Another springer scope mount question.

[Mycapt65]

No one laps their scope rings anymore?
Granted, manufacturing tolerances have greatly improved over the years, but lapping the rings can only improve the accuracy of a given rifle scope.

Lapping rings is not too common anymore with most rifle types. Lapping was sometimes necessary on guns that had drilled and tapped receivers. Due to machinery tolerances play in the fastener holes misalignment was a legitimate concern. Also rough machining of the interior of the rings and caps often left marks in scopes. Lapping helped bring down the high spots and gave the rings more contact with the scope.

Lapping a scope is a good idea for gun types and the conditions mentioned above. With quality rings and guns with fully dovetailed receivers lapping isn't really necessary. I have a lapping kit but I haven't used it in years for that reason.

 

[gmiller0]

One thing I've run in to was the clamp jaw needed to be turned around . Dont know if one way fits 3/4 and turned to be 11mm. Or put on wrong at factory..

Anyway somthing to check before you crank the screws down..

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Are you supposed to flip the clamp jaw on dovetail mounts a certain way based on your guns dovetail rail???? Basically one side of the clamp is longer than the other, sooooo……Am I dumb and didn’t know this? Or, is this supposed to be common knowledge that I didn’t know? ……. I was wondering the same thing about the clamp jaw needing turned around… I got a Leapers UTG solid mount with my AA TX200 bundle kit and the Hawke 4-12x AO scope… when I mounted the rings with the out of the box orientation, I was chasing zero ALL THE TIME…. So, I took the mount off and flipped the clamp jaw and VOILA!!!!!!! The mount is now squared off and looks a lot better.. and…. My “zero‘ing” issue is much better!!!I I used to have to zero after about 50 shots and since I flipped the jaw so the long tooth was on top, I haven’t had to mess with the scope for over 400 shots…. Could it literally be just that simple????

 

[c_m_shooter]

Not a fan and never have been of the one screw ring caps. Yes, Hawke uses friction tape in their rings but in 35+ sets of them and they're my own personal favorites, I've never had that tape come out of a single set, even on a hard recoiling 24fpe springer.
I've also never had a single scope slip in them on any number of brands of rifles I've owned or still do. By all means, take what I said with a grain of salt since that's my own personal experience with them, I've had very good luck with them and why I've kept using them on my guns for the 7+ years I've been shooting.

RWS lockdown mount only has the one screw caps, and I have never had one slip. Since it designed for guns like the RWS 48 and 54, I would assume the engineers knew what they were doing.

 

[r1lover]

Looks like I am odd man out but I always use a strip of masking tape in the top and bottom half of my rings, about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way around the inside of each. I tighten ring screws snug but not too tight and scopes don't slip. In 50 years of shooting the only scopes I got ring marks on were scopes I did not use tape on. I almost exclusively use Sportsmatch rings on air guns and Leupold, Burris and Redfield on powder burners, all with little strips of tape. I always have resale in mind though I have never actually sold a scope, lol, but I do switch scopes between guns which sometimes requires repositioning the scopes in the rings so I try to avoid unsightly ring marks as much as possible. Scopes also stay nicely in place on tape when I am adjusting eye relief and leveling a scope before even turning the ring screws.

 

[Deerstalker]

That tape is put there on cheap mounts to make up for the poor tolerances of the mount. The call the tape friction tape and they say it's to prevent slipping. It actually promotes slipping because it's a compressible material held in place by an adhesive that melts in the heat.

You should be able to remove the tape. Clean the gooey adhesive off the rings and scope with mineral spirits or nail polish remover. Dry all the parts and reinstall the scope.

Good rings have perfect semi circles to fit the scope tube. No tape is needed to make up for sloppy cheap castings.

I always recommend genuine Sportsmatch rings. On the Hw30s use the Sportsmatch T02C. They use a larger rolled spring steel pin with adjustable depth. They hold secure without leaving a mark if your smart enough to read instructions. Genuine Sportsmatch rings are made in the UK specifically for 11mm airgun dovetails. Their machining, materials and hardware is light years better than the Hawke knock offs of them or any other cheap Chinese rings like the UTG. And they aren't expensive. AoA has them. The T02C are medium height and work well on the Hw30s and 50s. I use the T04C double bolt models on the Hw95 and stronger springers.

SportsMatch T04C medium rings mounting a Hawke 3-9 x 40 mm AO on my HW95.

Hawke Tactical medium rings mounting a Hawke 4-16 x 44 MM IR, SF compact scope on my HW95L. IMO both sets of rings are excellent in fit & quality finish.

 

[Hw9720]

BKL 263's and mount and forget.

tim