Lap these rings????

[Panhandler80]

Mounted a scope yesterday. Alignment bars indicated a slight misalignment, but I elected to now worry about it. Blue Loctite and torqued it all down to mfg specs and called it a day.
This morning, I started second guessing myself.
What say you all?
Below are picture of alignment bars from top, and from side. Was so minor that the picture was difficult to capture.

1. Take it off and lap the rings, or don't worry about it?

2. Any concern with clamping rings down a second time after shape of rings has changed?

3. If I decide to lap, should I reuse screws after breaking them out of Loctite, or should I get some new ones? #6 screws

Talley base into rem 700 style. Badger ordnance rings. Both base and rings aluminum. Leupold vx-5hd 3-15x44... I think like 21 oz scope.


PH80

 

[Bisley45]

I lap every set of rings for peace of mind.

 

[robtattoo]

Me too. Worst case; it does nothing. Best case; it saves the scope from damage. Absolute best case; it stops me from ever thinking 'should I have...' or 'I wish I'd...'

 

[Panhandler80]

Yeah. Kicking myself for having not done it.

Any thoughts on Questions 2 and 3 in initial post?

 

[dla]

#3 - the screws aren't "torque to yield" - so you should be able to reuse them. I think acetone will remove loctite blue.

 

[wapitibob]

Rings will distort the scope tube long before the ring itself.

 

[Panhandler80]

Rings will distort the scope tube long before the ring itself.

Don't think I was clear. What I was asking was if putting scope back into rings after lapping would cause additional stress on tube. To exaggerate what I'm talking about... Say tube was distorted one way due to grossly misaligned rings. Then they lapped, thereby changing THEIR shape. When scope goes back in, it would then be "bent" back a different direction.

Pretty sure the tiny changes we're talking about here wouldn't matter on this front.

Given what alignment bars showed, what's likelihood of having damaged scope. Probably none, right?

 

[6mm Remington]

I'd lap them if it were me. Worth the 30 minutes or so you are going to spend doing it.

 

[OXN939]

Don't think I was clear. What I was asking was if putting scope back into rings after lapping would cause additional stress on tube. To exaggerate what I'm talking about... Say tube was distorted one way due to grossly misaligned rings. Then they lapped, thereby changing THEIR shape. When scope goes back in, it would then be "bent" back a different direction.

Pretty sure the tiny changes we're talking about here wouldn't matter on this front.

Given what alignment bars showed, what's likelihood of having damaged scope. Probably none, right?

The amount of misalignment shown (or more) is present in most scoped rifles out there. I've seen optics installed in rings that were farther off than that without noticeable damage to the scope, and doubt you did any.

If you're not looking for benchrest accuracy, you can do what I've heard referred to as "field lapping." You essentially cut two strips from a polyethylene plastic bag, place them in the rings, secure them with a drop of gun oil and mount the scope with said strips acting as a liner between the body of the scope and rings. This will prevent mounting marks on your scope and create some degree of forgiveness for the misalignment you show. A lot of Walmart scope rings do something similar to this in anticipation of optics being mounted in poorly aligned rings.

But yeah, if you have the ability to lap them, I'd send it on that.

 

[Panhandler80]

Semi-related question...

I put loctite between gun and base. That wasn't a mistake was it? I figured it couldn't hurt anything.

 

[OXN939]

Semi-related question...

I put loctite between gun and base. That wasn't a mistake was it? I figured it couldn't hurt anything.

I wouldn't do that. Blue Loc Tite probably won't hurt anything, but the only place it should really be applied is the the threads of the screws.

 

[Panhandler80]

I wouldn't do that. Blue Loc Tite probably won't hurt anything, but the only place it should really be applied is the the threads of the screws.

What risk did i run with that move?

 

[ramont]

Basically Loctite turns in to a polymer as the oxygen is squeezed out between the threads. If the oxygen isn't removed then the Loctite wont harden. It probably wont harden between the base and the receiver and if it slowly migrates out from between the two then your base will loosen. I suspect it wont cause any issues but it might, and I would recommend taking the scope and base off, cleaning everything with acetone and, lapping the rings (don't go too far, if you do then the rings wont hold tight enough), and then reinstalling everything with blue Loctite on the threads only.

 

[ramont]

If you're worried about the fit between the base and the receiver then you can bed the base using JB weld, it will create a perfect fit between the receiver and the base.

 

[Panhandler80]

Thanks folks. The base and the receiver SEEMED to mate perfectly. Bergara gun and Tally rail. I put the loctite just for a little extra bonding. Sounds like I might should take whole system apart and clean it all up.

I can't imagine loctite that doesn't harden (assuming O2 wasn't restricted by surfaces) resulting in base having play. The screws are still in there, after all. But, who knows.

 

[OXN939]

What risk did i run with that move?

Probably not much, as mentioned above. In some designs, where the mounting holes run straight through from the top to the bottom of the receiver, I have seen Loctite drain into the action where the bolt locking lugs interface with the receiver... which is obviously not desirable.

 

[BRTreedogs]

Just take it apart and do what you know you should have the 1st time.
Work on the now will save stress later.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Semi-related question...

I put loctite between gun and base. That wasn't a mistake was it? I figured it couldn't hurt anything.

Don’t go crazy with the loctite, keep it in the threads.

 

[Muley Buck]

If you're worried about the fit between the base and the receiver then you can bed the base using JB weld, it will create a perfect fit between the receiver and the base.

Do this^^^ Bed the rail to the rifle. Provided the rail is true and straight there's a good chance you won't need to lap the rings after bedding. Start true, end true.

@Broz has a great video on how to do this properly.

 

[nemthunter]

I bed my scope rail to the action and bed my scope to the rings. This is the way to get the best stress free mount for your scope. I feel even lapping the rings will not give you a perfect alignment. Bedding the scope to the rings also will give a more even pressure and should, in fact, hold the scope better with less chance of slipping.

Think of it like this. Scope tubes are machined just like the action, the scope base, and scope rings. we bed the base to the action to get the best fit. then just settle for lapping the rings to mount the scope. Not to mention every time you use the lapping bar you change the lapping bars dimensions and shape.