H & S Project Rifle part 3 – Fitting the scope.

In keeping with the theme of this project, I selected medium priced scope and rings that would be within the budget of most Aussie hunters. The scope chosen for this project is a new Bushnell 6500 Elite in 2.5 – 16 x 42 with Mil Dot reticle. The rings chosen are Burris XTR Extreeme Tactical Rings.

With the EGW Picatinny rail now firmly fixed to the top of the action it is a simlpe matter to mount the scope. But care still needs to be taken to ensure a top job.

The Burris rings are massive items that are very strong. They have a built in recoil stop, cross bolt. So need to be placed onto the rail with the cross bolt nut on the left hand side of the action. Lightly fit the lower half of the rings and finger tighten the cross bolt, while maintaining forward pressure against the rail lugs. Then mount the scope and adjust the scope position for correct eye relief. The rings should be far enough apart as to give good support to the scope.

Once the scope and ring position had been worked out, I removed the scope and prepared to lap the bottom rings. The photo below shows the bottom half of the rings pre-lapping.

As with any mass produced item, the Burris rings are not perfect. Lapping of the bottom rings removes any high spots that could place unwanted pressure on the scope tube. The top half of the rings do not need lapping as they are of much lighter construction than the bottom half and will bend to the form of the scope tube as the ring screws are tightened.

Pictured below is the 30mm lapping bar and below that the bottom half of the rings after a light lapping. You can see that not all of the ring has been lapped. I only wanted to remove any high spots.

Here is a close up of the rear ring showing the amount of material that has been removed from the surface. I place a small drop of loctite on the surface when assembling the scope onto the lapped ring. This fills in any voids left after lapping and when set, acts as a bed for the scope tube. Much the same idea as with the glue under the picatinny rail.

Next the scope is place lightly onto the rings and the top caps lightly screwed into place. The rifle is held horizontal with a combination of front Bipod and rear sand bag.

I placed a steel bar across the top of the picatinny rail and held it in place with a rubber band. On this bar I placed a plate level. The idea of the level is to aid in setting the cross hair of the scope in the correct horizontal and vertical plane. You can also use the bolt lug rails but I find that this method is just as accurate.

Next hang a plumb bob string about 25 – 30m from the rifle to give a vertical reference line. Point the cross hairs at the string line and turn the scope in the rings until the vertical cross hair is parallel with the string vertical line.

Constantly check the horizontal plate bubble to ensure that the rifle is still level. Then slowly tighten the ring screws to lock the scope into position. But not too tight!

Once the scope is firmly held in position and I am happy that the cross hairs are correctly aligned with the vertical axis of the rifle. I remove one screw at a time and apply a small amount of grease to the thread. This is easy to do as the XTR rings have six screws and hold on very well. I do this one screw at a time then torque all the screws down to the correct torque setting. In this case 20in/lb.

In the photos below you can see the plate bubble in use.

In this photo you can see the Wheeler Torque wrench in use. This is a great tool.

Cross bolt torque is checked at 65in/lb and the scope is ready for use.

Photo below…………. The job is done.

These rings are now firmly mounted to the rail and a rock solid grip holds the scope in place without any stress induced into the scope tube from the rings.

It is now possible to remove the scope and rings as one unit and replace them again without any major change in point of impact.

Next I will give the rifle a good clean then its time to make some noise!

Related posts:

1. H & S Project rifle part 2 – Fitting the Picatinny rail
2. 2010 HUNT & SHOOT Project Rifle – 7mm Rem Mag. Part 1
3. Remington .375 H&H Dangerous Game Rifle

Category: Articles, Norman Nelson's Column