The last time that I bedded rings, it was because they were taking forever to lap. It gave a perfect fit, and was easy. At the time I was afraid to use the scope, so I measured the diameter of the length of 1" cold rolled steel that I was using to lap, and finding the diameter very close to that of the scope, cleaned off the abrasive and gave it a couple of applications of neutral paste shoe polish,,Kiwi brand if I remember correctly)buffing after each application. I used Devcon Plastic Steel, the smallest kit, bought in a hardware store. The rings were Ruger, on a model 77 varmint rifle. I didn't bother doing the caps. I might consider doing them today. Rather than try to trim the hardened "squeeze out", I wiped it off immediately with a wet paper towel, and then dried to prevent rust. Before I started lapping, I had tightened the rings to the integral bases, and resolved not to remove them thereafter, so that I would not have to redo the job. I was pleased with the end result.
Sometimes, rings and/or the receiver are so far out that by the time that you lap to full contact there may be alignment issues or the faces of the caps may need to be filed to restore clamping clearance. In these cases, bedding may be a good option.
I think that it is a good Idea to keep an old scope around that has had the reticle centered by rolling the scope on V blocks and adjusting till the intersection of the cross hairs does not move as the scope is rolled. Using this as a tool,bore sighting),one can determine what sort of alignment problems exist before attempting lapping and or bedding of the rings. I don't use the Redfield style rings that have windage adjustment on the rear ring/base. It seems to me that the rear ring is too lightly attached to be held properly during lapping or bedding. About all that I do with these is to chamfer the parting line so they don't mark the scope.
