Mounting a scope can be an intimidating task. One critical aspect of purchasing and setting up a rifle for the first time that can significantly impact your accuracy is the proper mounting and lapping of your scope. Whether you’re an experienced marksman or a beginner looking to enhance your shooting experience, this guide will walk you through the essential steps to ensure a solid and precise scope installation. First we mount the rings, then we align them, and finally, we lap them before leveling and mounting the scope.
It’s important to grasp the fundamentals. The scope mount serves as the connection between your rifle and the optic, determining the alignment and stability of your scope. Proper mounting ensures that your scope is securely attached, maintaining its accuracy over repeated shots.
Here is one of my favorite lapping tools:
Lapping Compound:
Lapping is a process that ensures the scope rings are perfectly aligned, preventing stress on the scope tube and maintaining optimal accuracy. When lapping you want to continue the process of rotating and checking the process against until the inside surfaces are showing that, once mounted, the scope will have approximately 70 percent contact with the inside of the rings. This isn’t an exact science. You will be able to determine when you are getting close to a point where the lapping has been successful.
In this video I simply use a small level to ensure that my rifle is sitting level in the vise, then I check the level of the scope itself. After this, all you need to do is boresight your scope and you’re good to go!
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