Every time I think I know something, I talk to a real expert and suddenly understand how little I really know. Here are a few things I learned after talking to Mike Kurtz, product specialist manager with Hawke Optics.

Tip 1: A Connecting System.
While rings connect a scope to a firearm, there is also a base involved in the system. With many newer firearms, the base is an integral part and comes connected by the manufacturer. If there is not a built-in base, you have to purchase one and install that first. While not common nowadays, if you have an older firearm not designed to use a scope, you will need to have holes ‘drilled & tapped’ in the top of the receiver, and that is a job for a competent gunsmith.

Tip 2: A Vital Accessory.
Rings are an important part of the system to achieve the best potential accuracy from your firearm. If your rings are off by as little as 0.001 (one-one thousandth of an inch), it can result in a 1 minute-of-angle change in your impact point. Modern manufacturing procedures and machining have resulted in much improved tolerances in rings, but if you get a tiny piece of grit between the ring and scope while mounting, you can get poor results at the range.

Tip 3: Confusion Reigns with Rings.
Like almost everything involved with firearms, there is little standardization, there area multiple exceptions, and what worked for a person in the past, may have to be modified in the future, even with similar components. Rings commonly come in low, medium, and high options, but these heights can vary from one manufacturer to another. Rings must match the scope diameter, with 1-inch and 30mm the most common sizes. However, there are other sizes, and even some adapters to fit 1-inch scopes in 30mm rings.

Tip 4: Dizzying Choices.
Rings come in a dizzying array of designs – one, two, three, or four screws; aluminum or steel; solid or skeletonized; connect at top or side (or somewhere else); mounts in Dovetail, Weaver, Picatinny, tip-off, or proprietary (like Leupold); finish in black, stainless, or colors; and the options go on, and on. What is best? Decide what you need, and what works for you.

Tip 5: Robust Rings for Recoil.
In general, the greater the recoil, the more robust your rings need to be. You can use thin 3/8-inch tip-off rings when mounting a scope on a .22-caliber rifle with no problem, but you need to find the biggest, most solid, steel rings possible to attach a scope to a .460 S&W Magnum handgun.

Tip 6: Picatinny Nitpick.
The Weaver mount is older than I am, but the modern Picatinny Mil Spec dates from the mid-1990s. It looks the same (a series of grooves set in a mount), and makes things very adaptable. It’s not exactly the same, but close enough for most hunters. Weaver accessories will generally fit on Picatinny grooves, but true Picatinny devices will not work on Weaver mounts. Picatinny grooves are 0.206-inch wide, while Weaver grooves are 0.180-inch. While some may nitpick this discrepancy, I’ve yet to run into anyone who finds an actual problem in normal hunting situations.

Tip 7: Most Useful Information.
Mike provided this nugget of information: The little Allen wrench packaged with rings is designed to work as a torque wrench. Hawke recommends 16 inch-pounds on their rings, and when holding the short part of the Allen wrench shank in your fingers, 16 inch-pounds is about as much torque as a person can apply. I used a Fat Wrench to verify and was consistently applying 15 inch-pounds when using the Hawke Allen wrench.

« Top »