Which Scope Ring Lapping Tool?

[Buano]

Hi,

Which is the best buy (works well for a reasonable price) in ring lapping tools for both 1" & 30MM scope rings? This is not for a shop but will be used for at least a dozen rifles.

I would love to make my own, but it's been 30+ years since I had access to a machine shop.

If I have some rods cut from drill rod or something similar, do I have them cut exactly 1" & 30MM or do I make them slightly undersized to allow for the lapping compound? If I find someone to make some bars up, what exact dimensions do I specify? Is it worth the added expense to have them case hardened (assuming I could even find someone to do it)?

Thanks!

Thanks!

 

[Horsemany]

I've been very happy with the Wheeler Engineering lapping kits in both 1" and 30mm. They come with compound, alignment bars, and lapping bar.

 

[MCMXI]

I've been very happy with the Wheeler Engineering lapping kits in both 1" and 30mm. They come with compound, alignment bars, and lapping bar.

+1

I made my own 34mm alignment bars and lapping bar, but the 1" and 30mm versions that I have from Wheeler are excellent. Last night, I used the 1" bar to lap the Talley rings again on my defective Savage Weather Warrior receiver. The first photo shows Seekins rings on a TPS one-piece base on the Savage receiver ... you can see how far off the alignment is! The second and third photos show Talley one-piece rings on the Savage receiver after a lot of lapping! I simply won't mount a scope until I've checked the alignment with bars.

 

[StretchNM]

If you make them, Buano, I would make them exactly 1" and 30mm.

I use the Wheeler Kit too.

 

[FLAvalanche]

I have a question about barrel lapping...

I've lapped other things, mainly heatsinks and computer CPUs in order to have a better mating surface between the two. Usually we lap both the heatsink base and the cpu so they are both flat.

What is the point of lapping the rings if you don't lap the scope? Sure, you're making your rings nice and straight and matching each other but that doesn't do you a bit of good if the housing of the scope is warped or out of round.

Is there something I'm not seeing?

 

[MCMXI]

What is the point of lapping the rings if you don't lap the scope? Sure, you're making your rings nice and straight and matching each other but that doesn't do you a bit of good if the housing of the scope is warped or out of round.

What are you trying to achieve when you mount a rifle scope? What are you trying to avoid?

 

[Finprof]

lapping rings

The scope body should be straight or else send it back to the manufacturer to get it repaired.
With the Leupold STD-type turn-in rings, they will probably not be straight and aligned when they are mounted. You don't want to have the rings crooked.

I bought a lapping tool, but it would be easy to make one. Mine was from Russ Haydon. Not made in China.

 

[FLAvalanche]

The scope body should be straight or else send it back to the manufacturer to get it repaired.

So should scope rings but we see how that works...

What are you trying to achieve when you mount a rifle scope? What are you trying to avoid?

Quite a few things but none answer my question as to what good lapping rings are if the scope isn't true.

It just doesn't make an awful lot of sense to put that much work into the rings when you haven't a clue as to whether the scope is actually true. People are complaining about rings from China being out of round and not aligned and avoiding Chinese made lapping tools, well, guess where your scope is probably made.

I can see the point of lapping the rings if the scope is actually true and round.

 

[Horsemany]

FLAvalance-

Lapping the rings will eliminate stress and marks on the scope tube. The amount a tube will be out of round is miniscule compared to how bad most rings align. I've never had a scope with a mark on it since I started lapping.

 

[madcratebuilder]

If I have some rods cut from drill rod or something similar, do I have them cut exactly 1" & 30MM

Make them the size of the tube you are working with. I made mine from drill rod copying a Wheeler set a friend has.

 

[wingman]

I use Burris Signature zee rings and avoid the lapping process so far success.

 

[claiborne]

+1 for Burris Zee rings and no lapping. I have also had success with Conetrol rings and bases.

 

[JAV8000]

I use the Wheeler lapping kit and have found that it works excellent. It's an exercise in patience well worth the effort. As for it being worth the effort when considering if your scope is out of round, well, those who buy cheap scopes usually aren't as inclined to spend a few hours and a hundred $s lapping their rings anyway. I mounted my Leupold VXIII 1.5-5x on my 581 Mini-14 using the Ruger rings. After a few hours of lapping (good god those rings were OFF) everything matched up and I took the rifle to the range without bore sighting it. I hit 2" low and 3" to the right at fifty yards, right off the bat. Lapping is good!

 

[Horsemany]

Ruger rings. After a few hours of lapping (good god those rings were OFF)

+1. Ruger rings showed me the importance of lapping. They are the worst IMO. I've got a dented tube to prove it.

 

[bucktail]

Flavalanche, you don't need to worry about the rings or scope being out of round; you're worried about the rings lining up straight so that they don't bend or mark up the scope tube. The scope is going to be pretty straight. The rings are problematic because they have a lot of stack up where things can get out alignment. You screw bases to the receiver then you screw the rings to the bases. The receiver can be crooked, the holes drilled in the receiver can be crooked, the holes in the bases can be crooked or the rings could be off. You're just trying to get the holes in the rings lined up with each other well enough so that they don't mark or bend the scope tube. If the scope and rings aren't round enough to accomplish this, there are deeper problems.

Even if everything is perfectly built to print, you can still get the rings on crooked because they build slop into the system so that it will go together.

My procedure is a bit unorthodox, but I haven't needed to lap a set of rings yet. I put the rings on the bases, leaving them loose. I put the lapping bar into the rings and tighten them up, then I tighten the rings to the bases. I loosen the rings, slide the lapping bar out, and slide the other bars in to check for alignment. They are generally aligned, and I just mount the scope from there.