Ruger #1 scope mount issue

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speedfreak111

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I recently bought a new Ruger #1 in 9.3x62. I picked up a Leupold VX3 3.5-10x40 to mount. After mounting with 4B and a 4BO rear ring I needed to almost max out my vertical adjustment to get the scope sighted. What are my options? I don't think I can shim the base because of the design. Would it be worth trying to order a new set of rings and try a mix and match to see if something is closer?

Thanks
 
.040" brass shim stock set between the rear scope ring and the underside of the scope might do the trick.

That's WAY too much scope for that platform and cartridge.
 
Check that the 4BO is properly seated... I can't tell you how many times I have seen them canted. Place a finger or thumb in the ring and press the base flat against the rail and shimmy it slightly as you tighten the nut... then lightly tighten the nut with a large flat screwdriver... then with the rifle in a gun vise or laying flat on a bed or sofa torque them down good an tight... try shooting again after returnimg your adjustment knobs to center.

I think your choice of scope is fine, where and how you hunt dictate the scope as much as what you are hunting with... if you had put on an M8 4X that would make perfect sense to most people, and you have 3.5X on the low end. I had the same rifle and had the VX-3 2.5-8 mounted... but I did have the 3.5-10 mounted on rifles chambered for cartridges with similar range to the 9.3X62.
 
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If your rings are correctly installed, a shim can also be placed under the rear of the quarter rib. Whynot clued me into a useful fix for such situations, a shim cut from a plastic hotel key often provides the correct thickness to bring the scope to its center of vertical adjustment, when shimming under the base. I'd be very cautious about mixing rings, very subtle mismatches in height can result in a damaged scope tube.
 
So I took care of the small burr and now and looking into the scope issue. It was mounted by someone else for me and he's done quite a few before with no issues. Based on the advice above I thought I would remount before trying to shim anything.
When I took the scope off the rings look odd to me. This is my first time mounting my own scope though!
Is there supposed to be this much offset in the rings? To me it makes sense if both would match perfectly.
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The 4BO ring is a little better but not much.
 
Sadly, that is not all that unusual. One would think, given modern machining techniques, scopemount quality would be better but that is seldom the case. I would shim under the scope to achieve the proper height, and glass bed the scope into the lower half of the ring. To do this, the shim is made narrow (even 1/16" is fine), the scope tube is coated with release agent, and the shim is centered in the ring. The bottom half of the ring is degreased and epoxy applied to this surface (with the shim centered in the rear ring. The scope is set into the epoxy and the top half of the ring (also coated with your choice of release agent) is just barely tightened down (release agent on the screws too!). Clean off the excess epoxy and let it set up overnight. In the morning, remove the scope, clean everything up, and re-mount. The epoxy forms a permanent shim and the scope mount is stress-free.
 
Sounds like quite a process. Having never bedded anything I think I'm too chicken to start with my new scope. So far I have done a ton of firsts with this gun though so you never know!
 
speedfreak111 said:
I recently bought a new Ruger #1 in 9.3x62. I picked up a Leupold VX3 3.5-10x40 to mount. After mounting with 4B and a 4BO rear ring I needed to almost max out my vertical adjustment to get the scope sighted. What are my options? I don't think I can shim the base because of the design. Would it be worth trying to order a new set of rings and try a mix and match to see if something is closer?

Thanks
Click to expand...

A scope mount and a set of Ruger rings should have been with your new rifle. If you bought the rifle from a dealer,contact them and find out why they weren't included. Ruger mounts and rings make installing any scope a breeze. Crosshairs should line up with a bore sighter almost on "zero" enough to get your shots on paper,then,you can tweek it from there for MOA accuracy.
 
Trimmer 905 said:
A scope mount and a set of Ruger rings should have been with your new rifle. If you bought the rifle from a dealer,contact them and find out why they weren't included. Ruger mounts and rings make installing any scope a breeze. Crosshairs should line up with a bore sighter almost on "zero" enough to get your shots on paper,then,you can tweek it from there for MOA accuracy.
Click to expand...

Thanks. It did ship with the ruger high rings but the dealer exchanged them for a medium and a medium offset so I could move the scope down and a little further back. First attempt at installing them left me with almost maxed verticlear adjustmentioned which I don't like.
 
speedfreak111 said:
Thanks. It did ship with the ruger high rings but the dealer exchanged them for a medium and a medium offset so I could move the scope down and a little further back. First attempt at installing them left me with almost maxed verticlear adjustmentioned which I don't like.
Click to expand...

