Scope Mount Buying Guide
Scope mounting and sighting in: here's how to do it right the first time
Warped and bent scope bodies, scarred and marred finishes, cracked lens, lost
turret caps, at least one scope mounted backwards, and certainly the wrong mounts
and rings. Every year prior to hunting season, gun shops and gunsmiths are
faced with doctoring the mistakes of incorrectly mounted scopes. Unfortunately,
scope mounting faux pas like these are more common than you might imagine.
Degrees in nuclear science, physics, or engineering are not required to
successfully mount optics on your hunting rifle. Anyone possessing basic motor
skills (I barely fail into this category), and the ability to follow simple
instructions can achieve professional results the first time.
All that's needed is a few simple tools, a place to work, and the desire to do
it right. Let's examine the steps required to successfully and professionally
mount your favorite optics on a hunting rifle. When we've completed this task,
we'll visit the range and learn how to properly sight in our rifle.
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place
To start, we need a place to work. If you don't have a corner of the house that
belongs to you, boldly commandeer the wife's kitchen table -- just make sure
she's not home. Next, we'll require a sturdy platform to work from. Having your
brother-in-law hold the rifle steady while you work is asking for trouble, hurt
feelings and scratched firearms. Gun vises abound on the market and are
relatively inexpensive. Just make sure you choose one that holds the firearm
securely and will not scratch your expensive investment.
Most rifles leave the factory with filler screws resting in the scope base
holes. Remove them using a properly fitting screwdriver. Next, we'll want to
clean any grease or oil that may have accumulated in the holes to insure the
base screws thread securely. Aerosol gun scrubbers and blasters, manufactured by
Birchwood Casey, Break-Free and others work well for this chore. It's also a
wise idea after you've done this, to apply a thin coat of oil onto the receiver
where the mount will rest, to prevent possible rust.
Quality Pays
There are many successful designs of scope
mounts and bases on the market today. Most are very rugged and durable,
sadly, some are not. Insist on nothing less than the best and forget about the
cost. A quality set of mounts and rings is much cheaper than a missed shot on a
Boone and Crockett whitetail.
By far, the most popular scope
bases and rings are those manufactured by Redfield, Burris, Leupold, and
Millett. The front scope
ring twists into the base mount for a rock solid perch, while two large windage
adjustment screws secure the rear scope ring. Due to their popularity and
quality, we'll mount a set of these on our rifle.
Step One
Open the package containing the bases for your weapon and wipe them off with a
rag. Apply a thin coat of oil to the underside of the mount as well. More than
likely, a proper fitting allen wrench was included with your bases. If not, make
sure you use the correct size to prevent damaging the screws.
Base screws are rarely the same length, and instructions often neglect to inform
us where each one should fit. So how do we determine what goes where? An easy
solution is to drop the screws into the base holes, hold them up where you can
see the threaded portion of the screws, and make sure there is an equal amount
of each screw protruding from the base. They should all be approximately the
same length. This method is far from scientific, but actually works well.
Now it's time to secure the bases to the receiver. Scope
bases have an uncanny ability to work loose under heavy recoil, which
obviously wreaks havoc with accuracy. Murphy's Law dictates we only become aware
of this after we've missed the buck of a lifetime, and watch him saunter over
the horizon waving his white tail in salute. This malady is entirely
preventable.
Place the front and rear base mounts in their proper place on the receiver.
Before inserting and tightening the base screws, dab a little Loctite on the
threads. This will prevent them from working loose under recoil. If you're out
of Loctite, reach for a bottle of your wife's clear nail polish. It will suffice
in a pinch.
Step Two: Rings
With our bases securely in place, it's time to mount the scope
rings. Using your properly fitting wrench, remove the screws from the rings.
Place them along with their corresponding ring halves on your workbench. The
forward ring mounts in a rotary dovetail. For a smooth installation, wipe a
light coating of any good grease over the "feet" of the forward ring
before inserting it into the base hole. You will notice it rests perpendicular
to the mount.
Unless you were blessed with the power of Hercules, it's quite obvious you can't
turn the ring with your bare hands. So what's the easiest way to perform this
task? Brownells offers a 4-Way Scope Ring Wrench (part number 813-100-004) that
includes slots for Leupold, Burr, Millett/Redfield, and 30mm Leupold rings.
Slide the correct slot over the ring and gently rotate to the proper position.
The large handle provides plenty of comfortable twisting power. I've personally
used one to mount well over 1,000 scopes in my shop. They are very durable. If
you don't have one of these tools on hand and can't wait, try cutting a one-inch
wooden dowel to approximately twelve inches. While not as fancy, this works
equally well.
Using an appropriately fitting screwdriver, loosen the large windage screws on
the rear scope base enough to slide the rear ring into place. Center it as close
as possible. Now, tighten the windage screws enough to hold the ring in place;
we'll tighten' them securely in a moment.
Alignment Is Important
How can we tell if we've aligned the two rings correctly? Once again, the
gunsmith's friend, Brownells, helps us out. They offer Scope Ring Alignment Rods
(part number 800-730-000) which takes the guesswork out of alignment. Simply
place the two aluminum rods, sharpened ends directed towards one another, onto
the rings. Mount the upper ring halves on top and secure them with the screws.
