Just wondering what everyone thought about the importance of lapping the scope rings before installing a scope. Been reading some lately and got me to thinking about the subject prior to setting up a new rifle the other day. I had not lapped rings before but decided to on the new Frontier Ruger in .243 after I got done bedding it. Just curious as to what difference it makes.
Scope Lapping
- Thread starter Dawg_gone
- Start date
Jack Roberts
Moderator - Deceased
I feel it is vitally important. It can head off all kinds of problems, plus you will never ring mark a scope again.
Jack
Jack
biggen0_8
New member
Dawg gone: I started lapping rings several years ago, and won't mount any scope without it,now. You won't believe how little of your scope ring is actually coming in contact with the scope, it has to cause pressure points and misalignment. Can I give any quantifiable evidence of improved accuracy? NO. But when I do have a problem with accuracy on a gun, I can rule out ring misalignment automaticaly. I guess in some ways it's peace of mind, you pay too much money for your scopes, to just clamp them up in a vise.
Now, if your on a budget, let me tell you I did. Go to your local machine supply shop or do a search on line for "drill rod". You can buy a 3'piece for about 12-15$ it will normally have a diameter tolerance of about .001" per foot of length. Which I think is good enough. Then stop buy your local automotive machine shop, it will have to be one of the old timer places, that still does actual engine work. And see if they have valve lapping compound, if not you can probably find it on line also. Most containers will have 1/2 "fine" and 1/2 "coarse" in the same container. Now for less than 20 bucks you have a lapping tool that you can really get a hold of, and which you can also use to twist in scope rings. And sometimes it can come in very handy when lining up windage adustable rings. Sorry this post ran so long, hope some of what I said, is helpful.
Now, if your on a budget, let me tell you I did. Go to your local machine supply shop or do a search on line for "drill rod". You can buy a 3'piece for about 12-15$ it will normally have a diameter tolerance of about .001" per foot of length. Which I think is good enough. Then stop buy your local automotive machine shop, it will have to be one of the old timer places, that still does actual engine work. And see if they have valve lapping compound, if not you can probably find it on line also. Most containers will have 1/2 "fine" and 1/2 "coarse" in the same container. Now for less than 20 bucks you have a lapping tool that you can really get a hold of, and which you can also use to twist in scope rings. And sometimes it can come in very handy when lining up windage adustable rings. Sorry this post ran so long, hope some of what I said, is helpful.
claimbuster
New member
I go even cheaper. I take a piece of 1" dowel rod (from Home Depot) wrap it with #600 "Wet or Dry" sand paper and rotate it in the rings. May not be fancy but it sure works.
wrongtarget
New member
+1 on the Burris Signature rings!! But if you want to lap rings, I'd just buy the proper tool to begin with, Midway has the Wheeler Engineering kit for about $30 on sale regularly.
Tim
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=227261
Tim
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=227261
varmentwacker
New member
this is what i use.i have one in 1 inch and 30mm. http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=166854
stiff neck
New member
Huh. I just used a section of an old metal mop handle. It was just under 1" diameter. I wrapped a piece of 600grit paper around it and went to work lightly. Then I went to rubbing compound to smooth it off. It didn't need much, I guess I had everything aligned pretty well and the rings were already close to being true.
BroncoGlenn
New member
Sinclair frequently has a lapping kit on sale that's fairly inexpensive.
Well, what I did as a first time approach was use a 1" dowel rod and vavle lapping compound that I got at Advance Auto, about $8.00 total. I had questions about the durability of the dowel rod but after using it is seems to be no worse for the wear (I got the oak one) and it is long enough even if it wore some to just move to a new location. Did seem to smooth things up nicely. The Ruger rings are another issue though. The top section of one of the rings would not go over the scope w/o scratching/marring the scope /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif, I happened to have another set of rings that I got the top section from and it fit fine, just seemed to be machined to incorrect tolerances.
Bill B.
New member
My next scope mounting I will be trying the Burris Signature rings, however I have had at least one application that Burris does not supply rings to fit. That was on my RWS scope mount for a magnum springer air rifle. The Rings were horrible with noticable ridges at the edges of both rings. I found a piece of 1" diameter steel rod scrap at the machine shop where I worked, measured it to make sure the diameter was pretty consistent, and then drilled at tapped a hole near the middle for a bolt to use as a handle.
Then it was off to the auto parts store to find some valve lapping compound. Most parts stores have it, just don't bother asking anyone under the age of 35 because they will look at you like you have three heads. Luckily, the Auto Zone I stopped at had one 20 something clueless guy and one old timer that knew what I was looking for and where it was in the store.
Since that time, I have lapped about three sets of rings with the outfit with no problems. However, if you don't have easy access to steel rod and such it would probably be more efficient time wise to purchase a ready made kit.
