Gap in rings when mounting the scope

[harry_x1]

Hi All,

Looking for some quick expert advice here. I just bought a 5x20x50 PM II ultra short Schmidt and Bender scope. Then I bought these ERA TAC 20 MOA rings to mount the scope. When I mount the scope, I see some gap between the rings still. Check pictures. This kind of gap was not present in my earilier nightforce atacr scope. Is this normal for eratac or do we have some kind of an issue going on here....thanks

ERATAC Schmidt - Bender 5-20x50 Ultra Short Mount w/ Clamp - T2001-341A, ERATAC TACTICAL | New England Custom Gun Service, Ltd.

Schmidt Bender 5-20x50 PM II Ultra Short LP LT MTC/CT DT MSR 1cm cw RAL8000 Riflescope 673-945-852-F2-E9

Schmidt Bender PMII 5-20x50 LP LT MTC/CT DT MSR FFP 1cm CW RAL8000 673-945-852-F2-E9 | Only at EuroOptic.com!

www.eurooptic.com

thanks for your assistance on this


Harjeet

 

[OREGUN]

That gap is normal. Try to keep it about even on both sides as you tighten the screws.

 

[stello1001]

Tighten screws til gap is no longer present

 

[OREGUN]

NO!!!!!

Tighten screws to the recommended torque value. There might be a gap. It’s fine. DO NOT TIGHTEN UNTIL THE GAP IS GONE!

 

[Taylorbok]

Tighten screws til gap is no longer present

ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! You will strip the screws and or crush the main tube there is a gap on every set of rings I have ever seen. try and keep the gap even and torque to spec.

 

[FuhQ]

Like was mentioned, torque to SCOPE tube spec, not just the ring cap spec. Check S&B to find out the max tube torque. The last thing you want to do is crush the tube or crack an internal lease on a $3,500 scope...

Also, if they are 4+ screws per cap, torque in a cross pattern alternating sides from front to back to ensure even pressure and check to ensure equal gap and keep a level on both the caps and the scope turret the entire time you're torquing them to ensure it doesn't rotate out of alignment.

 

[OREGUN]

Can we get @308pirate or @mcameron to drag themselves out of the pit long enough to tell @stello1001 that he’s either an asshole or a dumbass or both?

 

[Rob01]

Gap is normal. Don't worry about it. And do not tighten until gap is gone. I assume that was a joke but if you didn't know now you do to not do that.

 

[Carlos Danger]

Embrace the gap....

Save it for the Bear Pit.

 

[308pirate]

Tighten screws til gap is no longer present

Dude................that is pretty fucking dumb

Yeah we know.........it works for you.

or nice troll......

 

[Holliday]

Tighten screws til gap is no longer present

Moron

 

[vatche labbad]

so I have attached a photo of my scope mounted onto my rifle. its a 35mm Leupold mark5 mounted with 35mm MPA 1 piece mount torqued to the proper specs. I keep reading gap is normal as long as its like credit card thin my gap is a lot larger tho. I've reached out to Leupold and MPA on their suggestions but they keep saying its ok.. I just can't seem to find any photos of mounted scopes with a gap this large. please advise!!!

*** I was thinking maybe get the 36mm mount and try that? is this something that you guys think will work??

 

[308pirate]

so I have attached a photo of my scope mounted onto my rifle. its a 35mm Leupold mark5 mounted with 35mm MPA 1 piece mount torqued to the proper specs. I keep reading gap is normal as long as its like credit card thin my gap is a lot larger tho. I've reached out to Leupold and MPA on their suggestions but they keep saying its ok.. I just can't seem to find any photos of mounted scopes with a gap this large. please advise!!!

*** I was thinking maybe get the 36mm mount and try that? is this something that you guys think will work??

Something is way the fuck off there.

There is a giant gap between the bottom of the scope and the bottom of the rear ring with something in there filling it.

What did you do? Can you take more pictures of that area?

Whatever you do, do not use 36 mm rings.

 

[Rob01]

What’s the other side look like. That’s a crazy gap. You sure it’s a 35mm mount?

 

[Arc Light]

so I have attached a photo of my scope mounted onto my rifle. its a 35mm Leupold mark5 mounted with 35mm MPA 1 piece mount torqued to the proper specs. I keep reading gap is normal as long as its like credit card thin my gap is a lot larger tho. I've reached out to Leupold and MPA on their suggestions but they keep saying its ok.. I just can't seem to find any photos of mounted scopes with a gap this large. please advise!!!