Adjust as needed until the two pinpoint ends touch. When you mount your scope it
will be aligned perfectly.
What if you choose not to invest in this tool, is there a way to be fairly
certain your scope is aligned correctly? Absolutely, and I'll bet more folks use
this method for mounting a hunting scope than any other. Simply place the scope
into the rings. Slowly rotate the scope. Did it turn freely? Could you feel any
binding? If so, remove the scope, adjust the rings and try again. Perform this
operation until the scope rotates freely in the rings. Once this is
accomplished, your scope should be aligned correctly.
Now we're ready to begin mounting the scope. Place the scope into the rings, and
lightly screw the upper halves to the lower rings. Not too tight, first we need
to make sure our crosshairs are straight, and determine proper eye relief. To
obtain the correct eye relief, shoulder the rifle and look through the lens.
Adjust the scope back and forth until you're rewarded with a full field of view.
If the scope appears out of focus, simply loosen the focus ring and adjust until
you see everything clearly, then secure it there.
How do we determine if the crosshairs are straight? That's a darn good question,
but I don't have a darn good answer to provide. If ten people look through the
same scope, more than likely, all ten will see the crosshairs differently. Men
and women, boys and girls, are not built the same. Each of us is different.
Adjust the scope until you are satisfied the crosshairs are straight. You're the
one shooting the rifle. Once this has been accomplished, tighten the screws
firmly.
Bore Sighting
The only task left is to bore-sight,
and head for the range to sight in. Many shooters still prefer the old-fashioned
way of bore-sighting --
remove the bolt, arrange the rifle in a steady rest, then aim through the bore
at a target. Now adjust the scope's reticle to coincide with the target. This
method is very simple and fairly accurate.
Serious shooters generally opt for something a little easier as well as more
accurate, enabling them to save a few cartridges while 'getting on paper."
This method consists of using an "honest to goodness" laser bore-sighter
or collimator. These units come in an assorted variety of shapes and sizes.
These are very simple to use. Choose the correct caliber arbor for your rifle,
attach it to the bore-sighter, which has a grid located in the lens, then slide
it into the bore of your rifle. Remove the adjustment caps from your scope.
Glance through the lens and you will notice the grid. Our objective is to center
the crosshairs in this grid.
Saving A Little Windage
Using a properly fitting screwdriver, or a plain old nickel if that's all you
have, turn the elevation screw until it aligns with the center line on the grid.
If you will remember, we haven't yet secured the windage screws on our base.
We'll do this now, and also save a few windage turns, or clicks, in the process.
Insert the correct screwdriver into the base windage screw, and look through the
scope. Using this coarse windage adjustment, move the crosshair as close as
possible to the center of the grid.
We want the rear scope base to remain as close to center as possible, so don't
over-do it. We're just trying to save a few clicks in case we need them while
sighting in. Using your screwdriver, turn the windage screw, and move the
crosshair as close as you can to the center. Tighten the windage screws firmly.
Complete the process using the scope's adjustment. Replace the scope caps and
you're done. You have successfully mounted and bore-sighted the scope on your
rifle. Let's go to the range and sight it in.
If you're not a , go to
your favorite gun shop and purchase at least two boxes of the ammo you intend to
hunt with. Insist all ammunition is from the same lot to insure consistency. Lot
numbers are usually found on the inside flap of the box. Handloaders
should also make sure their components are from the same lot, especially powders
and primers.
On The Range
We've got a good supply of cartridges on hand so what next? Most ranges provide
some type of stable. platform, or bench, from which to shoot, so all we need is
a quality set of earmuffs, shooting glasses, targets, staple gun plus plenty of
staples, screwdriver for scope adjustment, and a bag type rest. It wouldn't be a
bad idea to include a few screwdrivers to fit the rifle's action screws should
they work loose under recoil.
Get comfortable and settle in at the bench. Carefully and slowly fire one
cartridge from one hundred yards. Where did the round hit the paper, high and
right, left and low? Move the scopes adjustment screws accordingly. Wrap
yourself around the rifle and fire a three round group. Were these rounds closer
to the bullseye? If not, let your barrel cool down a bit, adjust your scope and
try again. Perform this ritual until your rifle is grouping where you want it.
For general big game hunting in most of the country, a 200 yard zero is
sufficient for the majority of our needs. Sighted approximately two inches high
at 100 yards, this zero will allow you to hold "dead on" from point
blank range clear out to 250 yards.
If your particular hunting interests demand a different zero, or your cartridge
and rifle combo are not suited to this zero, sight your rifle in according to
your needs. Remington, Federal and Winchester offer ballistic tables in their
ammunition catalogs that are invaluable in determining suitable zeros for
different cartridges.
MDS Optics offers brand name optics such as Leupold, Bushnell, Redfield,
Simmons and other fine brands.
Rifle Scope Mount
Keywords: rifle scope rings, rifle scope bases, rifle scope extension rings

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