Scope Install

[JEBar]

most of a time when a person mounts a good quality scope on a rifle using a recommended mount and rings, sighting it in can be accomplished with the scope's vertical and horizontal adjustment mechanisms .... years ago that often wasn't the case ..... the knowledge of how to handle it came in handy recently when we installed a a good scope on our Grandson's Henry 357 .... the side to side adjustments worked as they should but we couldn't get the vertical adjustment to elevate sufficiently ..... with the vertical adjustment as high as it would go, the impact point on a target at 40 yards was still a couple of inches low .... the old school remedy (and still the best way I know) is to place a stainless or aluminum shim between the scope and bottom half of one of the rings .... a rectangular shim cut from material a bit thicker than chimney flashing work well for us .... to decided where to place the shim, go back to adjusting a manual sight .... if you need to raise the impact point, place the shim in the rear ring .... if you need to lower the impact point, place the shim on the bottom of the front ring .... caution, don't think about it, just do it that way ... ... after adding the shim we used a bore sighter and it showed we can use the vertical adjustment to move the cross-hair from one line below the top of the grid to a couple of lines below the bottom of the grid .... that should give us more than ample adjustment capability to handle any ammo at any range we will be shooting

[Henry88]

Like many people, I had a similar problem with my break barrel pellet gun. Obviously, with a barrel that swings, the chance of a mis alignment, or droop is there.

I messed around with shims after watching several YouTubes, but found my solution, with the crazy recoil from a big springer, was a one piece (base/rings) droop compensating setup from UTG Leapers. If not dealing with the crazy double kick of the springer, the shims would have worked fine, I'm sure

For what i wanted, it was the cat's meow and I got it from walmart for $18 shipped free.

Of course mine is meant for rimfire/airgun rails.

[Sir Henry]

Sometimes but not very often I've corrected the problem by switching the front and rear mounts.

[JEBar]

Sometimes but not very often I've corrected the problem by switching the front and rear mounts.

over time I've tried that but never got it to work .... so much so that I didn't even try it this time .... good to hear from someone who has .... now I'll be wondering if that would have solved the problem this time .. .. if/when it happens again I will make it a point to give switching the rings a try

[Sir Henry]

It works best if it is really close and all you want is extra adjustments.

[Bish1309]

I don't think I'd have the patience to install and sight a scope.

I'd have to have help.

[JEBar]

I don't think I'd have the patience to install and sight a scope.

I'd have to have help.

like so many other things, its is a relatively simple task that can seem somewhat intimidating until understood .... about the best analogy I can think of is reloading ammo .... we have come to enjoy both

[Sir Henry]

There are a few tricks that I use. First thing is to install the rings on the scope and then put the scope on the rifle. I've found if you put the rings on the rifle without the scope that when the scope is installed it can put undue pressure on the scope.

[JEBar]

There are a few tricks that I use. First thing is to install the rings on the scope and then put the scope on the rifle. I've found if you put the rings on the rifle without the scope that when the scope is installed it can put undue pressure on the scope.

interesting .... with the scope mounts we use, the rings have to be located so that they fit into grooves cut into the mount .... for that reason we usually mount the bottom of the rings on the mount, then position the scope and secure it with the top of the rings

[Sir Henry]

I can understand what you are saying JEBar. For that reason I might mount the rings on the rifle first but not tighten them. The rings on the scope need to be tightened first.