the scope on my .308 keeps turning in the rings after about a dozen shots. i"ve tried packing it with film negative, but it"s done it again.
i"ve thought of some fine emery/sand paper instead. any suggestions?

BT, 26mm rings and a 1" scope by any chance?

I have heard of scopes slipping under recoil, but not rotating.

I've never had it happen to me, but I'm told a dab of silicone adhesive will help. What rings/scope are you using?

quote:

Originally posted by brass thief:
the scope on my .308 keeps turning in the rings after about a dozen shots. i"ve tried packing it with film negative, but it"s done it again.
i"ve thought of some fine emery/sand paper instead. any suggestions?

Are you talking about camera film? If you are, that’s pretty slippery stuff.

Have you tried putting a drop of loctite in the bottom half of the ring?

You may have bottomed-out ring halves. Take material off the bottom flats on the upper ring halves by running them over 400 grit sandpaper on a flat glass surface, then reinstall and retorque.

Did you lap the rings?

yes, the rings and scope are both metric. no, the rings have not bottommed out. no, i did not lap the rings.
i might try the loctite or silicone.
everyone would agree that a rifle will recoil backwards on fireing, but what about the torque effect from spinning the bullet? surely the rifle wants to twist in the opposite direction?
this could explain my scope rotating. the scope is not mounted against the turrets or bell, it is just clamped along the tube. it"s not trying to move back or forward, so something is making it turn.
i"ll remount it tommorrow and maybe try the silicone.
good shooting

Sounds to me either your scope is too small or your rings are too big. But in either case most people like to dab loc-tite in the rings and screws after mounting so it doesnt slip. I use super glue.

If it's rotating on its own, don't bother with silicone. It will not help. You have another problem.

Your scope and rings are not compatible or else the scope is mounted incorrectly -- pure and simple.

the rings are CZ"s own rings, and the scope is a meopta, so they"re both 25mm.
i"m just talking about the scope turning slightly off the vertical after maybe a dozen or more shots. i have"nt gotten around to it yet, but i"ll take out the film negative, which may be too slippery, and maybe replace it with some very fine sandpaper.
good shooting

must be due to excessive rifling twist

BT, a friend had some problems a few years back with a CZ rifle and rings. The final and only satisfactory solution we came up with was to take the CZ rings and throw them in the nearest river.

Rings were preplaced with Warne. Problem was solved.

you could be onto something there!
there"s only one screw on each side of these rings, and i would prefer two, with thicker rings to give a bigger bearing surface.
the rifle is a CZ 550, but maybe i should be looking for warne rings. when i bought the rifle, which was only a couple of years ago, i bought CZ rings, just so i knew they would fit.
i don"t use this rifle very often, as my 243 is a lot handier carried, and more than aequate.
i"ll look at a few other rings.
good shooting

One of two things...either the scope is turning because the rings and scope are not the same size, or...the reticle itself is turning in the scope.

I bet your rings suck. And...why are you guys putting glue etc on your rings???? That is retarded.

You may want to try using 3M brand, double sided "scotch" tape to line the bottom half of your rings. Not only will it stop any scope movement, but it also seems to minimize, if not prevent,
the dreaded ring marks on the scope.
Mike

quote:

Originally posted by dogcatcher223:
One of two things...either the scope is turning because the rings and scope are not the same size, or...the reticle itself is turning in the scope.

I bet your rings suck. And...why are you guys putting glue etc on your rings???? That is retarded.

Speaking of retarded...howabout the turning reticle theory you just posed?

I've seen a few reticules turn in the scope (Nikkos do it a lot, cause they are crap).
A drop of LockTite 243 in the ring will stop it turning, and is easy to get off if you need to.

"the scope is not mounted against the turrets or bell, it is just clamped along the tube"

That’s correct if you clamp too close to the turrets, bell or eyepiece you can damage the scope.

quote:

Originally posted by The Specialist:
I've seen a few reticules turn in the scope (Nikkos do it a lot, cause they are crap).
A drop of LockTite 243 in the ring will stop it turning, and is easy to get off if you need to.

"the scope is not mounted against the turrets or bell, it is just clamped along the tube"

That’s correct if you clamp too close to the turrets, bell or eyepiece you can damage the scope.

Yes, but wouldn’t you think that you would know if it was the scope body or the reticle that had rotated??????

quote:

Torque Effect?? You cannot be serious

If you want a nice demo of this effect go watch the "T Rex" videos, a 308 won't have quite as dramatic a reaction but you can't argue with basic physics.

i"m not saying it was either, it was just an idea. if the rifle recoils backwards as a result of pushing in the oposite direction of the bullet, then why can"t it try to rotate in the oposite direction from the rifling twist?
i know i"ll get a load of loud mouth experts telling me how stupid i am, but at least i can think independantly!
to everyone else,
good shooting

I am sure you are seeing the turrets move too along with the reticle, so we can rule out the reticle moving in the scope, right? Cheap fix, glue or sandpaper. A little pricey fix, new rings with more than one screw per side on the ring, more clamping surface(NOT more clamping tension, that can jack scopes too). Lapping the present rings can ensure you are getting 100% contact with the scope too. I guess making sure you have no gun oil in in the rings might help too. I had that problem with a pair of 50cal rings. Those bad boys need to be SPOTLESS.

quote:

Originally posted by brass thief:
then why can"t it try to rotate in the oposite direction from the rifling twist?
to everyone else,
good shooting

Torque is quite noticeable in highpowered handguns.

I hope brass thief just doesn't have my problem.
Whenever I eyeball a scope just so, sometime later, maybe weeks, suddenly the crosshairs arn't "square" anymore. They can seem miles out. Anyone picks up one of my rifles they say the crosshairs are crooked.
Now I have to use setsquares and stuff, and now I tell'em they are the ones out of wack.

quote:

Speaking of retarded...howabout the turning reticle theory you just posed?

The reticle can turn if the scope craps out. I had it happen to a Pentax. It was gradual, but eventually you could see the reticle was not square with the windage and elevation adjustments. I sent it back to Pentax and they rebuilt it.

quote:

Originally posted by JAL:

quote:

Originally posted by brass thief:
then why can"t it try to rotate in the oposite direction from the rifling twist?
to everyone else,
good shooting

Torque is quite noticeable in highpowered handguns.

Torque is noticable enough in the Colt 1911 that many competetive shooters specifically switch from Colt's LH rifling to RH twist aftermarket barrels.


With the factory LH twist the pistol tries to twist out of a Right handed shooter's hand
The torque from a pistol RH twist is more easily controlled by a Right handed shooter.

AllanD

quote:

Originally posted by dogcatcher223:

quote:

Speaking of retarded...howabout the turning reticle theory you just posed?

The reticle can turn if the scope craps out. I had it happen to a Pentax. It was gradual, but eventually you could see the reticle was not square with the windage and elevation adjustments. I sent it back to Pentax and they rebuilt it.

I believe that you just made my point. If the reticle itself (rather than the scope body) is rotating it is pretty easy to see based on where the knobs are when the reticle is level to the rifle.