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I have some pretty basic questions for you guys who install your own optics on your rifles. I have a new model 70, with a Leupold VX-2, and bases to put together. I have mounted a few scopes on rimfires, and always just set the rifle up in a cradle, eyeballed the rifle level, mounted the scope, and lined up the vertical crosshair with a plum line hung from the ceiling of my work area. I could do the same with this rifle, but I want to be certain that everything is absolutely right, as this is a hunting rifle, and surgical shot placement is critical to me. I am also concerned with how tight to tighten the base and ring screws, as I don't want to shear or strip anything, or damage the scope tube. If I do this myself, I was also wondering whether to use red or blue loc-tite on the screws. Is this doable without any special tools, or am I better off just taking it to a gunsmith? (I had a very good 'smith for years, but he died a couple years ago, and it's difficult to find a trustworthy replacement here in the Northeast). | ||
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A few comments. 1) I do not recommend using Loctite. I clean the screws and clean out the screw holes with alcohol or another degreaser with a q-tip and then place drop of gun oil on my index finger smear it on my thumb then roll the screw on my thumb and finger tip. This may sound contrary to you but that is actually what Leupold recommends. The minute amount of oil will not affect the screws "hold" and it will ensure if you ever need to release the screws they will come out. 2) I would purchase a Wheeler or other torque screwdriver about $50. https://www.amazon.com/Wheeler...r+torque+screwdriver and follow the scope ring and base mfgs spec. 3) I would also add a "torpedo" level to your kit. The rest of your approach plumb line and cradle is fine. 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. | |||
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Get a piece of 1" dowel, and use that to turn the rings and align them. Don't turn dovetail rings using the scope, it can mess up the tube. Weaver actually makes a pretty decent kit that has alignment points, a torque screwdriver, lapping compound etc... if you're going to do a couple of scopes it's worth having. There's a lot of good videos on YouTube. | |||
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I have mounted plenty of scope bases and scopes over the years and without fail two tube epoxy both the base and the screw threads. You can have the most expensive optics, rings and bases and they mean absolutely zilch if the bases do not remain tight on the receiver. Surprising how many have had problems with inaccuracy, some documented on this forum, and have farted around with trying different ammo, different scopes and rings, and then find the bases have come loose or one or other of the base screws have bottomed out without tightening the base properly. The other issue that crops up often enough is that the base screws have sheared because of recoil. Then we get into drilling out the base holes and using bigger screws to hold everything together. A crock of crap, just glue your bases and forget about drilling out for bigger screws. Glue also seals the base to receiver joint so you do not get water creep between them. The glue can easily be removed if ever needed by judicious application of a little heat to the base and screws, this seams to concern some but is not an issue. I always screw the base or bases to the receiver one screw at a time without glue to check that the base sits level and each screw is holding the base tight and not bottoming out in the hole or protruding through into somewhere where it shouldn't. Once all is checked, clean surfaces, screw threads and holes with a solvent, apply the two pot epoxy glue to the underside of the base or bases, screw holes and threads and tighten everything firmly. Wipe of squeezed out glue, you are good to go and can never blame your bases for inaccuracy issues. | |||
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I would be interested in the opinions of some of the gunsmiths on this forum about epoxying screws and bases as I have never heard of this practice before. 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. | |||
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No glue.....ever Normally no loc-tite.....sometimes blue I always lapp and align both rings to the bore and mount the base with light oil under it. Screws get oil 99% of the time Rings get oiled after lapping These days I use a tourqe wrench....years ago no These are some pictures taken at least ten years back in my old junk filled shop.....torn down and rebuilt bigger and better...I'm not so sure       ________________________________________________ Maker of The Frankenstud Sling Keeper Proudly made in the USA Acepting all forms of payment | |||
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I basically hand fit bases to my receiver much the same as one would inlet a rifle, I use inletting black or gold on the bottom of the base so as not to polish/cut on the receiver..However in most cases with me and if its a big bore, I have the receiver surface ground to level with the world..I use 8/40 screws with most of my bases on big game rifles 338 and larger. I have several scope levels to be sure the rings line up, they all work...I have a plastic level to be sure the scope and rifle align properly horizontal and vertical. Then I mount the gun to shoulder and see If its level for ME...On big bores I use epoxy glass bedding on the 8/40 base screws and red locktite on the ring screws. On standard calibers I just use red locktite..I clean all oil off everything to start with....I never have a scope problem... If I need to take the scope off or the bases, I simply heat a small screw driver red hot, hold it on the screw until I see some liquid lead then the screw driver has cooled enough to be hard and I unscrew the screw...Sometimes I just heat the screw with a pistol butane torch with a tiny flame ( cooking stores sell them ) and unscrew the screw... A surface groung action, with fitted bases, is my approach to positive return to zero with QD scopes..mostly Talley or older Lynn Brownells. Works almost as well as a claw mount IMO....A claw has adjustment to allow for metal wear is the only real difference, and that's good in the long run. As to screw tension, I have such a screw driver that tells me that, but I never use it..Ive mounted so many scope I just go by feel and I am sure they are tight..I have a particular screw driver with a handle that allows me to tighten until it won't turn any more, and its just right..Takes a few years to figure out what size screw driver allows that..handle too big screws break, too small you not tight. I think this is how I do it, never given it much thought. Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
