I am not sure if you meant to imply that I, the OP, have an absurd lack of common sense, but I couldnt help from sensing that. Maybe I am way off base, if I am I apologize.
As far as common sense goes, common sense really comes from prior experience. Optics are sensitive equipment and I just payed more than three times the amount that I had payed for my previous scope and I was thinking more along the lines of your motto, "Anything worth doing is worth doing *right*" My last scope came loose from the picatinny rails after I took the common sense approach and hand tightened. I am still new to shooting and I guess the point of asking is to draw on the experience of others.
I clean all the threads with alcohol to remove any oil. I then use Medium Loctite (blue) to assemble the mounts and rings. I do not tighten the rings until I am certain everything is perfectly straight and the eyepiece is the perfect relief distance for my eyes.
I have never had to torque anything except an engine head once when I rebuilt an L6 Flathead engine.
I suppose the more we do things, the more we get to the point where we say "if I twist this any more, the screw might break!" If I don't listen to that little voice, I will overtighten it and the screw will break. It happens every time, the last time it happened was two weeks ago, installing a light switch into an aluminum outdoor weathertight electrical box! I had to drill the screw out and use a larger diameter. So, I am not perfect, I try to learn by my mistakes. I suppose if it is that important to you, maybe you should allow someone to do it who has done it quite a few times!
I got to know the 'feel' of what different inch-pounds feel like, based on how long the handle is and how much pressure I believe I am putting against the handle!
I can say, for sure, that, the heavier the recoil, the more careful one must be to be sure EVERYTHING is tight! I just mounted two scopes in the past month on two .22's. One scope was $5, brand new Tasco, the other was a $39 Bushnell. I did not use Loctite, but I did tighten those babies! I never thought I would see the day of using something other than Leupold, but I digress, these will get virtually no knocking-around, banging, jarring, etc. and they both work!
If your gun recoils much at all, I would use just a very tiny amount of blue Loctite, using a toothpick to put just a tiny bit on the screw threads. That is how I have done it many times, when I did not want the scope to move! Some people don't like to use Loctite, which is OK, too! I think the important thing is tightening back and forth and all around evenly so you are not putting any undue stress in any one place from a really tight fastener while the others are still loose! Like I said below, also keep making sure the gun is vertical (or how you typically hold it if not perfectly vertical) and the scope's crosshairs are level (horizontally) and plumb (vertically).
PLEASE, let us know how you make out!