*** I was thinking maybe get the 36mm mount and try that? is this something that you guys think will work??

No way is that right. You sure you didn't get a 34mm mount by mistake?

 

[vatche labbad]

Something is way the fuck off there.

There is a giant gap between the bottom of the scope and the bottom of the rear ring with something in there filling it.

What did you do? Can you take more pictures of that area?

Whatever you do, do not use 36 mm rings.

its currently the only photo I have... I live out in CA so I took it to my local gunstore and had them install it.. they said its normal. I emailed this same photo to leupold they said its normal but to talk to MPA as its their mount they would "know" better. I literally just got off the phone with one of there bolt gun and I emailed him a photo he said its normal...

im fucking confused man I mean at this point its all been torqued down so if there was any damage that was going to be done it would have already happened.

 

[vatche labbad]

No way is that right. You sure you didn't get a 34mm mount by mistake?

yes it says 35mm on the mount
and I just spoke to MPA

 

[vatche labbad]

What’s the other side look like. That’s a crazy gap. You sure it’s a 35mm mount?

yes it says 35mm on the mount too.. I don't have any other photos currently but I can take some tonight.

 

[Arc Light]

yes it says 35mm on the mount
and I just spoke to MPA

Is it just an illusion, or is your scope not fully seated in the lower half of your rings?

 

[Baron23]

Is it just an illusion, or is your scope not fully seated in the lower half of your rings?

Exactly. I don’t care what it says on it, it looks like the ring base is NOT 35mm.

This is NOT normal

 

[Rob01]

yes it says 35mm on the mount too.. I don't have any other photos currently but I can take some tonight.

Did you buy the mount new or used?

 

[vatche labbad]

Exactly. I don’t care what it says on it, it looks like the ring base is NOT 35mm.

This is NOT normal

 

[Secant]

 

[vatche labbad]

these are the photos after my gun store torqued the rings

 

[vatche labbad]

View attachment 8081885

yes sorry this photo is before I took it to the gun store , this is now aftter

 

[vatche labbad]

Did you buy the mount new or used?

new from optic planet, and both package and mount claim to be 35mm

 

[vatche labbad]

this is after I took it to the gun store for reinstall

 

[harry_x1]

yes it says 35mm on the mount too.. I don't have any other photos currently but I can take some tonight.

Sometimes rings can be mislabelled...happened with me once with a trigger...I would screw rings without the scope and measure actual distance between the rings to make sure it is 35 mm.

 

[Arc Light]

Well that looks a little better, but not much. Not familiar with MPA mounts, but that is still a huge gap. I wouldn't have much confidence in your typical gun store to do something as seemingly simple as mounting a scope. I'd undo that, check it properly, then retorque to 15-18 INCH-lbs.

 

[308pirate]

I live out in CA so I took it to my local gunstore and had them install it.. they said its normal. I emailed this same photo to leupold they said its normal but to talk to MPA as its their mount they would "know" better. I literally just got off the phone with one of there bolt gun and I emailed him a photo he said its normal...

im fucking confused man I mean at this point its all been torqued down so if there was any damage that was going to be done it would have already happened.

Living in California is no reason to not work on your own guns. Buy some basic tools and a torque wrench

What I see in that photo is unacceptable and I don't care if God himself claimed otherwise.

 

[308pirate]

this is after I took it to the gun store for reinstall

That is much more acceptable.

Still, learn to do this yourself. It's not hard.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

this is after I took it to the gun store for reinstall

I would not have torqued it down if it was sitting up with as much gap as before. You might have just fucked your scope up.

 

[Rob01]

For reference here is a pic of my MPA mount. It’s a 34mm.

 

[vatche labbad]

That is much more acceptable.

Still, learn to do this yourself. It's not hard.

agreed I did do it myself I actually have a fat wrench and wheeler scope levels.. I installed and torqued the action to the chassis and such but when I saw the gap this wide I stopped worried I was doing something wrong..
do you think I should order a 36mm mount for this?
or maybe a different brand in the 35mm? did you see the post from rob01? it seems that the MPA mounts are made this way..

 

[Baron23]

For reference here is a pic of my MPA mount. It’s a 34mm.

View attachment 8081926

Dang…maybe that’s how MPA rolls but that is still a far larger gap than I’ve seen with other brand rings.

 

[vatche labbad]

For reference here is a pic of my MPA mount. It’s a 34mm.

View attachment 8081926

so from this reference photo would you say mine is fairly similar and I shouldn't be worried?

 

[skipjack]

No do not get a 36mm mount. They are sized to your scope tube. A 36 would never tighten enough for it not to slide.