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I used to work in a small gunshop back in the 70's and have mounted scopes on everything from 22's to 375's (including my own) and have never had a customer bring one back because of the mounts, and I never used loc-tite or anything else on the screws. I used to lap the rings similar to what Ted showed in his post, except I did mine by hand. Lately though I have switched to the Burris Signature Rings with the polymer inserts. They grip the scope much better than the bare metal rings, you can put more pressure on them without harming the scope, and they never mar the scope finish. I've had them on my 06 and 7Mag for several years now without any problems. The nice thing is they don't leave any ring marks on the scope tube, so if you ever have to move scopes around for whatever reason, you don't have the ring marks to contend with. NRA Benefactor. Life is tough... It's even tougher when you're stupid... John Wayne | |||
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With respect, why not ask these same gunsmiths about the practice of slapping handfuls glue (various types) into the stock and bedding the action and barrel or doing likewise and dropping in a length of threaded rod to the fore-end of plastic stocked rifles to make this area more rigid, or even drilling for and gluing in a length of similar rod up through the grip of a wooden stock to strengthen it. I really don't understand the aversion of those to gluing and screwing scope mount bases to the receiver of rifles. A properly fitted and fixed base is the most critical component of scope mounting. Why not just do the job 110%. Fit and forget. Even the motor vehicles we drive and the aeroplanes we travel in are held together by buckets of the stuff, apart from just about everything else we use today. Below is an example where there are two small screws holding the Weaver base to the receiver and one No6 BA screw through the centre of the base into the small lip on the rear safari sight holding this base on. The underside of the base is still concave where it sits on the rear sight, no packing required, but of course all glued with Araldite epoxy. This is on a fairly light 404 Jeffery and has been like this for 36 years now. The scope has been on and off when using open sights and has always returned to zero and the POI never shifts. Just can't ask for anymore than that.  | |||
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Well, one fact that I was trying to flush out of this conversation was whether or not I could do this job adequately with the limited equipment that I had on hand. I realized that I could do an adequate job, but stood a good chance of marring the nice finish on the rifle, bases, or rings if I slipped or made a mistake. I also didn't have a 1 inch dowel to true the rings, so I just took the rifle to a gun shop and had it done. Now, it is done right, looks great, no dings or scratches, eye relief is perfect, crosshairs are properly aligned, and after buying a couple of boxes of ammo, I am ready to start accuracy testing next week. I thank all of you who participated, I appreciate the knowledge that you all bring to the table. | |||
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With all due respect, they are three different applications of using epoxy and one may want to remove the scope base and not turn that simple process into a much more difficult process because it is epoxied to the receiver and the two applications you are referencing (bedding and affixing threaded rod) are very common and well accepted practices and uses of epoxy. Therefore, I have no need to ask the question related to those two applications. Given, I have never heard of anyone other than yourself advocating epoxying a scope base to a receiver it is a rather appropriate question to ask. 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. | |||
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Here is a link to Cameron Murphy's page on the reasoning behind bedding scope bases. I don't do this to my rifles, but Cameron has very good instructions/ rationale for doing so. If you're not familiar with Murphy Precision, he makes very nice picatinny bases for a variety of firearms. https://www.murphyprecision.co...e/Scope_Base_Bedding "For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind..." Hosea 8:7 | |||
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Using epoxy to bed the base to the receiver is not unheard of. 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. | |||
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I dont do glued screws. Good threads, clean screws and surfaces, THE RIGHT SIZE SCREWDRIVER BIT and proper torque values is the recipe for success 99% of the time. If a heavy scope or hard recoiling rifle requires extreme measures, just use a dab of JB kwik weld on the bases, but keep it off the screws. Snug it down to about 15 inch lbs and that puppy aint going nowhere. AK-47 The only Communist Idea that Liberals don't like. | |||
