Jay Christopherson
Not An Admin
Chris Lefort is a friend and fellow shooter (F-T/R) here in WA state. When he's not shooting, he designs and manufactures high quality, high precision products and among them, a set of precision scope rings called B.A. Gear Tactical Scope Rings.
<rant>
Normally the word "Tactical" would put me right off- that word is so over-marketed and over-used in the shooting industry that it's nearly lost all meaning. It brings to mind huge, overly-bulky products that serve practically no useful purpose in the shooting sports I participate in. That's not to say that there is a not a market and/or place for them, but "tactical" is definitely not my domain of interest.
</rant off>
However. I was at a local match recently shooting F-Class with Chris and he mentioned that he was manufacturing a set of high quality, high precision tactical rings. Frankly, I wasn't particularly interested at first because I was already using Leupold QRW rings and they were serving my purpose (switching a single scope between rifles) well-enough, but when we got back to the line and I got a look at Chris's rings on his rifle, I thought that they looked pretty good. When he started describing how they were manufactured and the work that went into making them, I decided I had to give them a try. One benefit (although not exclusive to the BA Gear rings) was the fact that they were designed for a Picatinny rail- the QRW rings I was using were designed for a Weaver mount and while they work on a Picatinny rail, the fit on the rail itself is not really perfect. You really have to make sure they are clamped down well to prevent movement fore and aft.
The rings themselves are matched sets, engineered and precisely machined from T6 aluminum and hardcoat anodized. That means that they fit very precisely, are very strong, and (important in F-Class), light. One particular feature that I really like is the fact that each set of rings is pinned and marked so that they fit together the same way, every time. Period. This helps to prevent one side of the rings from being over-tightened and putting odd stress onto the scope body.
Chris claims that the rings themselves will need no lapping- the story goes that a local gunsmith (who is a firm believer in lapping rings), tried the rings, mounted the lapping bar, and was unable to turn the lapping bar in the rings due to the evenness of the clamping force. I personally have a Kokopelli lapping bar set and when I received my rings from Chris, I decided to test that out. I mounted the lapping bar in the rings (lightly) and then attempted to run the lapping bar- sure enough, I was unable to easily rotate the lapping bar. I probably could have with enough force, but the normal amount of force I use to lap rings was not enough to start the bar. I quickly gave up before I did something permanent and bad to them.
With my Leupold rings, it took a bit of lapping to get them into alignment. Without lapping, it took almost 6 minutes of windage to zero the scope on the rifle. With the BA Gear rings, it took one click (1/8 MOA) to get windage zeroed. This is on a Barnard Model P action, which is well machined part by itself. I was definitely gratified to find that they were as trued as Chris stated they would be.
I have a March scope and ring marks are not something I like to see on my scope- with the Leupold rings, I have to do a bit of trickery to get them on and off, based on the way the top ring slips over the tube. With Chris's rings, the scope meets at the halfway point and ring marks are not something I worry about anymore.
Finally- one issue I was particularly worried about was my ability to swap my scope easily between rifles. With the QRW rings, I could easily remove and re-mount my scope on different rifles without losing my zero. For me, this is a defining feature of any set of rings I purchase. I can't afford to buy another $3K scope so I have to make swapping it work. With the BA Gear rings, I don't have a quick-release lever, but a 1/4" allen wrench allows me to easily remove and remount the scope on different rifles, without the loss of zero. During testing, I pulled and remounted the scope between strings several times and each time, my POI was right back on the money.
I encourage anyone who is looking for a high quality set of rings at a fairly reasonable price to check them out and give them a try. Call Killer Innovations and talk to Chris Lefort- he's a great guy and will definitely answer any questions you have. You can check out their rings online at:
http://www.killerinnovations.net/Ring.html
* NOTE: Chris supplied me with a set of rings to test with at no charge- however, I just purchased a pair of rings for another rifle from one of his online distributors. Worth every penny.
Here are some pics of the rings- I've got a picture of them mounted on my own rifle that I will be posting today once I pull them from the camera:
<rant>
Normally the word "Tactical" would put me right off- that word is so over-marketed and over-used in the shooting industry that it's nearly lost all meaning. It brings to mind huge, overly-bulky products that serve practically no useful purpose in the shooting sports I participate in. That's not to say that there is a not a market and/or place for them, but "tactical" is definitely not my domain of interest.
</rant off>
However. I was at a local match recently shooting F-Class with Chris and he mentioned that he was manufacturing a set of high quality, high precision tactical rings. Frankly, I wasn't particularly interested at first because I was already using Leupold QRW rings and they were serving my purpose (switching a single scope between rifles) well-enough, but when we got back to the line and I got a look at Chris's rings on his rifle, I thought that they looked pretty good. When he started describing how they were manufactured and the work that went into making them, I decided I had to give them a try. One benefit (although not exclusive to the BA Gear rings) was the fact that they were designed for a Picatinny rail- the QRW rings I was using were designed for a Weaver mount and while they work on a Picatinny rail, the fit on the rail itself is not really perfect. You really have to make sure they are clamped down well to prevent movement fore and aft.
The rings themselves are matched sets, engineered and precisely machined from T6 aluminum and hardcoat anodized. That means that they fit very precisely, are very strong, and (important in F-Class), light. One particular feature that I really like is the fact that each set of rings is pinned and marked so that they fit together the same way, every time. Period. This helps to prevent one side of the rings from being over-tightened and putting odd stress onto the scope body.
Chris claims that the rings themselves will need no lapping- the story goes that a local gunsmith (who is a firm believer in lapping rings), tried the rings, mounted the lapping bar, and was unable to turn the lapping bar in the rings due to the evenness of the clamping force. I personally have a Kokopelli lapping bar set and when I received my rings from Chris, I decided to test that out. I mounted the lapping bar in the rings (lightly) and then attempted to run the lapping bar- sure enough, I was unable to easily rotate the lapping bar. I probably could have with enough force, but the normal amount of force I use to lap rings was not enough to start the bar. I quickly gave up before I did something permanent and bad to them.
With my Leupold rings, it took a bit of lapping to get them into alignment. Without lapping, it took almost 6 minutes of windage to zero the scope on the rifle. With the BA Gear rings, it took one click (1/8 MOA) to get windage zeroed. This is on a Barnard Model P action, which is well machined part by itself. I was definitely gratified to find that they were as trued as Chris stated they would be.
I have a March scope and ring marks are not something I like to see on my scope- with the Leupold rings, I have to do a bit of trickery to get them on and off, based on the way the top ring slips over the tube. With Chris's rings, the scope meets at the halfway point and ring marks are not something I worry about anymore.
Finally- one issue I was particularly worried about was my ability to swap my scope easily between rifles. With the QRW rings, I could easily remove and re-mount my scope on different rifles without losing my zero. For me, this is a defining feature of any set of rings I purchase. I can't afford to buy another $3K scope so I have to make swapping it work. With the BA Gear rings, I don't have a quick-release lever, but a 1/4" allen wrench allows me to easily remove and remount the scope on different rifles, without the loss of zero. During testing, I pulled and remounted the scope between strings several times and each time, my POI was right back on the money.
I encourage anyone who is looking for a high quality set of rings at a fairly reasonable price to check them out and give them a try. Call Killer Innovations and talk to Chris Lefort- he's a great guy and will definitely answer any questions you have. You can check out their rings online at:
http://www.killerinnovations.net/Ring.html
* NOTE: Chris supplied me with a set of rings to test with at no charge- however, I just purchased a pair of rings for another rifle from one of his online distributors. Worth every penny.
Here are some pics of the rings- I've got a picture of them mounted on my own rifle that I will be posting today once I pull them from the camera:
