I have lapped several pairs of my rings recently. After lapping I just mount the scope onto the bare metal of the lapped rings. Is this okay? I was thinking that it would probably be better to blue them before mounting the scope with cold blue or something along those lines. The reason why I ask is because of rust acting on teh bare metal, but then again they should have no exposure to air once they're lapped?? How do you guys handle the "post lap" procedure.

MOA,

You don't need to do anything after lapping. Clean the mating surfaces real good and then mount the scope. You can wipe the surface with a lightly oiled patch, but be sure to wipe it dry before mounting the scope...

Malm

MOA

I just use a little Cold Blueing and then lightly oil. It looks better that way.

Cold blueing alone will not prevent rust. I dont even bother.

Speedy,

Who's going to see it?

G.

Who's going to see it????? ME if I ever take the scope off!

smallfry,

I know it doesn't prevent rust but rubbing it with an oily rag helps.

Lapping of scope rings can sure be a disaster...overlapping is not condusive to good scope purchase...very light lapping "may" have some purpose, but I think surface grinding an action and custom fitted bases is a better solution. At any rate the lapping should be confined to burr removal at best IMHO...If you need to reblue, then I would be suspect to scope movement in the future...

A subject that has never been discussed on this board by the way, so I thought I would bring it up as so many gimmicks are out there today that sound great, but in fact are just another ripoff...

Ray,

A very valid point you bring up. If rings are lapped much at all then you are changing the deminsions of the rings to be sure.

When I lap rings in, it is mostly to remove burrs and to ensure that the rings are lined up. Lapping enough just remove a hint of the blueing to get an indication of how thing align. (Rings tipped front to back, left on the rear and right on the front, etc.) I had one rifle based off of a Rem 700 that you could SEE the gap under the laping bar. That one got sent out to get the top of the action trued. It just makes sure that the scope isn't in a bind of some kind.

I just like to touch up the blueing from a pride stand point.

Unfortunately, it's not the rings that are at fault, but the reciever rings. Most bases and rings that are made today are extremely accurate, even the cheapos, but the recievers never align accurately. Epoxied scope bases when done right, will solve 99% of the problems that people are trying to correct with ring lapping.
If you do decide to the lap the rings, I would reccomend reblueing the rings. This ensures that if moisture does get down there, the chance of if rusting would be minimized, if not eliminated.