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this is ridiculas, there is nothing wrong with glueing screws. especially if your doing a $40,000 safari or a $25,000 bear hunt with a big bore rifle. There is nothing wrong with glass bedding rifles or coating the inside of rings with a thin layer of rubber cement.. To be proud of one work or ability is fine, but mounting scopes with clean screws etc, etc. seems to me to be over the top and Obsesive compulsive disorder (OCD)...  Ive done it both ways. Prior locktite and glass, I cleaned the screws and the hole threads as recommended. For the most part that failed it seems. Then we used iodine, but that ruined the screws and the holes as it created rust, then we used airplane glue and rubber cement, and Lord knows what else, and it got better. Finally we got locktite and fiberglass. Over the years Ive seen unglued scopes fail many, many times, and yes some were properly mounted. They usually by hard use and over time. The real killers are a rifle that rides daily in a pickup or the worst killer is a saddle scabbard, that constant bouncing moves screws and moves cross hairs in one direction or the other. Maybe some of us use a rifle harder than others. The bottom line is glue certainly can't hurt a thing, and I see it as cheap insurance. The worst thing in the world is a tilted cross hair or a loose scope, when its time to make the shot..all else is chatter. Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
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You could use a broomstick to turn in rings and a dot of blue Loctite. Modern torx screws make it alot easier to not booger up the screws or mar a finish. A Wheeler torque thingy will prevent over tightening. I mostly use Burris rings with plastic inserts, but for standard steel rings I lap them and add a thin coat of liquid electrical tape to the inside to prevent slippage and ring marks. "Pick out two!" - Moe Howard  | |||
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i have MANY words for using epoxy, as such, on these -- none of them are fit for typing on the internet - this covers all of the 2 part, hard as rocks, designed to NOT be removed, causing stripped heads and broken screws -- yeah, that epoxy -- NO if these are a class 1 fit, or even a not so tight class 2, then using actual THREAD LOCKER, of which loctite blue is an excellent product, one which i strongly recommend people use on most threaded connections that they don't wish to jolt loose. in a pinch, even clear nail polish, which the likes of carmichael, ackley, and o'conner have also recommended, though 1 or 2 of them might have suggested red.. i'll never know why the distinction as for using epoxy as a structural and/or permanent adhesive, which it is intended, I can't imagine why those uses would be compared to threadlocker. as for drilling out to #8, well, unless the threads were very loose or damaged, i wouldn't suggest this -- though i did follow this well meaning advice until about 20 years ago... if the threads fit well, AND it isn't an ultralight right, as I suspect velocity of recoil is more important... i reckon a 30-378 in a 7# rifle would sheer them off every time just my opinion, ya'll are more than welcome to your own, and applying them as you see fit opinions vary band of bubbas and STC hunting Club Information on Ammoguide about the416AR, 458AR, 470AR, 500AR What is an AR round? Case Drawings 416-458-470AR and 500AR. 476AR, http://www.weaponsmith.com | |||
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I'm most impressed by the trouble everyone takes but haven't felt the need to epoxy any mounts yet, though I'm not against the idea. I suspect the need to use steel rods to align the rings is something to do with American one-inch tubes being a bit delicate when made in alloy; the Germans tended to up the tube size big time and add a rail when they went to dural. To me, the most important thing is to align the scope with the bore sight, say at 25 yards, without recourse to the knobs. If everyone did that we would never have needed constantly centred reticles - but it is still important to keep away from the ends of your clicks when zeroing. | |||
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Not if the bases were epoxied and this is main advantage of using epoxy on the bases and not just epoxy or some form of thread locker on the screws. The epoxy bond relieves most if not all shear forces from the base screws. Now isn't that a worthwhile engineering advantage? Once recoil has ripped a base off or even loosened a base then you will likely have damaged threads irrespective of whether the screw heads have ripped off or just the screws pulled out. Either way, it is most likely the threads of both the screws and receiver will have been damaged to some degree and then you will be drilling out to the next size up. Why go there in the first place. The resistance to using epoxy on bases because it will be hard to remove is illogical. How often does anyone remove scope bases from a firearm? Its certainly not an annual chore or even one performed in the lifetime of the gun. Obviously there will be occasions where bases are changed for another style or the firearm is stripped for refurbishing but the epoxy is simple to soften to allow removal of screws and bases and the residual left on the receiver is also a piece of cake to remove without marring the finish. Been there and done it. Been there and done it with soldered bases too. A point was made in a few posts back "I dont do glued screws. Good threads, clean screws and surfaces, THE RIGHT SIZE SCREWDRIVER BIT and proper torque values is the recipe for success 99% of the time." Really, who settles for 99%? That 1% failure could be when you've arrived in on your expensive African safari or in my case choppered into a remote alpine block for a Tahr hunt or been dropped off by fishing boat in our remote Fiordland for a weeks Elk hunt. Yes Jeff as you say we all have our own opinion and we are free to do how we see fit. I am just passing on many decades of my experience of using a sound engineering practice to the OP and like you and me he can choose to follow what he wishes. | |||
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I do as Ted Thorn does in his above post. In reading this thread, its the first time I ever heard of epoxy on bases or rings. I am no expert, but have mounted dozens of scopes. NRA Patron member | |||
