scope base on Eliseo worked self loose - common?

[hkfan45]

I noticed today that my scope base worked itself loose on my Eliseo. The 3 screws were loose allowing the scope base to wobble. When I backed out the screws I noticed that I could fairly easily pull the scope base from the action sleeve. In other words, the roll pins supposedly holding the scope base to the action sleeve pulled right out of the sleeve with minimal effort. The roll pins are certainly tight on the scope base, but do not require much effort to push them into the action sleeve. Is this normal? Do these pins merely serve as "alignment pins," with the 10-32 screws doing the heavy lifting? Or, are these pins supposed to be very tight in the action sleeve? The holes in the action sleeve measure 3/16" (what was called for in instructions) and the roll pins are slightly (0.005") larger.

Has anyone else experienced this? I was advised to loctite the screws and I will, but I'm worried this may happen again. Gary seems to think this is OK and I always trust "the master", but another builder told me the base should be very tight to the sleeve with just the pins.

 

[Jonathan Zimmerman]

The roll pins are for alignment, but should be snug. Since they are designed to be a press fit (oversize) you shouldn't have play in the base. The screws should do the real work though. As Gary mentioned, it is fine. I had a base come loose in a 1000 yard match years ago before I installed the roll pins. Talk about chasing my tail, from 3 o'clock on the target to 9 o'clock and back. Lesson learned, roll pins worked. Take care, Jonathan

 

[hkfan45]

The roll pins are for alignment, but should be snug. Since they are designed to be a press fit (oversize) you shouldn't have play in the base. The screws should do the real work though. As Gary mentioned, it is fine. I had a base come loose in a 1000 yard match years ago before I installed the roll pins. Talk about chasing my tail, from 3 o'clock on the target to 9 o'clock and back. Lesson learned, roll pins worked. Take care, Jonathan

They're definitely snug, with no movement side to side. I guess I'm just trying to figure out what made the screws loose. These screws did not use loctite, so I'm wondering if that was the issue.

 

[Warren Dean]

Gary is a straight shooter (pun intended) and he knows his stuff. If he says it's OK, then that settles the argument....opinions of other builders are rendered moot

 

[hkfan45]

The plot thickens a bit (maybe). I just noticed that the underside of the scope base has an exit hole which looks like someone either did a piss poor job of drilling, or this was done on purpose at the factory (see below). The center hole is fine, but the exit holes of the left and right side of the scope based are definitely larger than the diameter of the original predrilled holes that came with the stock. Is this done on purpose to allow the scope base to be aligned properly? I've had other assembly issues with this rifle, so I'm suspicious of my gunsmith/builder.

I just torqued down the screws with blue loctite (recommended by Gary), and tapped the pins in (the center one pushed in a bit). It seems to be solid.

 

[kendog]

.... Is this done on purpose to allow the scope base to be aligned properly? ....

Yes.

 

[Gundoktr]

No! No! No! According to the instructions from Gary Eliseo, the base is to be aligned for windage before the stock is drilled to eliminate any misalignment in the scope. The scope has to be "zeroed" with the screws snug and then aligned before drilling through using the existing holes for a guide. I just did one and just read the instructions. He leaves some clearance in the screw holes and base for just that reason.