Go back to that dealer and get the original rings back. They're made by Ruger for their rifles,specifically. He should have known better. There's no way your scope should be that far out. Obviously,the rings he gave you are mismatched besides being the wrong type. The picture you posted with the top of the ring not matching the lower is a dead giveaway. No way should any rings ever look like that. They should match up perfectly and fit the scope like a glove. You should be able to shine a light at the front of the ring and not see light leaking around the scope after it's mounted.
 
I've had a couple of Rugers with Ruger rings made for the rifle that I have had to shim to get enough windage adjustment.

Neilm
 
Trimmer 905 said:
Go back to that dealer and get the original rings back. They're made by Ruger for their rifles,specifically. He should have known better. There's no way your scope should be that far out. Obviously,the rings he gave you are mismatched besides being the wrong type. The picture you posted with the top of the ring not matching the lower is a dead giveaway. No way should any rings ever look like that. They should match up perfectly and fit the scope like a glove. You should be able to shine a light at the front of the ring and not see light leaking around the scope after it's mounted.
Click to expand...


Ruger does NOT match scope rings to specific rifles... they have designed a ring/receiver system that allows for three heights (low, med, high) on M77 rifles and four heights (low #3, med #4, high #5, xtra high #6) on No.1 or 77/22 ir 77/44 rifles... because it is a standardized system, machine tolerances come into play and there can be discrepancies between the receiver tolerances and the ring tolerances and even the scope barrel tolerances... this is why you will find many used Ruger rings that have been lapped to cure deviations.

OP, I would first try to reseat your scope rings and remount the scope. Next or possibly first, have the rings lightly lapped to remove the gap between the upper and lower mating.

OR, go back to the dealer, show him the poor mating of the upper and lower and request a new 4B/4BO ring set... which I feel is the proper set for you.
 
Just a little update for all those that gave me tips. I remounted the rings and lapped them. Took it back out and while not perfect it was better. Sighted dead on at 100 I still have around 8" of adjustment up. After the first light lap it didn't look like there was too much contact so I think lapping defiantly helped.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.
 
Best optical quality is obtained with the scope mechanically centered -

(from the Burris website)
Turn the elevation adjustment dial all the way to the top. Do not force it.
Now turn this same dial down, counting each click until you reach the bottom.
Divide the number in half and click the scope back to that number. (So if you counted 100, click the scope back to 50.)
Repeat these steps with the windage dial.

Burris offers their Posi-Align offset inserts to correct misalignment. I have used these with good results. Here's a video that explains the fundamentals of proper scope mounting -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcRAX5OLtJE
 
Slamfire said:
Best optical quality is obtained with the scope mechanically centered -

(from the Burris website)
Turn the elevation adjustment dial all the way to the top. Do not force it.
Now turn this same dial down, counting each click until you reach the bottom.
Divide the number in half and click the scope back to that number. (So if you counted 100, click the scope back to 50.)
Repeat these steps with the windage dial.

Burris offers their Posi-Align offset inserts to correct misalignment. I have used these with good results. Here's a video that explains the fundamentals of proper scope mounting -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcRAX5OLtJE
Click to expand...

These won't mount on the ruger without an adapter mount or rail .
 
Are there any good choices for an aftermarket scope ring for a #1 ?
I was getting properly frustrated yesterday while trying to mount a scope in that tiny space between the rings.
On my rifle an offset rear ring or maybe utilizing both offset rings would allow enough rearward scope movement.
I love the rifle but I hate climbing the butt to get a good sight picture, should not be.
 
I have an offset rear. It's a Ruger. Apparently leupold also makes offset rings. There are other companies but I didn't see any offsets and with the way mine is mounted a regular ring won't work.

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Using one offset ring on the rear and a standard ring on the front still didn't get the scope far enough back to be comfortable for me.
Oh, the woes of being a little short guy trying to make a 375 #1 work for me.
Out of desperation I removed the front ring and put yet another offset ring on the front, now that put the scope in the comfort zone.
The two offset rings do not look good sitting on the stubby Ruger base, sort of cluttery ?
I wish someone would come up with a clean simple solution to this dilemma.
Oh yeah, the scope mounted is a 1.5-5 Leupold, range time will see how this work..
 
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