Rifle Scopes Question on the ever popular ring lapping

[jbell]

This question is to all out there who insist on lapping their rings. Have you or do you check your lapping bar for runout? If so how are you checking it? The reason I am asking is not b/c I dont know how or why to lap rings or how to check the runout on a lapping bar. Its because I find it funny people use mass produced tools to correct problems caused by mass produced scope mounting systems. I may have been lucky but in all the scopes I have mounted I have never had any mounting systems leave marks or damage scopes. I have never mounted a scope w/o checking it for binding in the mounts , and I do check and bed if necessary the base. Its just something I got to thinking about after reading some of the threads on here.

 

[bm11]

Re: Question on the ever popular ring lapping

You're just crazy, that's all there is to it.

 

[vman]

Re: Question on the ever popular ring lapping

LOL lapping bar run-out

I thought the purpose of the lapping bar was that it comes precisely machined to allow you to fix rings that arent so precise.

My opinion, forget about checking the bar for concentricity, otherwise you may as well buy more equipment to do the checking, and then send of the checking equipment to get calibrated and come back with a certificate and it never ends.

- Bedding is personal choice, and doesnt hurt
- High end matched rings and scopes need not be lapped, some even advise against

 

[JRose]

Re: Question on the ever popular ring lapping

Ring lapping... This topic never gets unfunny.

 

[gugubica]

Re: Question on the ever popular ring lapping

What is this lapping you speak of?

 

[spot69221]

Re: Question on the ever popular ring lapping

peanut butter + nuts + dog = lapping

 

[jbell]

Re: Question on the ever popular ring lapping

Sopt69221 , very funny!

You have all hit on my point. It just seems to me people go crazy with this. I am just very particular and over analyse stuff but have never seen a need for it. I just thought I would ask the question from a different perspective , and maybe some one could give me a different perspective on the subject.

 

[fatdaddy1]

Re: Question on the ever popular ring lapping

In a perfect world yada yada yada..do what your experience leads you to do..even high end mfgs mass produce it never hurts to check behind them..but for having the alignment bar or the lapping ber checked...which came first ? the chicken or the egg?

 

[AUJohn]

Re: Question on the ever popular ring lapping

If your rings need lapping you bought junk rings.

 

[Spuhr]

Re: Question on the ever popular ring lapping

AuJohn

The question about ring lapping is more about how the rail are than how the rings are.
If you have a bent rail (and many has) you need to compensate that on your rings, regardsless if they are perfect or not.

Mostly if not all people I have spoken to that are negative to lapping have never done it themself, so they dont know how little contact there is betwen the ring and the scope.....

Håkan

 

[22skip]

Re: Question on the ever popular ring lapping

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: AUJohn</div><div class="ubbcode-body">If your rings need lapping you bought junk rings.
</div></div>

Not necessarily - the rings themselves may be just perfect machining in themselves but how perfect are they aligned once you mount them ? Are the bores exactly the same height ? Are they perfectly parallel ? Your rifle receiver is perfectly drilled & tapped and your bases are exactly perfect to make your rings align perfectly when you screw them down ? There's no telling how many bases I've had to shim to get rings to come close to aligning with gauges and most times the rings require lapping to get the final alignment down-pat and good ring to scope contact. I've had to do this on some pretty high-end rifles too, not just lesser expensive stuff. Also, I pretty much trust 2 simply machined 1" bars to measure ring alignment by - not too likely you can bend or warp one of them in ordinary useage. I use the Wheeler alignment bars with the flat machined ends, not the conical pointed ones. The same goes for the lapping bar - making a nice, straight 1" dia. steel bar is not difficult and then again you're not likely to bend it in normal use. I've also used the Burris Zee rings w/inserts to overcome some really crappy drill & tap jobs and/or poorly spec'd receivers and bases where lapping wouldn't have even come close to straightening alignment. When you lap rings you're trying to true-up more than just the rings themselves.