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I bed my scope bases with epoxy and loctite my screws. Not sure that it is actually necessary, but it seems like good insurance. No problems so far... | |||
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Now, fitting the bases, with a skim on epoxy, is a beast of another color --- I do take exception to "epoxy" in threaded joints, as i said .. but bedding bases, when done properly, with release compound, is a good practice, though one i generally don't do unless there is a grouping issue... you made me think through something i "know" them morning, resulting in me changing how o think of it,,, thank you opinions vary band of bubbas and STC hunting Club Information on Ammoguide about the416AR, 458AR, 470AR, 500AR What is an AR round? Case Drawings 416-458-470AR and 500AR. 476AR, http://www.weaponsmith.com | |||
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To each his own, but my guns belong to me, and if Im going to be in the outback for months at a time..a small bit of epoxy on a 8/40 screw is the best insturance I know off, some gunsmith spend way more time in the shop surmising this and that than spending months in the isolated parts of the earth hunting...If I want to remove one of those screws I use a small flame of a cooking store butane lighter or a red hot screw driver and unscrew it...A $50,000 safari has been ruined to one degree or another over a broken rifle..Same goes for glass bedding stocks, Ive seen some mighty high dollar guns go sour with warpage along with a lot of factory rifles...These things can be prevented but to each his own, but such arrogance can sure upset the apple cart on a hunt. Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
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Although my experience may be limited in comparison to some, I've had success using epoxy to improve the fit of the bases to the receiver. I put release agent on the screws so they are not really glued into the receiver but the bases are degreased and are glued to the receiver. I do not lap rings but do glass bed the scope into the bottom half of the rings. If I want some elevation, I can do this at this time. When it comes to levelling the scope cross hairs, I have a look though the scope and, if it looks level, I call it level. If it looks crooked, I move it to make it level. It is always a good idea to check the insides and edges of any rings for burrs and/or defects which might mar the scope and remove these with a file or hone. In recent years, scope mounting has become much more akin to rocket science; the internet may be a contributing factor. I'm happy to have done most of my scope mounting in the nineteen seventies, eighties, and nineties, in ignorant bliss. I have since learned that virtually everything I do, I do wrong and it is a wonder I ever managed to hit a target or take an animal. My first scope mounting job, on a Lee Enfield in 1964, was accomplished with nothing more than a screwdriver. That rifle and scope accounted for a whole bunch of deer, an elk, and an antelope before I, probably using the same screwdriver, put on a different scope after falling and breaking the first one. Regards, Bill. | |||
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. You notice that I seldom, if ever, comment on this subject Billy? I have come to the conclusion that I am just to damned old and stupid to mount scopes anymore !  he he heWhen I was a kid. I had the stick. I had the rock. And I had the mud puddle. I am as adept with them today, as I was back then. Lets see today's kids say that about their IPods, IPads and XBoxes in 45 years! Rod Henrickson | |||
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I'm a rank amateur- mounted my first scope at age 14, with nothing but a drill press. That was 44 years ago. Rifle still can take a crow at 150 yds. I tend to do a lot of things wrong, too. Doug Wilhelmi NRA Life Member | |||
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I only wish the rest of the super-gluers and loctite-ers were in New Zealand with you. That way I wouldn't run into all of the Bubba-ed scope mounts that I do. Using chemicals on scope screws is totally unnecessary and can only result in bad things happening when it is time, for one reason or another, to change the scope or mount. I've mounted hundreds of scopes over more than a half-century with dozens of different types of mounts and have yet to have one come loose. Gluing screws is akin to welding your car door shut after you get inside. | |||
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I have not mounted too many scopes, mainly because the ones I did mount stayed on fine, without glue. My worry about using epoxy to hold the scope in the rings, the screws in place and the base on the rifle is this: knowing that a modern, 'constantly centred' scope is almost guaranteed to bugger up with enough recoil, how will you get it off to send back for its magic-pudding warranty?  | |||
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| One of Us |
Please read my posts carefully, I have never said I do and I never would use glue or any other product on the scope ring screws. Only ever on the bases and base screw, please don't attribute to me anything I have not said. I add that I agree with you 100% that scope ring screws shouldn't be glued and your analogy is correct. Gluing bases and the bases screws is like welding the chassis on a car, it is the base of the vehicle to which everything else is built on and has to be the strongest part, same as a scope base on a rifle, in fact many rifles come from the factory with integral bases so 'fixed' bases are nothing new. I have mounted bases and scopes on semi auto military rifles for use in animal culling or meat shooting deer, tahr and chamois from helicopters where the rifles are thrown in and out and abused in every possible way. I know what works and what doesn't but as said before each to his own, some just learn the hard way. | |||
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