5 Tips On Mounting A Scope

TIP 1.

You just purchased that scope you have always wanted. The next step is to get bases and rings for your scope.

Whenever possible I choose Leupold bases and rings over any other mounts. Why? They use torx head screws which offer tremendous grip compared to hex-headscrews and they won’t strip like old-fashioned hex-headscrews, and you can select from super-low, low, medium and high ring heights, allowing you to mount the scope at the right height.

TIP 2.

There is little point to sight-in a rifle if the scope mounts and rings have not been attached and secured properly to the rifle’s action.

ALWAYS apply a tiny amount of gun oil to the threading of each screw before screwing into bases and rings. This is important because you’ll get maximum tightness.

TIP 3.

Its crucial to align the front dovetail ring with the axis of the rifle’s barrel. Use 1″ diameter dowel of about 12″ length to accomplish this alignment.

Attach and tighten the front dovetail ring near the end of the dowel, then set the ring into the base socket. Slowly turn the dowel until it lines up with the barrel.

This is by far the quickest and most accurate way to align the front dovetail ring.

TIP 4.

Use a bore sighting device to align the scope’s vertical crosshairs in line with the rifle’s barrel before tightening the scope ring threads.

TIP 5.

You should never put a scope intended for use on a centrefire rifle on a rimfire unless you have had it parallax corrected for a shorter distance than the usual 100 yards.

The usual 100 yards parallax corrected distance of typical big game rifle scopes is beyond the effective field range of the .22 rimfire. It only makes sense for the small game hunter using a big game scope on his rimfire to have the parallax setting adjusted to the shorter range of 50 yard.

See your local gunshop or trusted gunsmith to have your scope parallax corrected.