Rifle Scopes how tight do you make your scope rings?

[tpsreporter]

Greetings. Newb on this forum, i'll try not to ask too newb of questions.

I recently got my first bolt action, a rem 700 sps tactical, and decided that i would have to get a scope worthy enough for that gun and i decided on a Nikon Monarch 4-16x, primarily for it's clarity as all of my shooitng will be target shooting.

My question is, if the scope tube diameter is 1" and the rings are 1" does this mean you should tighten the rings as much as they will go?

I do not want to break the scope upon mounting it by tighting the rings too much, i also do not want the scope to move around during use because it's not tight enough.

For informational use, the scope will be sitting inside burris xtreme 1" medium rings on an EGW 20MOA base.

 

[M700Love]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

20 in. lbs. or as tight as you can with the short end of the supplied wrench using index finger and thumb.

 

[SingleShot85]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

20 inch pounds max w/ a dab of blue loc-tite

55 inch pounds rings to base should do

 

[tpsreporter]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

Thanks. Yeah i just picked up the blue loctite, waiting on the scope in the mail. Then it will be off to play the zeroing game at the range.

 

[VJJPunisher]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

once you hear a crunch go 1/4 turn more. no but seriously 15-20 inch lbs

 

[timelinex]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

There are usually torque specs... But I don't have an inch pound wrench so I just tighten it till it feels solid but not gonna break anything. A very important part I'd to screw in all the screws evenly and a lil at a time each

 

[25MAN]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

18-20 but slowly torquing them up in increment of 5 inch pounds and work the bolts evenly all the way up. Some people jsut crank them down but with the fine threads that not a great idea IMO. Get a torgue wrench...I use teh Fat Wrench and love it.

 

[kombar]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

Using a basic power screw formula, and given a reasonable estimate of the friction coefficients involved, 20 in-lb will produce somewhere around 2300 lb of clamping force on a 6 screw ring. That is like parking two 1989 Honda CR-Xs on top of your scope.

15 in-lb is plenty on a 6 screw.

 

[25MAN]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

<span style="font-weight: bold">I'm pretty sure you'll be just fine using 12 to 15 in-lb like most manufacturers recommend. [/quote]</span>

All depends on the rings you are using...I use Near, NF, Seeking and Bager all different but not one of them recommends anything under 15 and most say 18-20.

 

[salty dog]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

Burris Company

331 East 8th Street
Greeley, CO 80631
Telephone: 970-356-1670
Fax: 970-356-8702
[email protected]

these guys could probably say for sure.
I always tighten them up until they get loose again then back em off 1/2 a turn..

 

[JAAM12]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

here you go

http://redfield.com/videos/

Also I use 15in pds on all my scope rings.

John

 

[Meat Hunter]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

Wheeler Fat Wrench will get you the 20 inch pounds you need. About $60 at BPS

 

[msflyer]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

Sportsmans Guide and Cheaper than dirt both have the Fat Wrench in stock for about $44.00. Order it up with about 1000 rounds of ammo, a new rear bag, a few mags, some tools, targets, a blow torch and all that other shit that I throw my money at by the fist fulls.

 

[tpsreporter]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

Just got the FAT wrench from midway for like 49. They ship stuff so quickly i figured the price difference was worth it. I get everything from them in 3 days or less.

Thanks a lot guys. i sure hope all the $ is worth it. And if i can hit stuff past 300 yards ill be more than thrilled. Of course, if i can't its probably more me than the gun

 

[crnkin]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

15-20 inch pounds, depending on design. 4 bolt I go 20 in/lb, 6 bolt 15, thats if the manufacturer doesnt have a reccomendation.

I use the wheeler fat wrench. Its not super super accurate but accurate enough to have next to no POI shift when I remove the scope or stock. Probably +/- 15% at a guess.

Chris

 

[Flatland308]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

Check out the Borka wrench system, the quality way surpasses the Wheeler I had which lasted one install.

 

[TexasWicked1]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

Burris recommends that you tighten the receiver at 30" lbs and the ring tops at 15" lbs.
Personally I would not use a locking agent on the rings because you may want to change optics in the future.

 

[jpspeeddemon]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TexasWicked1</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Burris recommends that you tighten the receiver at 30" lbs and the ring tops at 15" lbs.
Personally I would not use a locking agent on the rings because you may want to change optics in the future. </div></div>

Blue Locktite is semi-permanent and screws can be removed whenever you want. It just keeps them from rattling out, but you can take a wrench and unscrew them easily.

 

[tpsreporter]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jpspeeddemon</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
Blue Locktite is semi-permanent and screws can be removed whenever you want. It just keeps them from rattling out, but you can take a wrench and unscrew them easily.

</div></div>

Confirmed. Blue Loctite is removable, the Red Loctite is the one to avoid.

