Lapping rings, worth the $?

[Hairtrigger]

There are plenty of scarred up scopes to prove what the majority are doing is insufficient.

I have found this to be true. I lap all of my scope rings that are not the Burris style with the plastic insert When lapping rings watching the progression on the lapping it is obvious that many rings and mounts will benefit from this

[country gent]

Getting the correct surface and alignment can make a big improvement in how well a scopes stays and how well it holds zero.

Having made special rings occasionally Heres what Ive seen. The rings were machined in a bar together 1 piece to start a small hole drilled for location x-0 y-0. then the dovetail cut in and if desired the cross slots. then flipped indicated in and the location hole used to set center. the hole is drilled bored and reamed to size. turned again and x y set sides are machined. The turned xy set and screw holes drilled and tapped then marked to each ring and tops are cut from the bases. rings are then split into 2 and front and back finished. These should be dead on when installed in the bases but seldom are. this seems to indicate there are variations in the bases and receiver rings.

[1hole]

... got into a discussions with someone at the range about lapping scope rings.

Is it worth the cost? These lapping kits go for a pretty penny.

Lapping scope rings is, to me, worth doing. But those costly "lapping" kits with steel bars and expensive grinding compounds are not just over priced, they aren't made for the best work for our needs.

I'm not going to go into explaining why, but the best laps we can use for fitting scope rings are wood: I use 1" hardwood dowels from any hardware store and my abrasive is an inexpensive small double-ended can of Clover's valve lapping compound bought from an auto parts store for not much.

Lapped rings won't cut the surface of the scope body, they won't slip and they won't try to force the tube to conform to themselves.

I use (and keep seperate) two 1"x15" dowel laps, one for each grit. The grit imbeds in the surface of the wood and cuts much faster than my old steel rod. Don't over do it, eyeball it from time to time and when about 80% of the ring's surfaces are clean that's good enough.

Ring lapping isn't watch making, it need not be done with a precise 1" rod. When properly tightened down the rings will easily bend to enclose the scope as precisely as if they were grown together.

[B R Shooter]

Shall we progress into BEDDING mounts and scope rings?

[richhodg66]

Instead of purchasing a lapping kit I got a piece of 1" stock from Brownells. It was about 10" long and with some valve lapping compound worked fine. It also went very quickly, like a few minutes. The rings were not off much to be truthful.

This is what I did. Some fine valve lapping compound on the rod and then back and forth on the lower rings when they're mounted to the rifle, only takes a little time and when you see the results, you'll be surprised how much it trues them up.

Another thing, since I started doing this, I've never had any ring marks left on a scope I mounted. Probably not important, but it tells me it's working.

[richhodg66]

I wouldn't waste any money lapping scope rings for a M-N unless it was owned by the Czar himself!

Some of those Mosins will surprise you by how well they shoot. It's a process that only takes a few minutes, generally and doesn't really cost anything. Why wouldn't you do it?

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

How are you mounting the base or bases?
That would be my first concern, before I'd think about lapping rings.
As Minerat mentioned Burris signature rings, that is what I'd use if I had thought lapping rings were necessary.

[BigAlofPa.]

This is the mount i have on mine. No drilling or tapping needed. And it has a built in sight for shots under 100 yards. Im very happy with it.

[waksupi]

It couldn't hurt. Even on custom actions,I have had to blueprint the bridges just to level them. Expecting a military of commercial action to be "on", is very unlikely to happen. Look at the thread, "Joni Lynn's Mauser", and the extent I had to take the action to true it.

[Cap'n Morgan]

It couldn't hurt. Even on custom actions,I have had to blueprint the bridges just to level them. Expecting a military of commercial action to be "on", is very unlikely to happen. Look at the thread, "Joni Lynn's Mauser", and the extent I had to take the action to true it.

Old military actions can be bad!

Denmark had a lot of left-over Mauser 98 after the war.
Many of them were modified by Schultz & Larsen with a new barrel in 6.5x55, and sold at a very fair price to shooting clubs all over the country.
In the nineties the Scandinavian shooting associations agreed on SIG Sauer 200 to be the "Nordic" target rifle - and suddenly the marked was flooded with old Mauser rifles.

I lost count on how many of these rifles I scoped in the following years, but I ended up writing a dedicated CNC mill program, where both front & rear face of the action was profile milled to remove the loading strip guide and to make sure both surfaces were parallel and uniform (also, the screw holes were drilled and tapped in the same setup)

On almost every action, the rear base "face" were offset slightly to the side (always the same side) and I sometimes had to take a deeper cut to clean the face fully.
Some were also slightly twisted and needed an even deeper cut.

Of course I also made a rifle for myself. This one cost me about $35 - that left financial space for a new barrel and a Leupold scope. The scope mounts are a homemade "baseless" design

Also, notice the holes for the rear aperture

[13JFO]

Thanks all for the input. Sounds like it is largely unnecessary but might help. I like the bar stock idea, hadn't even thought of that. Much less expensive than the kits I've seen. I'll give it a shot.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I prefer to bed the scope bases in JB Weld or stock bedding compound using the rings on an old scope or tube to properly align the bases. Base screws must be left loose enough to allow some motion in the base being bedded. This can be a multi-step process. I check 2 piece scope bases with a rigid straight edge to get some idea how crooked things might be. Ground receivers on sporterized military rifles and other older 'hand-polished' rifles vary more than modern factory rifles. The flat Marlins are the easiest, Savage 99's seldom align bases properly. Get the bases aligned, then the rings will need little or NO work. I bed one piece scope bases in the same manner but it is easier. One piece base can be twisted or bent when the screws are tightened on 'crooked' receiver. The Burris Signature Rings with inserts solve many problems.

[B R Shooter]

Good post MLG

[1hole]

As Minerat mentioned Burris signature rings, that is what I'd use if I had thought lapping rings were necessary.

A large screwdriver and/or hammer can usually put things together somehow so sophisticated things like ring lapping is rarely "necessary". But .... lapping scope rings can often be helpful.