Scope Lapping

Easterner

Easterner

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I have a Win70 and a VXIII that I am mounting on Talley 1 piece rings.

Should I Lap them?

I had it on Leupold STD mounts, and had the infamous screw shear happen.
Now I am buying (hopefully ) better mounts.
 
Easterner said:
I have a Win70 and a VXIII that I am mounting on Talley 1 piece rings.

Should I Lap them?

I had it on Leupold STD mounts, and had the infamous screw shear happen.
Now I am buying (hopefully ) better mounts.
Click to expand...

Talk to Clay(SakoAlberta) at Prophet River. He deals with Talley.

I remember reading somewhere on here to NOT lap the one piece Talley.

EDIT: See thread here: http://canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=454815
 
Huh, all of my Talley rings have been lapped and never an issue, just did another set not long ago.

Edit- Actually I lied, there was one set that I never lapped and I most certainly should have.
 
crazy_davey said:
Huh, all of my Talley rings have been lapped and never an issue, just did another set not long ago.

Edit- Actually I lied, there was one set that I never lapped and I most certainly should have.
Click to expand...

I've never lapped any rings, but to each his own. Never had a problem with any gun I could attribute to the rings not being lapped. I'd bet there are far more problems arising from folks overtightening screws on rings, especially Weaver.

Perhaps the Talley lightweights being aluminum has something to do with the "no lapping" recommendation.
 
I've never lapped any rings, but to each his own. Never had a problem with any gun I could attribute to the rings not being lapped.
Click to expand...

Just because you don't lap your scope rings doesn't mean you are doing it right ;)

Mount the bottom halves of a set of Talley one piece lightweights(for example) on a rifle action. Lay a scope or lapping bar inside and see if the scope lays perfectly in the bottom of both rings without any downward pressure. Out of 8-9 sets of those style Talley rings I have mounted myself it has never happened where the scope fits perfectly. This has to do with the rings not being perfect(mounting holes etc.), and the holes in the action not being 100% perfect etc.. Tightening the top halves down on the scope will put uneven pressure in certain spots of the scope and might even twist the scope tube ever so slightly.

Out of all the rings I have ever mounted, Talley one piece lightweights have actually been some of the worst as far as not contacting the scope properly and putting uneven pressure on the scope tube. The only sensible solution is to lap the rings.

These guys can explain it better than I can and give you some helpful tips in mounting scopes and rings:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWv7SiBheV0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4oF_07X1qU

Perhaps the Talley lightweights being aluminum has something to do with the "no lapping" recommendation.
Click to expand...

Aluminum or not does not change the fact that they are not made perfect and neither are the mounting holes in the action. I can't see any downside to lapping if it is done properly.
 
Lapping rings a no no

I'M NOT SURE WHY YOU WOULD LAP RINGS?? If you bought a good set to start with you wouldn't have a miss alignment problem. Try the BURRIS SIGNATURE RINGS, THEY HAVE THE INSERTS AND PERFECT ALIGNMENT.
I would NEVER buy a set of used rings that had been lapped. Once lapped they are only good for that rifle.
 
b72471 said:
I'M NOT SURE WHY YOU WOULD LAP RINGS?? If you bought a good set to start with you wouldn't have a miss alignment problem. Try the BURRIS SIGNATURE RINGS, THEY HAVE THE INSERTS AND PERFECT ALIGNMENT.
I would NEVER buy a set of used rings that had been lapped. Once lapped they are only good for that rifle.
Click to expand...

We always lap steel rings. Even high end rings can be off for various reason...some relating to the rings, some to the base and some problems with the gun itself. By using a lapping bar and compound you can see if the rings are aligned or even round (Ruger rings are so bad be have to use a reamer to make the inside of the rings round and get proper contact with the scope). Rings with plastic inserts solve this problem to a degree but I still feel more confident with a metal to metal contact. We mount over 400 scopes a year and get to see many problems that the regular end user may not see. If you saw the misaligned and damaged scopes that we see on some user installed scopes then you may be more inclined to agree with me. Phil.
 
I've just loosely mounted a scope using the tallet one pieces. I really like the rings and the idea on the one piece, but, there is a large gap between the top and bottom half of the rings on both side. is this normal?
 
I just mounted an Nightforce BR 12-42X56 om a Sako M591 with 2-piece IOR M1913 bases. When starting the lapping process, there was severe chatter due to only the rear edge of the rear ring making contact. After some hard work, a consisten contact area was made on front an rear rings. In this case, mounting without lapping would have damaged the scope.

A Nightforce technitian advised that the majority of scope problems is caused by poor rings. This week, Sightron advised the same thing.

Regards,

Peter
 
I won't ever mount another scope without lapping first. I have the scratches on my Zeiss to remind me of that!
 
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