Bedding scope rings - Why?

[k1dude]

once you lap a set of rings, even more costly ones, you will understand why it is a good idea.

I've lapped a bunch of rings and it was a total waste of time. Turns out all of them were fine before I started lapping.

[LynnJr]

What most are missing is while the rings are very good the scope may not be. Shooters can put there scope in V-Bloks and check for runout or you can bed the rings to ensure there is no stress even if the tube is straight.
Sand the bottom half of the ring alot as metal removal is very minimal with sandpaper.
Coat the scope tube with kiwi shoe wax and bed the bottom half of the ring with JB Weld.
Use vinegar on a Q-tip to remove the extra epoxy that drips out and let cure overnight.
It gives you a stress free scope created by a crooked base bad rings or a bent scope tube.
Put your gun in a good rest aimed at your target in the morning and check it a couple hours later and you will see that as the sun comes up your point of aim will shift.

[Dirtlaw]

What most are missing is while the rings are very good the scope may not be. Shooters can put there scope in V-Bloks and check for runout or you can bed the rings to ensure there is no stress even if the tube is straight.
Sand the bottom half of the ring alot as metal removal is very minimal with sandpaper.
Coat the scope tube with kiwi shoe wax and bed the bottom half of the ring with JB Weld.
Use vinegar on a Q-tip to remove the extra epoxy that drips out and let cure overnight.
It gives you a stress free scope created by a crooked base bad rings or a bent scope tube.
Put your gun in a good rest aimed at your target in the morning and check it a couple hours later and you will see that as the sun comes up your point of aim will shift.

Thanks. A very interesting point and you are right ... something you most likely would not consider.

[Usmc0844spare]

What most are missing is while the rings are very good the scope may not be. Shooters can put there scope in V-Bloks and check for runout or you can bed the rings to ensure there is no stress even if the tube is straight.
Sand the bottom half of the ring alot as metal removal is very minimal with sandpaper.
Coat the scope tube with kiwi shoe wax and bed the bottom half of the ring with JB Weld.
Use vinegar on a Q-tip to remove the extra epoxy that drips out and let cure overnight.
It gives you a stress free scope created by a crooked base bad rings or a bent scope tube.
Put your gun in a good rest aimed at your target in the morning and check it a couple hours later and you will see that as the sun comes up your point of aim will shift.

Yes, that is what I did... also tape off the parts of the rings you DON'T want JB Weld on... and as I ALMOST found out the hard way, be careful if you have rings where the bottom half of the rings are actually MORE than 1/2 the circumference of the scope... you can mechanically lock in the scope...

Also I don't leave the scope in there overnight, just long enough to get about 80% cured then pop it out.... then you can cut/scrape off the excess squeeze out pretty easily.

[gpark09]

You need to ask yourself, from the first place, why would you buy the rings that requires lapping?

These days, if the rings requires the lapping, you have to question for other flaws and its entire quality.

Spent thousands of dollars setting up for rifle and scopes and skimp on the rings would not be a wise move.

Had some time to kill? Now that's a different story, though.

[Divernhunter]

gpark09--I have rings that are top quality and cost $400. They benefitted from being lapped. I have also lapped Leupold, Talley, Weaver, Nightforce and others. Most of which would be considered quality rings.
Unless you have lapped those rings you THINK are near perfect you will never know 1) if they are and 2) just how wrong your statement is.
Every set of rings will benefit from lapping to one degree or another. Is it absolute necessary---no. Can it be useful/helpful ---Yes

[Preston-CLB]

A friend helped me put new Leupold rings on my Leupold VX3 4.5-14x40 scope a couple of weeks ago. He had the mandrel and jeweler's rouge to lap them. These were not high-end steel rings, and it was obvious where metal was removed. They are now nice and smooth. We then torqued them according to the specs from Leupold. So far, so good.

The rifle is a Savage M10, .223 Rem. The scope mounts were supplied by Savage, torqued and Loctited at the factory (The rifle came with a Nikon 3-9x40 scope). It's a nice shooter, when I do my part.
-P

[pacrat]

You need to ask yourself, from the first place, why would you buy the rings that requires lapping?

These days, if the rings requires the lapping, you have to question for other flaws and its entire quality.

Spent thousands of dollars setting up for rifle and scopes and skimp on the rings would not be a wise move.

Had some time to kill? Now that's a different story, though.

Now to jump from the land of unrealistic blissful optimism into the land of reality.

A typical ONE PC base setup includes (7) separate components. Reciever - Base - 2 lower - 2 upper rings - Scope. Which become (8) components with 2 pc bases like I prefer for hunting rifles. Each of those components ADD to the "tolerance stack". Nothing is perfect.

Adding 10 to 20 minutes to lap rings during a "PROPER" scope mounting procedure. Assures that ALL of those other minute, tolerance variations don't influence how solid and stress free the final mounting is.

gpark09--I have rings that are top quality and cost $400. They benefitted from being lapped. I have also lapped Leupold, Talley, Weaver, Nightforce and. Most of which would be considered quality rings.
Unless you have lapped those rings you THINK are near perfect you will never know 1) if they are and 2) just how wrong your statement is.
Every set of rings will benefit from lapping to one degree or another. Is it absolute necessary---no. Can it be useful/helpful ---Yes

^^^^^VOICE OF REASON AND EXPERIENCE^^^^^

[Divernhunter]

pacrat---Thank you. I tried to word it as PC as I could.

[nedro]

Does anyone have data or pics that show the improved accuracy from a high end scope and ring set which is properly lapped vs. that same set after bedding?
I'd be interesting to see the real world benefits.
I'm always willing to go the extra mile as long as the results make it worth the effort.

[smoothy8500]

[jtv3062]

So over the last couple days, I bedded a couple sets of scope rings.

Really just for something to tinker on.... was bored and seemed like a nice simple "can't hurt!" project. Honestly, I think I just like the smell of JB Weld.

But why did I do it? What is the rationale for bedding (or on the other end of the spectrum, lapping) scope rings? Even with unbedded rings, the scope ain't going anywhere with the ring screws torqued down reasonably (I use 10 inch pounds).

Bed the base, buy quality rings, and forget the lapping

[nedro]

Does anyone have data or pics that show the improved accuracy from a high end scope and ring set which is properly lapped vs. that same set after bedding?
I'd be interesting to see the real world benefits.
I'm always willing to go the extra mile as long as the results make it worth the effort.

So, crickets?

[hermosabeach]

Screw bedding

Waste of time

I’m learning TIG

For now I just stick weld them in place. S-6010 rods work the best

[Paul_R]

Scope rings, no. Scope bases, yes.