How to properly mount a rifle scope

You have probably invested a $1000 to buy an excellent rifle and $500 for an expensive scope. Unfortunately, these may not guarantee a very good shooting experience. If the rifle scope is not mounted well on the rifle, you will miss the target, damage your rifle or even cause danger to yourself. It is a probably a good idea to have your rifle mounted by a gunsmith. If you still would like to assemble everything yourself, you should follow the suggestions written below.

The first part is to choose a good mount and a base for your scope. You need a well-lit place in order to mount the scope. First, apply a coat of oil to all the screws that you are going to use. This will make them easy to fix. Fix the rifle base on your rifle according to the instructions. You will probably need to apply locktite while installing the base.

After this you will need to attach the scope rings on the base. One thing to remember is that rings will not be automatically aligned with each other. This is true even for the most expensive of the rings. You will have to make them align correctly before attaching the rifle scope to it. In order to do this, first fix your rings on the base and insert a pair of alignment tools inside them, which should face one another.

The alignment tools look like bullets with cone like shapes on their heads. When inserted into the rings, if the tips of the cones are perfectly aligned, then your rings are fitted well. Most of the time, you will have to re-fit one of the rings in order to make the cones align perfectly.

However, aligning your rings well is only half the task completed. Even perfectly aligned rings may have a very less amount of body contact with the scope, no matter how much you tighten your screws. The lesser the scope contacts with the rings, the looser will be the fitting. Lapping or reaming is a good solution to this problem. Different kinds of rings call for different leveling solutions.

Lapping simply means polishing the inside of the rings with an abrasive solution. Take care to remove this solution completely before attaching the scope the rings. You need to buy a reaming device in order to do a reaming or you can use sand paper as a cheap alternative.

Finally, attach the lower part of the rings on the base, mount your scope on it and place a piece of paper on the scope before attaching the top half of your rings. After fixing the ring tops snugly, simply take out the paper. You rifle with a scope is ready!