that is problematic. The rings wont come close together at the studs when tight around the scope and the flats at the bottom of the rings are not flush with the tops of the bases, they are canted on one side or the other.

I do not want to overtighten the cone screws in an attempt to bring the ring halves closer together and risk crushing the scope or stripping the rings/damaging the cones/cone screws.

I've tripple checked the fit of the caps and that seems ok, I'm still at a loss as to why they are not fitting back together properly.

Rings and caps are marked with a grind indexing mark. Make sure you have matched them correctly.

kda55 makes a very good point about the cap indexing. There's a small index cut, in the cap, that should match a cut across the top of the rings.

The ring bottom studs are not supposed to come together, by design. When properly tightened, there should remain a small gap between the stud halves.

If......the cone screws have been previously overtightened, there is a good possiblity that the cone screws have slightly "flared" the bottom of the ring stud "pocket" downwards. This makes the stud too long, for it's recess, and can prevent the assembled ring from fully seating on top of the base.

Some pics of your rings/parts may be helpful.

BTW....part of my previous post delt with smoothing the sharp ring inside edges, and slightly flaring the ring halves.....i.e. nothing about disassembly.

Hope this helps.

Kevin

I love the Conetrols. Nothing looks or works like they do. I'm surprised how strong they are.

As mentioned, make sure the cuts under the caps line up correctly with the correct rings and then keep messing with them until they align right.

If you like that look they're worth the extra money and hassle to assemble.

I'm thrilled to see they're back in business even after George has passed.

If you would like to consider an alternative to the Conetrols, I went with the strap-type S&K's with SKulptured bases because I like the thinner look of the ring. The ring is spring steel and they mount fairly easily and don't move at least under the recoil of my '06.
www.scopemounts.com

I bought one rifle that had the Conetrols on it. After one weekend of struggling off they came and on went the Talleys. They are impossible unless you have three hands and a talented friend helping.

Procedure for mounting Conetrol scopemounts:

Select either 1" or 30mm rings

Obtain Conetrol bases specific to your rifle

Take rifle, bases and rings and drop them off to Paul Chapman at Griffin & Howe

Pick up the scoped rifle when complete :-)

quote:

Originally posted by Kyler Hamann:
I love the Conetrols. Nothing looks or works like they do. I'm surprised how strong they are.

As mentioned, make sure the cuts under the caps line up correctly with the correct rings and then keep messing with them until they align right.

If you like that look they're worth the extra money and hassle to assemble.

I'm thrilled to see they're back in business even after George has passed.

I couldn't agree more. Nothing come close. It's not rocket science to put them on. The rings are all indexed as stated earlier. Once on you can forget about them.

My son will be going to school in Sequin (TLU). That will give me the excuse to finally replace all the fn POS Talley's I've had to buy over the past few years with ol' George's declining health.