Just wondering if I am alone here. Two sets of Sig Zee rings with inserts, one 1" and one 30mm, both stripped where the screw that holds it to the rail goes in, in a matter of a second. Literally as soon as it felt snug it stripped. I've mounted all kinds of rings before including some real cheap zee ones and never had this issue. $150 worth of rings, garbage on first use. Thoughts?
Sig Zee rings issues
- Thread starter pizdets17
- Start date
I have a number of regular zee rings and had one do this too. My thought is that the crossbolt is just a smidge to short to catch enough threads on the ones that fail this way. I am now switching to Talley one piece mounts for new installs.
I have had issues with the one set I tried. I also switched to Talleys.
- Location
- Halifax, NS
I've got the 30mm. Its understandable why people have stripped screws but I believe it's due to improper tightening. The rings are machined to make an interference fit with the scope and they are very small screws so naturally you ned to be extra careful when tightening them.
I always start the screw off buy placing it inside it's hole and rotating it backwards untill the threads engage. This is when you feel the screw jump down after rising up along the threads while you back it out.
Once you feel the screw jump into place, start rotating it the opposite (tight) dirrection and always apply the same force, both when starting it and when tightening it (for me I use the weight of the screwdriver resting against my hand).
Just tighten it snug at first until you've got all 8 screws snug. By the time you do this and go back to the original scew, you should notice it is looser than where you left it; this is because the (interfence fit) top peice has shifted while you snugged down the other 7 screws. Just tighten the original screw down beyond snug and make sure you NEVER tighten one screw down tight until:
Make sure you tighten them in an opposing order as well. What I mean by that is if you should tighten them in this (or identical) order:
By the time you get back to the top right screw, you should notice it's looser. Double check the spacing between the upper and lower peices are equal on both sides and never make any changes to this gap without backing out the tight screws. This is where I believe your troubles originate from; you may have attempted to close the gap on one side thus applying too much tension to the screws on the other side which pulled them out of thier threads.
My rings have gaps between the tops and bottoms but the screws are tight. If I chose to close the gap on one side without backing out the other screws on the opposite side, I'd strip them for sure.
Other than some machineing marks, I love these rings, they just require some thought process when mounting.
Hope this helps.
I always start the screw off buy placing it inside it's hole and rotating it backwards untill the threads engage. This is when you feel the screw jump down after rising up along the threads while you back it out.
Once you feel the screw jump into place, start rotating it the opposite (tight) dirrection and always apply the same force, both when starting it and when tightening it (for me I use the weight of the screwdriver resting against my hand).
Just tighten it snug at first until you've got all 8 screws snug. By the time you do this and go back to the original scew, you should notice it is looser than where you left it; this is because the (interfence fit) top peice has shifted while you snugged down the other 7 screws. Just tighten the original screw down beyond snug and make sure you NEVER tighten one screw down tight until:
- the other 7 screws are all tight and,
- the gaps between the upper and lower pieces are equal.
Make sure you tighten them in an opposing order as well. What I mean by that is if you should tighten them in this (or identical) order:
- Top Right
- Bottom Left
- Bottom Right
- Top Left
By the time you get back to the top right screw, you should notice it's looser. Double check the spacing between the upper and lower peices are equal on both sides and never make any changes to this gap without backing out the tight screws. This is where I believe your troubles originate from; you may have attempted to close the gap on one side thus applying too much tension to the screws on the other side which pulled them out of thier threads.
My rings have gaps between the tops and bottoms but the screws are tight. If I chose to close the gap on one side without backing out the other screws on the opposite side, I'd strip them for sure.
Other than some machineing marks, I love these rings, they just require some thought process when mounting.
Hope this helps.
- Location
- Halifax, NS
Sorry I just read that you were refering to the long screws. Still, the same process of backing the screw out applies.
In fact I know exactly why your screws are stripped; the tapped hole in which they fit into is machined on an angle. I found this to be counter-intuitive but it's not hard to get around.
If you simply mash the threads into the hole and turn, you will strip the small threads no doubt.
What I did was rest the screw on top of the incline, then back it out until I could feel some kind of thread engagement. Once I felt that, I'd switch directions and screw them in. It took a few times of backing out and screwing in, but eventually the threads caught properly. It's painfully obvious when the screw is cross-threaded and when it's in proper; difficult rings? Yes but they work just fine. Like I said before, they require some thought process when installing.
They can be a pain, but those offset inserts can really save your a$$. I havn't cross threaded, but I have twisted a couple of heads off the cross bolts. I have spoken w/ a couple of folks who have drilled out the holes and retapped for 10-32 cap screws. I'm going to give this a go.
- Location
- Halifax, NS
No offence but when I look at a serious precision rig with those 1 piece mounts, it reminds me of a triathelte with training wheels!
QD one peices belong on tactical rifles with rails and huge mags and s**t, like the MDT, AICS, and maybe a Macmillan.
QD one peices belong on tactical rifles with rails and huge mags and s**t, like the MDT, AICS, and maybe a Macmillan.
Look in your yellow pages for any place that provides screws and fasteners to the trade. There are a couple in Edmonton, there must be some in southern ON. I must be weak, I've never broken a screw on a Burris (or Leupold or Redfield or any other quality maker) mount. Are you guys actually torquing these fasteners, or just twisting until they break and then backing off half a turn? I've broken some no name stuff, Chinese and newer Tasco come to mind, but always had good luck with the good makers. On some pretty high recoiling rifles too. As to the Near and Talley comments, yes they make nice stuff, but you're comparing apples to oranges price wise. Most folks don't want to shell out a couple to a few hundred dollars for a scope mount and rings. FWIW - dan
