20 February 2015, 23:51
Kenatiquote:Originally posted by Kenati:quote:Originally posted by Big Wonderful Wyoming:
Not to pry, but most of the 34mm scope rings are fairly expensive jobs themselves.
What brand did you buy that is out of whack that much, so I can avoid it?
It is not a brand thing. I lap everything form expensive Bobro, Leupold Mark 4, Nightforce, Griffin, Talley... all the way down to the most inexpensive ring.
A common misconception is that the rings are poor quality or not finished well. That is sometimes the case, but no always.
On classic 2 piece mounts, the rings may be fine, but the holes drilled in the receiver may be off. There may be misalignment in the Picatinny base which can cause perceived issues with the rings being misaligned. Or the little clamp pieces that hold the rings to the bases. Maybe there is grit or dirt under the mount of the rail. Or maybe the rail is warn from cam-type mounts being used (A.R.M.S., LaRue Tactical). Whatever the reason, and there can be many, I like to lap the rings and knock down any high edges that may exist. I have been doing this for about 15 years on all scope that I mount and NONE of my dozens of scopes have any scope ring marks on them. So even if nothing else is accomplished, I am preventing scope ring marks, which seems to help resale value tremendously. So for me, it is worth it.
I took a few photos of the last rifle I mounted a scope on just for demonstration purposes. These are Griffin rings and are very nicely machined and finished. I think I paid right around $80 for the pair.
[And before anyone starts criticizing the necessity of a Picatinny rail with such a short low scope, please let me explain my reasoning. I put the rail on there so that I can have the ability to use my "slut scope" on it for load development. My slut scope is a 6.5-20x50mm Zeiss Conquest that has been with just about every rifle I own. She sits in a Bobro quick detach mount and jumps around from rifle to rifle as needed. Hence, the Picatinny rail on this rifle. However, when I finish up load development, I have a pair of low Talley one-piece base/bring combo that should keep the scope as low to the bore as possible. Do note as well, this rifle is chambered in 300 Blackout and is threaded for suppressor use, so some scope clearance above the top of the suppressor will be needed as well.]
This is halfway through the lapping process.
I stopped lapping when I got to this point.
