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How many Ft, Lbs of torque

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25 December 2007, 21:18
hglass
How many Ft, Lbs of torque
How many ft. lbs. of pressure(torque) should be used when installing bases and rings on a rifle? Does it matter if it is aluminum or steel?
25 December 2007, 21:30
Toomany Tools
Less than 3, but most people who measure torque on small screws use inch-pound torque wrenches. That being said, very few people measure them. If you use the search function here you'll find lots of discussions on the subject.


John Farner

If you haven't, please join the NRA!
25 December 2007, 21:49
hglass
I stand corrected I meant was inch lbs.
Thanks for your help
25 December 2007, 23:37
Bear in Fairbanks
hglass:
This from Leupold:
Scope bases - 18 in./lbs.
Scope Rings - 29 in./lbs.

Don't know about any other manufacturers. All of my scopes & mounting systems are Leupold. I use a torque wrench in in./lbs to do it.
Bear in Fairbanks


Unless you're the lead dog, the scenery never changes.

I never thought that I'd live to see a President worse than Jimmy Carter. Well, I have.

Gun control means using two hands.

26 December 2007, 19:38
tnekkcc
http://www.gunsandhunting.com/midway_feb07.html


quote:
.. Leupold recommends that 6-48 screws in a ring or base be tightened to 18 in.-lbs.
... Wheeler Engineering recommends that base screws be tightened to 30 in.-lbs. ...

26 December 2007, 20:20
Mike_Dettorre
The other issue that comes up is what goes on the screw.

I am a big fan of cleaning the screw and the hole with with alcohol, drying, and then applying a single drop of machine oil.


Mike

Legistine actu quod scripsi?

Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.




What I have learned on AR, since 2001:
1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken.
2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps.
3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges.
4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down.
5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine.
6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle.
7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions.
8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA.
9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not.
10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact.
11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores.
12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence.
13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances.
26 December 2007, 22:29
tnekkcc
quote:
Originally posted by Mike_Dettorre:
The other issue that comes up is what goes on the screw.

I am a big fan of cleaning the screw and the hole with with alcohol, drying, and then applying a single drop of machine oil.


I am with you on the alcohol, but I like blue removable 242 Locktite on the threads for hunting rifles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loctite

I put oil on the threads for some range queens.
01 January 2008, 02:58
Mike_Dettorre
tnekcc,

Not sure I understand the differnce in performance requirements for scope ring reliability between your hunting rifles and a "range queen".

It's okay for one to have a higher likelihood of scope slippage than the other?


Mike

Legistine actu quod scripsi?

Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.




What I have learned on AR, since 2001:
1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken.
2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps.
3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges.
4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down.
5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine.
6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle.
7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions.
8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA.
9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not.
10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact.
11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores.
12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence.
13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances.
01 January 2008, 03:29
Saeed
We have this argument each time someone brings his rifle in here for a scope to be installed on it.

I personally never used a torque wrennch, but tighten the screws as tight as I think they should be.

We clean the screw holes with degreaser, then use blue locktite.

This has worked great for us.

An example f this is our two 375/404 rifles. They have been on over a dozen African hunts, used by as many as eight hunters each year, and have never needed their scopes touched.

This year Walter came up with one of his great ideas.

He said I should change the scopes for new ones. "Just in case they might break, as they have had quite a lo of use"

I told him the scopes will remain on the rifles as they have been from day one, and I have ni intention of touchng them as long as I do not feel someting has gone wrong.


www.accuratereloading.com
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01 January 2008, 03:39
dsiteman
We have a saying in the hills of West Virginia and that is simply "if it aint broke, don't fix it..."
01 January 2008, 03:43
z1r
I have some rifles that are over 20 years old and still wear the same scope that I bought for them when new. The bases & rings were installed per the instructions included which stated to clean the holes well, apply a drop of oil, maybe two, and tighten. These have been hard hunted and have never come loose.

The only time I ever used loctite was for securing the plug screw when a scope wasn't used. This before the advent of the plug screw with "heads."

Just my two pfennig.




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