 

[FuhQ]

so I have attached a photo of my scope mounted onto my rifle. its a 35mm Leupold mark5 mounted with 35mm MPA 1 piece mount torqued to the proper specs. I keep reading gap is normal as long as its like credit card thin my gap is a lot larger tho. I've reached out to Leupold and MPA on their suggestions but they keep saying its ok.. I just can't seem to find any photos of mounted scopes with a gap this large. please advise!!!

*** I was thinking maybe get the 36mm mount and try that? is this something that you guys think will work??

That’s another reason I don’t like the Fudds at Leupold. But that’s a whole different topic.

Gap looks quite excessive to me, and I’d demand satisfaction from MPA. If the tube fit nice and snug into the rings with no play, and no gaps on the bottom of the tube, then the tube is not the issue. I’d say this is a mount problem.

 

[308pirate]

agreed I did do it myself I actually have a fat wrench and wheeler scope levels.. I installed and torqued the action to the chassis and such but when I saw the gap this wide I stopped worried I was doing something wrong..
do you think I should order a 36mm mount for this?
or maybe a different brand in the 35mm? did you see the post from rob01? it seems that the MPA mounts are made this way..

If this is how it looks now, it looks fine. Don't change anything. Never, ever try to compensate for scope mounting errors by buying oversized rings.

 

[Rob01]

so from this reference photo would you say mine is fairly similar and I shouldn't be worried?

The first pic looks way big but the other pic looked closer to normal. They do seem to have a larger gap than others but as long as everything is torqued correctly and scope fits in mount properly then should be fine. Here is a pic of an MDT mount to show a smaller gap in their set up and why others might be shocked by the MPA.

 

[b6graham]

if the gap is even on each side and its torqued to spec then cool good to go

gap size between mount and ring doesnt matter and varies greatly from brand to brand

your first pic was SUPER misleading. the most recent pic looks fine

 

[308pirate]

..I would screw rings without the scope and measure actual distance between the rings to make sure it is 35 mm.

More bad advice. Doing so will give a false low reading since the rings are never supposed to bottom out on each other.

 

[winxp_man]

Tighten screws til gap is no longer present

Almost as bad as someone asking how to do something in a gaming chat room. Only for me to respond with Alt-F4 every time ones asks.

 

[winxp_man]

Hi All,

Looking for some quick expert advice here. I just bought a 5x20x50 PM II ultra short Schmidt and Bender scope. Then I bought these ERA TAC 20 MOA rings to mount the scope. When I mount the scope, I see some gap between the rings still. Check pictures. This kind of gap was not present in my earilier nightforce atacr scope. Is this normal for eratac or do we have some kind of an issue going on here....thanks

ERATAC Schmidt - Bender 5-20x50 Ultra Short Mount w/ Clamp - T2001-341A, ERATAC TACTICAL | New England Custom Gun Service, Ltd.

Schmidt Bender 5-20x50 PM II Ultra Short LP LT MTC/CT DT MSR 1cm cw RAL8000 Riflescope 673-945-852-F2-E9

Schmidt Bender PMII 5-20x50 LP LT MTC/CT DT MSR FFP 1cm CW RAL8000 673-945-852-F2-E9 | Only at EuroOptic.com!

www.eurooptic.com

thanks for your assistance on this


Harjeet

As long as the cap screws are tightened to spec 15, 20, 25 inch pounds, whatever the rings and scope manufature calls for you're good to go.

 

[samnev]

NO!!!!!

Tighten screws to the recommended torque value. There might be a gap. It’s fine. DO NOT TIGHTEN UNTIL THE GAP IS GONE!

As long as the cap screws are tightened to spec 15, 20, 25 inch pounds, whatever the rings and scope manufacture calls for you're good to go.

Almost everyone of my scope has some gaps between them. Some slightly larger than others but all very slight. As noted use a good torque wrench and adjust to scope manufactures recommendation. If you tighten them until the ring gap closes you may end up damaging the scope if you torqued over the recommended values..

 

[Baron23]

Wow, ok...I guess I'm wrong and MPA mounts have that large of a gap. I've not seen that before on traditional rings but never had MPA rings either.

No worries....I use ARC rings now and don't worry about keeping the gap even and not having the scope rotate when tightening! haha

 

[Hesperidins]

More bad advice. Doing so will give a false low reading since the rings are never supposed to bottom out on each other.

Agree, but if the size is in question than doing such and measuring with a caliper would be insightful. Or am I missing something? That's what I would have done. Though to me if it's the wrong size I'd think it'd be obvious before even getting to this point.