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Rifle Scopes Seekins Rings

dmachine

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Jul 22, 2004
191
0
RI
Has anyone had trouble with Seekins rings binding a scope? I just got an IOR scope with a 35mm tube, nice scope but try to get rings for it. After not being able to get the IOR rings I wanted, Scott sent me some Seekins rings. They look great, but looks can be deceiving. For some strange reason they cut the area in the base of the ring where the clamp goes much to far in towards where the scope sit's. This makes the ring weak at this point, and with 12 lbs tightness on the clamp screws & no top part of the ring installed, it will bend the sides in aprox. .010" With everything installed on the rifle, this is enough to bind the scope so you can feel drag on the power ring. And of course they put marks on my brand new scope so now I can't even send it back! Anyone else have trouble with Seekins? I can't wait to hear what they tell me monday when I call them.
 
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6 sets of rings, nary a problem.

What rifle and base are you using?
 
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Rem. 700 / .308 with a NF 20 moa 1 pc. base.

Who's base do you use?
 
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When you say 12lbs are you talking ft/lbs or in/lbs? If you torqued the rings to 12 ft/lbs you are way over torquing the rings.
 
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Mr Seekins produces excellent rings. there is something else at play, I think.

I mean, no Mfg is above an occasional error, but to slur the design makes me think there is something else going on.
 
Re: Seekins Rings

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: dmachine</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Has anyone had trouble with Seekins rings binding a scope? I just got an IOR scope with a 35mm tube, nice scope but try to get rings for it. After not being able to get the IOR rings I wanted, Scott sent me some Seekins rings. They look great, but looks can be deceiving. For some strange reason they cut the area in the base of the ring where the clamp goes much to far in towards where the scope sit's. This makes the ring weak at this point, and with 12 lbs tightness on the clamp screws & no top part of the ring installed, it will bend the sides in aprox. .010" With everything installed on the rifle, this is enough to bind the scope so you can feel drag on the power ring. And of course they put marks on my brand new scope so now I can't even send it back! Anyone else have trouble with Seekins? I can't wait to hear what they tell me monday when I call them. </div></div>

dmachine,

Were you satisfied these are 35mm rings and not 34mm??? As I told you, these were a "mystery set" that were removed from the bag and never replaced. I took an IOR 3-18x42 and it sat perfectly in the lower ring, and I understood that a 34mm would not have fit. I take responsibility for this but do you feel there is a chance that I was wrong on the ring size? Did the 2-12 sit snug or was there a small gap?

If you are comfortable these were 35mm rings then I'm not sure what is going on.

To be fair, the IOR anodozing is rather soft and it develops ring marks quite easily.

I just don't want Glen taking any flak if it's my fault so I'd like to jump in here and see what's going on.

Seekins have been quite trouble-free for us in the time we've been selling them. I can recall one ring that had to be replaced in 2 years.

Let me know.

Thanks,

Scott

 
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Seekins products are top notch...fisrt thought that came into my mind was 34mm and not 35mm.
 
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dmachine, Give me a call Tuesday and i will help you figure out whats going on. If they don't work or somethings wrong i will take care of you so no worries.

12ft lbs is 144in lbs.

DONT go over 55 in lbs
 
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Ahhhhh the mysterious "in lbs" lol

Reminds me of an armorer back in'96 on Oki who though he could remove an M40 from the stock (instead of evac'ing it to Quantico like we asked) and "Clean" it up due to salt water exposure. I guess all went well tell he used a Ft lbs torque wrench and a "Conversion formula"

to the OP,
The base clamp screws of the rings should be torqued to 55 in lbs (4.5 ft lbs) and the ring cap screws should be torqued to 15-25 in lbs (1.25 - 1.83 ft lbs)

Go to harbor freight and get a 1/4" drive in lbs for your rings in the future. I think these ones are done

conversion calculator link http://www.onlineconversion.com/torque.htm
 
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I think i know what he is talking about it has nothing to do with the ring size it is to do with the clamp on the base of the ring not closing onto the pivot point in the ring. You stated you are using Nightforce bases the issue is that ALL nightforce bases are slightly wider and nearly all rings when bolted onto them have a space between the clamping block and the rings. If you are clamping the rings to 55in/lbs they will not bend i think you might be over tensioning the blocks if you have tensioned them to 12in/lbs it just go's to show you the strength of these rings most rings would have stripped or snapped the screws at that tension. The rings will not damage your scope if the rings are tightened to 55in/lb.