The Wheeler Fat wrench worked well. I did 50lbs on the rings to base/rail, and 20lbs for the rings themselves.

 

[whitefarms4840]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

oh hell red loctites the way to go, just get the torch out and heat to 2000 degrees and your loose. Hensoldt, S&B, should withstand that

 

[killahog]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

tpsreporter 20lbs is fine however In My opionion the torque is not as Important as getting the mounts aligned properly and the rings lapped to ensure your scope will be mounted without being stressed or marked up by the rings. It is very important to get the mounts on properly or you could end up with a gun that seems to be always getting (bumped off) sight. Kept googling for instructions on how to do this.

 

[Flatland308]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

15lbs is what I have seen and use a torque wrench to do it right. If you are going to put the cash down for good glass, rings, and bases make it count. I dig the Borka

 

[kortik]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: killahog</div><div class="ubbcode-body">tpsreporter 20lbs is fine however In My opionion the torque is not as Important as getting the mounts aligned properly and the rings lapped to ensure your scope will be mounted without being stressed or marked up by the rings. It is very important to get the mounts on properly or you could end up with a gun that seems to be always getting (bumped off) sight. Kept googling for instructions on how to do this. </div></div>

That is true, however, when rifle is being fired, there is an average of 300 G force (per various sources of info) being applied to the scope. Which means that if scope weights 1 pound, it sees a peak (although very short in duration) force of 300 lbs. trying to move it forward. Considering friction between rings and tube, and other related stuff - you do need to get rings fasteners torqued to some minimum specified value to prevent scope from moving under recoil. On the other hand, it is obvious that stress on scope tube should be kept to the minumim. These are two boundary conditions to address both requirements. Torque tool is a good way to get it right.

 

[TOOL1075]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

on my 5R Savage 10PC .308 I did the following:

murphy precision base to action - 4 screws each to 25 in-lb (as recommended by murphy precision)

burris signature zee rings to base - one screw each to 35 in-lb (I believe burris recommends 30 to 35 in-lb for this)

burris signature ring halves to each other - four screws per ring each to 25 in-lb (I believe burris recommends 18 to 24 in-lb for this)

I don't use loc-tite.

scope is a weaver tactical 3-15x50mm (it's not light)

It's important to use torque values within range, but it's also important to have groups of fasteners <span style="font-weight: bold">evenly</span> tightened with the decided/specified torque.

If you can't find manufacturer-specified values, you can go by the size of the screw, but be careful because of the grade of steel used, and keep in mind dry vs. lubricated values. I see SAE Grade 8 steel torque values floating around sometimes, and I wonder to myself if the screws on people's rings are even close to Gr. 8 steel lol.... you run the risk of popping a screw if you aren't careful and you don't have knowledge of the actual material in the absence of manufacturer recommendations/specs.

now, the screws that tighten the burris signature zee rings to the base are smaller than those used on "tactical" rings, so this is a case where people will say "35 in-lb??? that's not enough! I use 65 in-lb for mine!!!" Well yeah, maybe you do, but you have different screws!

 

[cdmurphy]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

TOOL1075, I think there may have been some miscommunication. We recommend 12 in-lb on the #6-48 screws on the base and the #6-40s on the ring caps, and 18 in-lb on #8-40's. The #10-32 cross bolt on our rings can be torqued to 25 in-lbs though.

- Cameron

 

[jorefice]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

I emailed Burris a couple of months ago asking about torque specs. They told me the base should be tightened to 65 lbs. for their XTR.

 

[FALex]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jorefice</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I emailed Burris a couple of months ago asking about torque specs. They told me the base should be tightened to 65 lbs. for their XTR. </div></div>

I just put some XTR's on my Savage 10 .308...using Fat Wrench (65 in/lbs is getting close to maxing that thing out). Anyhow, I put it on 65 (what Burris recommends) and I thought it was too much, so I put it down to 45 which was more than enough. Remember with the Fat Wrench "3 audible clicks", not just the first one.

 

[winxp_man]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

This is what I use for torque in/lbs


Aluminum rings=

15 in/lbs for tops
45 in/lbs for ring to base

Steel rings=

20 in/lbs for tops
65 in/lbs for ring to base



Aron-

 

[RBell24]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

Farmer tight, making sure to dent the scope tube, that way you know for sure you got plenty of holding power.

Seriously though, 15-20in lbs. The manufacturer should have specs for you follow.

 

[FX44]

Re: how tight do you make your scope rings?

15-20 inch pounds and I cross tighten them evenly (like the lug nuts on your car). Then I take it to the range to make sure this is the spot I want it in. If all is well I remove each screw and apply Locktite 242 Blue to them. It's redundant but I'm finicky that way.