Scope Mounting

Most scope mounting is easy for a gunsmith, and they usually do a good job. But, if you're careful, you can do it a little better yourself.

A gunsmith often mounts the scope to some standard measurements; you mount it to fit you exactly.

Mounting hunting scopes on most rifles is about a 4 on a difficulty scale of 1-10. You do need to do everything slowly and carefully however.

If you have an unusual rifle & scope combination, or you don't feel confident; have a gunsmith do you scope mounting.

FIRST ALWAYS! Is the gun unloaded?
Then read all of this before you start!

2. You need a place to work, a bench or table. Gunsmiths use a padded vise to hold the rifle upright for scope mounting. You can use other things to make the rifle sit upright. A rest if you have one, cut out a cardboard box, anything which will keep the gun upright, and protect it from a fall.

3. Important: Screwdrivers which properly fit the screws, otherwise you will mar the screw heads (like I did 40 years ago). Some rings take allen wrenches, which may be provided with them. You may need some LocTite or a similar product for the screws. (LocTite is a little like glue. You put it on the screw threads and it helps to keep them from working loose.)

4. Important: Be sure you have the correct mount and rings for your rifle and scope. The scope mount holes must line up with those in the rifle's receiver. The rings must be of the proper height for scope clearance. (Check this by loosely putting it all together before you do anything else.) Sometimes there are clearance problems, sometimes you need taller rings (no taller than necessary), offset rings... Be sure everything is going to work before proceeding.

5. You will probably need to remove "filler screws" from the receiver, on some guns you will need to remove the iron-sights. (They are often tight. Read #3 again. Be careful, if the screwdriver slips, it can scratch your gun.)

6. Very important to be sure all surfaces(especially screw threads) are clean and dry of any oil. Line up the mount with the holes; with a little LocTite on a screw: Take your time, turn each screw slowly counter clockwise until you feel a slight "bump" then gently start it clockwise. If a screw doesn't want to start don't force it . Once you get the screw started tighten the screw a little, then start another screw. Gradually tighten as you move from one screw to another. Tighten these as much as you can without the screwdriver slipping.

7. Your goal in the best rifle scope mounting is to have the scope in a position that allows you mount the rifle naturally, and see the scope's full image, sharp, clear, and the cross-hairs level. (Don't forget to adjust the focus of the scope to your eyes.) Do this by rotating the eyepiece until you have a sharp image, look away and try it several times. Make the gun fit you. You should not have to adjust your body to fit the gun. This is where you can do better than most gunsmiths because you can make it fit you.

8. The way to do all of this is to put it all together, but don't tighten the rings down. You want it snug enough to hold it in place, but loose enough so that you can slide the scope and turn it. Be obsessive about it fitting you. You don't want to tighten, until you are sure. When you think you have it right; tighten just enough so nothing will move. Now try your rifle again from every possible shooting position, you may find you need to adjust it a little more.

9. When you are absolutely sure everything is in the best position: 'If' your rifle doesn't have much recoil; tighten the screws working back and forth between all the screws tightening only a little on each until all are tight. Check the gaps on the rings so the gaps remain about equal.

10. A rifle with more recoil; tighten one ring tight enough to hold everything in place. Take the screws out of the other ring and LocTite the (dry/no oil) screw threads before you re-tighten them. Always working between screws as stated above in #9. When that ring is tight take the screws out of the other ring and LocTite it's screws the same way.

I have always mounted my own scopes this way, and have never had any problems. I don't shoot anything with tremendous recoil however. I mounted the scope on my old .243 (pictured) 40 years ago. I have never had to adjust the scope settings.

A quick scope mounting story: Many years ago, still in high school, my cousin called and said he was having trouble sighting in his rifle.

I think it was a Remington Model 600™, I know the rifle was based on the Remington XP 100™ handgun. It was only a .308, but a very light weight rifle; it "kicked like a mule". We could not get it sighted in; the shots were all over the target; inconsistent.

He had realized he was flinching and couldn't shoot well enough to tell what the rifle was doing. I shot, and we still couldn't tell anything. Soon I was flinching too, and my shots were no better.

I got curious and found some screws were not tight. I took a top ring off, and we found oil on the screws. Evidently they had worked loose from the recoil. We cleaned everything, left it to dry, and used some LocTite when we put it all back together. Several days later we got the gun sighted in. I don't know if it held the "zero"; he soon traded it for something else.

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