How to Attach Standard Rings and Bases to a Rifle
Leupold, Burris, and Weaver are the most popular manufacturers of mounting systems for scopes. They all sell a ring and base system called the standard system. This set up is also known as the dovetail front / windage adjustable rear configuration.
While it is not difficult to install the standard rings and bases, the instructions that come with them are usually not very good. Here is the procedure:
The front ring is a dovetail type ring. You can see the hole it goes into in the front base. The base end with the hole goes towards the end of the barrel on your rifle. The rear ring has a flat bottom, with two small flats machined on the either side of the bottom of the ring. The rear base has two large screws on either side.
You may want to have someone hold the rifle in place while you do this if you don't have a gun vice.
To assemble:
-Remove the screws on the top of the receiver on your rifle and screw the base down to the rifle using the screws that come with your bases.
- Assemble the front ring (top to bottom)
- Turn the front ring 90 deg to the base, and drop the dovetail of the ring into the hole in the base
- Using a 1/2" or 3/4" diameter wooden dowel (DO NOT use a metal rod), turn the ring 90 deg clockwise to lock it in place (it will take a little force)
- Take the tops off the front ring and the rear ring
- Place the rear ring between the screw heads, leave it loose for now.
- Place the scope on the rings bottoms, then put the tops on both rings and screw down enough so the tops don't fall off
- Position the scope so it is as far back as you would like (you can re-adjust later in necessary)
- Tighten down the FRONT ring top first. Make it snug, but don't use all your might to tighten the screws.
- Next, tighten down the rear ring top
- Now, using fingers, advance the screw heads so they just touch the rear ring bottom
- Take a screw driver and tighten the screw heads.
Tighten a LITTLE on one side then the other. Try to keep the base in the same position it was in prior to tightening the screws. Alternate tightening by going back and forth between the two screw heads until they are good and tight.
You can adjust how far back the scope is, and rotate the scope so the reticle is perfectly up/down/left/right by loosing both ring tops so the scope is just movable, make the adjustment, and tighten back down, front ring first.
Now the scope is mounted. To sight in the scope, I would sight in initially at 25 yards just to put you on paper quickly. Note at 25 yards each click of the windage and elevation adjustment = 1/16". At 100 yards each click is 1/4".
After you zero in at 25 yards you know the windage is good and the elevation is close. You can now go to 50 or 100 yards to adjust the elevation to the range you want.
If you find you need more windage adjustment, you can loosing the screw heads on the rear base and tweak the scope that way. Only do this a little as you don't want to bend the scope.
Scott Peters is an avid hunter and outdoorsman. Please see The Rifle Scope store Blog for more information.