Also the Seekins rings are actualy stronger than most and the fact that the cross block is machined out of the same piece as the rest of the ring increases the strength a massive amount. If the locking block is not in contact with the rest of the ring dont worry they will be the strongest rings you have if you want them to touch each other you will need a diferent brand of base. I had a nightforce base and a Badger mount for an ACI would not go on to it at all the base was to wide. Then we had 2 US optics bases neither could fit a set or leupold QRW rings even Nightforce rings only just fitted onto them one went back to the owner the other was on a rifle we had to sell so i had to re machine the top angles to allow a ring to fit. Now i have some US optics extrusionm they use for their bases and it is perfect it might have been a bad batch but Picatinny rails are all different. I have machined them from bar stock and if you are out by a few thou the rings will not tighten up or the other way the scope will be of set and the rings wont fit.

Hope that helps.

 
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Never had a problem with any Seekins product. The only fit issues I have ever had were all related to some other product. I only use his bases with his rings.

I Had him make a custom base for my single shot .50 BMG to correct a ring issue.

As others have stated something else is at play here.
 
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I have 5 sets of Seekins rings in 30mm and 34mm and they are wonderful! They have seen plenty of ruff use and never a problem.
 
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Glen will take care of you. As will Scott. No more torque than 12 in/lbs on the tube - IOR Warranty. 55in lbs on the nuts attatching to your base will do well. It sounds to me like you got 34mm rings. Glenn makes good stuff!

I'd step back and get the rings off the tube for now to be safe and wait for next steps from Glenn/Scott.
 
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I own some of these rings as well. Mostly in 34mm
Never seen a bad set. Id send them back and purchase a new set.

Never was a fan of the NF bases. When you buy new rings or whatever you should think about getting a new base....

just a thought
smile.gif
 
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dmachine,

In case you don't get a hold of us Monday, this is what i am going to suggest. its impossible to fix something over the phone or on the hide. Mondays are extremely busy phone days and just wanted to give you a heads up.

Send them back and i will take a look at the rings and send you a replacement set. the only ones i have in stock at the molment are a touch higher than the ones you have. It could be a ring issue or it could be a base issue, but it sounds like they are not working properly together.

Make sure there is a note in with them so i know what they are. If you like, send in your base too and i will help diagnose the problem and make sure you are set up properly. (would prefer to see the base as well)
 
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The 12 lbs is in INCH pounds, not ft. lbs. I think the problem is in the design of the ring myself. The way the clamping block is made does two thing's, one is the block itself "tips" and bind's on the rail, the other is, the slot cut for the top of the block to go in is much to close to the ring hole, again causing it to bind. I have tried mounting these ring's on two different rails, one is made by NF. I called NF and they say "each and every rail is tested" before it leaves. The other rail is the one on top of an AR-10 On both rail's these ring's tip bad enough to bind the scope, on the AR-10 rail they bound so bad I had to remove the clamping block screw's to get the rings off the rail! They bound so bad there was no other way! I tried 30mm ring's with a Mark-4 scope on both rail's, no problem's at all. The bottom line is this, they don't fit MY rail's, and they bind enough that they mared up a brand new $1200 scope that now I can't send back.

beanland: are yours binding also? I can put mine on a rail and snug them, measure acreoss the top with no top part of the ring on it and get the reading. Then if I tighten them on the rail and measure again, the top will be aprox. .010" closer together. They bound my new scope enough so the power ring would not turn smooth. Thats how I caught them not fitting well. They were fine when I started to put them on. I was concerned about the cut in for the clamping block because there is very little meat left, but I figured they must work if people like them. I learned one thing from all this.... never, NEVER buy any scope without a 30mm tube!
 
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send them back and let me take a look at them. I have way too many out there in use that work just perfectly to say its a design problem. Out of over 2200 sets i have had 2 sets break and 2 not fit rails like you are describing. Nothing in manufacturing is "perfect" and sometimes things happen that get missed, but rarely. Might be as simple as the screws for the clamp were threaded a bit crooked...I dont know, and cant fix it without looking at them

I just mounted up 3 sets this morning, some out of the new batch and some old and they are mounting up as they should. I did 3 of each, 34mm 35mm and 30mm rings. Its not un common for the clamps to be tipped one way or another but its never been a problem before.
 
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yes, they are binding the same way. i have to remove the screws to get them to release from the rail. They are on a surgeon with a built in rail. I have another set that does not do this. I am going to send them back. He will take care of them.
 
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You can't beat service like that. I still think you have the best rings out there. Thank you.
 
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Just do what the man says and send them back to be checked out. Ive put on 4 sets of glens rings and bases, both 30mm and 34mm on 4 different rifles and havent had any trouble. But hey shit happens, sometimes.

JJ
 
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Another set received yesterday and they mounted up just fine.

Thanks for the quick shipping Glen--the arrived 3 hours before the rifle!!
 
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Hi Glen could you please email me ASAP tonight about the order as i have to go into hospital in just over 24 hours will be out of action for over a week. Have been trying to call but keep getting your message bank.