Rifle Scopes Recommend A Rail? (Savage 110FCP .338LM)

[vh20]

I have a Savage 110FCP in .338LM with a Ken Farrell 20 MOA rail and Low rings that mount a Nightforce NSX 5.5-22x50 to the rifle. When I did the initial installation, I bedded the rail to the rifle according to Farrell's instructions using JB Weld (with a release agent so that it could be removed in the future). I torqued the rail screws with a torque wrench to Farrell's specs (25 in.lbs, if I remember) and used blue Loc-Tite on clean, degreased screws and screw-holes. After about 250 rounds or so I started having problems holding zero and through checking various things discovered that the rail screws were all loose (as in I could unscrew them with just my fingers holding a hex bit). I can't figure out why this would happen - never had any come loose before. I'm wondering if the fit of the rail could be an issue. I didn't think it was, because when I did the bedding job, there was really no JB Weld left - it fit the receiver well enough that practically all the JB Weld was squeezed out when the rail was tightened down.

I'd like to find a way to prevent this from happening again, because it caused a lot of anguish the first time trying to find why the accuracy went south, plus it is pretty inconvenient to keep taking the scope off the rail and then having to re-zero it the next session before doing any serious shooting. Anyone got any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[smokebomb]

Make sure your screws and holes are in good condition, no stripped threads...etc before continuing. I have the same rifle. My base is 40moa but is also ken farrell. The base screws are 8-40 and it's a .338 lapua, so I torqued the screws damn TIGHT (35"lbs). I know the recommendation is 25-30"lbs, but the screws are good quality. Remember too much threadlocker CAN work against adhesion. If torquing to 30-35"lbs and reapplying threadlocker blue doesn't solve your woes, consider if you NEED to remove the rail. If the answer is never, strip the jb weld off, rough up the base a little bit, degrease and bed the base permanently (no release agent) with marine-tex gray or DEVCON 10110. Then torque her down to 30-35"lbs, wipe off the excess and you'll never have to worry about a shifting base again.