Then it was off to the auto parts store to find some valve lapping compound. Most parts stores have it, just don't bother asking anyone under the age of 35 because they will look at you like you have three heads. Luckily, the Auto Zone I stopped at had one 20 something clueless guy and one old timer that knew what I was looking for and where it was in the store.
Since that time, I have lapped about three sets of rings with the outfit with no problems. However, if you don't have easy access to steel rod and such it would probably be more efficient time wise to purchase a ready made kit.
hickerx2
Member
I vote for vitally important!
Personally, I use Burris Signature rings. I think they're an amazing revolution. Try a set and see how mis-aligned the holes are on virtually any rifle. You can tell by the position the inserts take when the mounting is complete.
You can also eliminate forever the use of shims and tapered bases.
Personally, I use Burris Signature rings. I think they're an amazing revolution. Try a set and see how mis-aligned the holes are on virtually any rifle. You can tell by the position the inserts take when the mounting is complete.
You can also eliminate forever the use of shims and tapered bases.
BroncoGlenn
New member
Here's the Sinclair tool:
http://www.sinclairintl.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?category=search&item=08-1000&type=store
http://www.sinclairintl.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?category=search&item=08-1000&type=store
Martyn4802
New member
Lapping rings is important, for all of the reasons mentioned above.
Ten years ago, I bought the Sinclair lapping bar and lapping compound. I had problems with the bar wanting to tip forward, over the front ring, and hit the barrel when at the forward end of the lapping stroke. The Sinclair lapping bar has one handle in the center of the bar to use one-handed. Two years ago, I bought one of Russ Hayden's bars that has two handles, one at either end of the bar. I much prefer the two handled bar for far better control than the single handled one. No more tipping at the end of the forward lapping stroke.
I used to put an old towel over the barrel just in front of the front ring when using the Sinclair bar, to protect the barrel in case the bar actually tipped over and slapped the barrel and did some damage. There's a lot of down force required to lap the rings, and the single handled bar can't be controlled as well as the Russ Hayden design.
Martyn
Ten years ago, I bought the Sinclair lapping bar and lapping compound. I had problems with the bar wanting to tip forward, over the front ring, and hit the barrel when at the forward end of the lapping stroke. The Sinclair lapping bar has one handle in the center of the bar to use one-handed. Two years ago, I bought one of Russ Hayden's bars that has two handles, one at either end of the bar. I much prefer the two handled bar for far better control than the single handled one. No more tipping at the end of the forward lapping stroke.
I used to put an old towel over the barrel just in front of the front ring when using the Sinclair bar, to protect the barrel in case the bar actually tipped over and slapped the barrel and did some damage. There's a lot of down force required to lap the rings, and the single handled bar can't be controlled as well as the Russ Hayden design.
Martyn
Roger on the Sinclair tool, I have two and wouldn't think of mounting a scope without using them.
After saying that I will admit I tried a set of Burris Signatures last summer. They also do a great job, but I found one small, easily cured problem. I'm sure they work fine on small or medium caliber rifles without any doctoring, but if used on a rifle with heavy recoil be sure to "rough up" the inside of the inserts with fine grit sandpaper before installation, also make sure the scope tube is 100% free of any kind of lubricant. I used them on a 300 WSM without sanding the inserts and found the scope "walking" forward after a few range trips. Of course I had checked all the scope mounting screws before each of the first 3 or 4 trips, but eventually decided everything was secure. Then on a later trip, after probably 150 rounds down the tube, I noticed the mag ring in front of the ocular objective was almost touching the rear ring.
This was when I dismounted the scope and roughed up the inserts. After that and a lot of elbow grease on the ring screws I got everything properly locked down.
Moral of the story, be sure to rough up the inserts and clean the tube of any contaminants, like maybe having been wiped with an oily rag, then the Burris rings work great. They just need a little help with friction in heavy caliber applications. On all other rings use a lapping tool.
After saying that I will admit I tried a set of Burris Signatures last summer. They also do a great job, but I found one small, easily cured problem. I'm sure they work fine on small or medium caliber rifles without any doctoring, but if used on a rifle with heavy recoil be sure to "rough up" the inside of the inserts with fine grit sandpaper before installation, also make sure the scope tube is 100% free of any kind of lubricant. I used them on a 300 WSM without sanding the inserts and found the scope "walking" forward after a few range trips. Of course I had checked all the scope mounting screws before each of the first 3 or 4 trips, but eventually decided everything was secure. Then on a later trip, after probably 150 rounds down the tube, I noticed the mag ring in front of the ocular objective was almost touching the rear ring.
This was when I dismounted the scope and roughed up the inserts. After that and a lot of elbow grease on the ring screws I got everything properly locked down.
Moral of the story, be sure to rough up the inserts and clean the tube of any contaminants, like maybe having been wiped with an oily rag, then the Burris rings work great. They just need a little help with friction in heavy caliber applications. On all other rings use a lapping tool.