Rings recs and lapping?

[RichS]

Hey all,
So I'm in need of some rings. I have a Gen2 PST 1-6 on the way that I'm mounting on a Howa Mini action. Now, let me preface here that I'm cheap. Not NC Star cheap, but I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars for rings. That being said, is lapping rings still a "thing", or has modern manufacturing/consumer standards pretty much made that a thing of the past? I was looking at ....

Seekins
Vortex (aren't they made by Seekins?)
Weaver skeleton/tacs
Burris Xtreme
MDT

Any other recommendations? More importantly, any to avoid?

 

[oldrifleman]

For any decent set of rings I would not bother Lapping.

 

[RichS]

What are some "decent" rings? Being serious, not snarky.

 

[moaorbust]

ARC, Nightforce and Seekins are several brands I would consider decent. Just don’t be cheap and you should be fine. Modern manufacturing has made a lot of the old manual processes unneeded.

 

[oldrifleman]

Night force, ARC, Area 419, MDT

 

[BobinNC]

What are some "decent" rings? Being serious, not snarky.

Seekins (Glen has never made a bad pair)
Badger Ordnance (Used their Aluminum rings for years. The Steel ones are way too heavy for most of my uses)
Nightforce (Long time favorite of many)
MDT Premier (Bought a pair for my latest 6.5 Creed, very nicely done in 0.820" height 30mm)
American Precision Arms (Among the best I ever used, but not cheap. They make the lowest 30mm rings on the planet 0.750")
Burris Signature XTR Rings (Can solve many problems, but are limited on height selection)

 

[MikeMiller]

You don’t need to lap good rings and bases

 

[psharon78]

After using ARC rings, I'll never use anything else

 

[fedupflyer]

If you lap quality rings, you might just void the warranty of said rings.
There was (at least) one manufacture that did put out that statement.
Sadly, I have forgotten who it was.

 

[stello1001]

Any of the ones you mentioned are good and will not need lapping. Well, I'm not sure on the weavers, but the rest should be decent.

 

[RichS]

Thoughts on EGW HD rings?

 

[stello1001]

Thoughts on EGW HD rings?

Judging by their price, should be good. However, at that price, why not just go for seekins or vortex? I get those used in the PX here. At that price, go with what's proven. Everybody here runs those with no problem. I'm not sure I've ever seen someone running EGW. I've scored vortex/seekins rings from $80 to $100 here on the PX. I probably have like 3 or 4 sets.

 

[roostercogburn98]

You can find used badger rings for sub 100 bucks if you look around the PX here. No need to look for anything different

 

[Corfius]

My experience is you don't need to lap quality rings with a rail. 2 pieces mounting systems are another story.

 

[Baron23]

Just my never expert opinion...rings/mounts are not a good place to go cheap.

Personally, I love ARC rings. And I have a rifle with Leupold Mk5 rings. I like ARC better than standard design rings as the scope doesn't try to rotate was you tighten the ring cap...and maybe you are way talented than I (not really a high bar haha) but I don't care how careful I am in the tightening sequence they all try to rotate on me.

And no...I have not found any reason at all to lap good quality CNC made rings.

cheers

 

[B y r o n]

Lapping rings was common when receivers were questionable for consistency between front and rear and two piece bases were used. With good once piece bases or receivers with solid picatinny bases built in lapping was generally not needed. If it is a top tier ring/shop don't lap, if it is a lesser brand and two piece setup than lapping may be justified. You or your shop, whoever is mounting the scope will have to determine the route to go. Don't ruin a good set of rings if it is not necessary.

 

[RichS]

Seekins it is then. I'm thinking low will be fine with an EGW base mounting a PST 1-6?

 

[stello1001]

Now, what I will say. Even though I stated earlier you don't need to lap high quality rings, I still bed all my rails to the receiver. You will notice they don't mate perfectly to one another so bedding helps a bit. This should allow for the rail to sit perfectly straight on the action (or at least stress free) which will then lead to rings clamped on to perfectly mated rail.

 

[CSTactical]

Most modern high quality rings and mounts do not need lapping, it's pretty rare if any of the brands mentioned above favorably would ever need it.