Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Scope mounting to maintain zero....

Yup that's a handy trick if you need it. Although with blue (either 242 or 243) Loctite and scope mounting screws, you shouldn't need to do that unless they're really overtightened.

That is what I use, and it works well.

Thanks for posting this.

I have always wanted to know what the proper method was for mounting a scope. I now believe I know. I'm still gonna use duct tape, since it's cheap, but at least I know how to do it!!!! Thanks for the informative post.

Excellent post deserving of a sticky.

Great post. One thing baffles me. The now typical rig consists of a $500+ rifle under a $500+ scope and you won't spend $60 on a good inch/lb torque wrench? Seems like the very definition of false economy.

there's more than one way to skin a cat...... just not the same cat..





j/k Thanks for the post..

? Am betting there's plenty of torque wrenches around...

Yeah I would hope so but the "use the small end of the Allen wrench" or "not quite farmer tight" quotes have me worried. I would bet a fair amount of problems would be cured by using a torque wrench.

Non-issue. I believe he's just saying using the tool that way gets you about 18 in/lb - not indicating nor advocating that one NOT use a torque wrench. It was specifically written to torque them. Forms a great guy for writing this stuff up.

Just out of curiosity, what kind of place is this?

thanks,


Okie John

Great post, and I truly appreciate the information.

Just out of curiosity, what kind of place is this?

thanks,


Okie John

Has this been made into a sticky yet?

I'd assumed everyone knew to degrease new machined parts...

My own method:

a). De-grease everything, screws, holes, bases, scope.
b). Mount bases with JB Weld... While likely overkill, I think it's better than Blue Loctite, and provides a monolithic mount. (25 in lbs)
c). Lap Rings.
d). Mount scope in a thin layer of rubber cement.
e). Secure ring halves with Blue Loctite on screws. (20 in lbs)


I do like the idea of nail polish on the ring screws... that's a great idea and a new one to me, though I can't say I've ever found a need for it, it sure can't hurt. I think I'll pass the pink and go clear

I usually use a layer of blue Loctite between scope bases and the action, and it usually works pretty well. That's exactly how I attached the NULA rings (which today are Talley Lightweights) to the first NULA we had, a .270 Winchester that Eileen used for many years until she started getting recoil headaches. After working up a very accurate load with 130 Partitions, the rifle stayed sighted-in for a decade, despite being bounced around in float planes, saddle scabbards, and even a small boat in the Arctic Ocean. Just before hunting season, whether it was started in Montana after antelope or up North after caribou, she'd take one shot from the bench at 100 yards. It would land dead-center, two inches high, and we'd go hunting. The only reason the rifle eventually lost zero is the scope went bad.

If for some reason I want the bases to REALLY stay solid I use Acra-Glas Gel. (Don't think it's works any better than JB Weld, but I have plenty on hand.) Two rifles with Acra-Glassed the bases are my standard scope-test rifle, a Heym .300 Winchester Magnum, and a Mark X Mauser .375 H&H. The .375's bases got epoxied partly because the 98 Mauser action was never really designed for scope bases, and when the bridge is contoured for them there's not much thread-contact for the screws.

But yes, a lot of the time what we think is a scope failing to hold zero is actually movement of the scope-mounts, usually the bases--understandable because they're held on by pretty dinky screws, even when 8-40's. Firmly connecting the bases to the action can really help.

Thank God my Rugers don't have bases....

Kinda tough to tell if the screws have loosened when using clear paint or nailpolish.



Standard practice for fasteners in critical service in industry, air craft, automotive, etc.,

On a hunting rifle, I will bed the bases with Devcon 10110 and I degrease first with my ultrasonic tank. I use green loctite on the screws and use a toothpick to put a drop of Gorilla glue inside the rings. I have never had one move with this method and don't have to use a torque wrench to get it tight enough. I only have one torque wrench that goes low enough and it is Torx type marketed by Warne so it doesn't fit everything. I torque stripe (inspector's laquer or tamper paste- whatever you want to call it) the trigger adjustment screws but not the scope screws. If you degrease them and use green loctite they won't move.

I've been using the same bottle of clear nail polish on trigger adjustment screws since 1998. It's pretty clear, no pun intended, when the paint fails.

I never use Loctite on the ring screws there seems to be enough spring in the rings. When I shoot the rifle the first time, I will check the ring screws after A number of rounds. Then snug them up, they stay tight after that. The bases I will degrease and Loctite.