Lap the rings or not? I post in optics but got no opinions thanks

[BoydAllen]

I have put high quality rings on integral bases and improved the fit with a little lapping. The bar tracks tell the story.

 

[Scott Harris]

My gunsmith beds my rings using J-B Weld. My scopes are one inch in diameter. He has a one inch diameter tube that is about three feet long. He uses the long tube to bed the rings. Using the tube, he can line it up with the barrel, horizontally and vertically before the compound sets. It is a very practical way to get your scope lined up with your barrel.

I am hopeful that you can find a gunsmith who can do the same for your 34mm scope.

LE Hanson

Hmmm, you are bedding to a bar and not to your scope. That seems sub-optimal because it assumes your scope and the bar perfectly match.

 

[lynn]

I have put high quality rings on integral bases and improved the fit with a little lapping. The bar tracks tell the story.

Boyd
The bar tracks only tell the story of the rings.If you run a dial indicator over your scopes you will quickly learn they are not straight.
You are correcting the rings then putting in a very badly bent scope tube and calling it all good.
Give bedding a try and you will see what stress free is all about.
To those that don't think stress affects your scope simply place your hand on the front bell while looking at your target 100 yards away.
Bed your rings for stress free mounting or lap your rings and prey your scopes main tube is perfect.Its a no brainer.
Lynn

 

[holstil]

I experienced what Lynn is talking about. I doubt Burris makes 34mm rings. I think lapping and bedding is a great fix.


Jim

 

[Yellow11]

I have three of these scope and the are great.

The scopes are far to good to ignor the good practise of lapping them to the rings.

You do not need a custom made lapping tool, simply buy a length of 34mm silver steel in bar form (comes in 13" in length) from your local engineers' tool supplier and you are ready to lap.

... and if you are not sure it needed to be done, then wait until you are way through lapping and the answer will be looking you in the face.

 

[H2OBUG]

I always lap my rings once installed then I cut litttle white address labels to fit just inside the edge of the rings --this does 2 things it helps grip the scope--quite well I might add-- and protects the scope from damage.

 

[nhm16]

I'm in the bed the scope base camp. Lapping rings is irreversible and specific to that particular action/base/ring combo. I use Burris Signature Zees on my F-class guns, which will not mark the scope becaue of the insert, and Seekins on all others. With a bedded scope base the Seekins will not mark the scope (actually, I didn't even bother bedding the scope base on a Stiller TAC-30 action I have, and there's no marring there either).

 

[chino1969]

Even the best quality rings may not be in axial alignment with each other. Receivers have tolerances as do bases and rings. These small differences can add to tolerance stacking. The best tool to have is a scope alignment tool which will show if the rings are in alignment or not. Spending hundreds of dollars, if not more, on a scope merits the correct stress free mounting. A Schmidt & Bender scope is not a cheap piece of optics. I would make certain it was mounted stress free regardless of the ring quality or expense.

 

[BoydAllen]

A little off topic, but here goes. A couple of the externally adjustable ring sets that are designed for so called frozen scopes use compressed rubber between the scope and the ring to allow the scope to pivot. These setups have a good reputation for precision in holding their adjustments, which has lead me to wonder why one could not mount an internally adjustable scope in two such rings. I was thinking of 30mm rings and a 1" scope. Opinions?

 

[alf]

Boyd,

You may be on to sumpin'......

 

[holstil]

Boyd, I was thinkin the same thing. Originally I was thinking along those lines, using 30mm for 1" and reaming out the larger rings for some type of moldable plastic, say by heat.

Then as I kept thinking, I decided to call Dave Kiff to have him grind me out a tool to cut the profile of the Burris inserts into just about any type of rings to receive the inserts. The idea is to chuck this tool in the lathe and mount the lower ring in a vice on the compound and run it into the cutter to desired depth.

I figure you only need to do the lower half? What do ya think?
Might only work on thicker style rings.

Jim

 

[BoydAllen]

I think that the Jewel design externally adjustable rings use a front ring that is a standard Jewel ring without the aluminum insert. For those that are not familiar with the Jewel rings, they had aluminum inserts that were similar in shape to the Burris Pos-Align. (The Jewel rings came out before the Burris.) In any case, If you took the inserts out of Burris 1" rings and used a section of latex rubber tubing around the scope, you would have something similar. You would probably have to set them up with limiting washers between the faces of the ring halves, so that you would get a controlled amount of compression on the latex with the parts tightened metal to metal.

 

[holstil]

Don't like plastic Boyd? Do the heavy cannons make the scopes slide?

 

[BoydAllen]

I have not had much experience with high recoiling rifles. As far as my idea goes, the thought is that it eliminate stress caused by the different expansion rates of aluminum scopes mounted on steel actions, help damp the entire rifle, and reduce shock to scope adjustments, improving their zero holding reliability. I like the plastic insert rings, but they are too heavy for benchrest rifles that are limited to 10 1/2#.