Should I employ the services of a gunsmith?

B

Billy Jacobs

Moderator
If I were to purchase new bases, rings and a scope for a new rifle, should I have a gunsmith put it all on the gun? I put my scope on my .22, but I don't want to mess up the scope or the finish on the gun. What do you all think?

BJ
 
Concur. If the receiver is predrilled and tapped, there isn't any reason why one can't install a scope on their own. There's no magical secret to it.

It would be a different matter altogether if the receiver required drilling. I would take that to a gunsmith who uses a milling machine. That guarantees all the holes will be aligned and it's a matter of setup.
 
You can do it yourself just fine with no problems.

One serious suggestion, before undertaking this task make sure you buy a good set of gunsmithing type screwdrivers. The standard tapered screwdrivers will booger a screw up quicker than you can blink an eye. Also....I know..we've used em a million times, but this time please refrain from using a butter knife cause you were too cheap to buy a screwdriver that fit! :D

It's kinda hard to mess up, but here are a few tips.

1. When you remove the "filler" screws from the rifle, make sure you keep them where you can find them again someday.

2. Use a small amount of "locktite" on the screws prior to screwing them in. When you bottom out with the screw, a light tap with a hammer on the screwdriver will help seat them to get that extra little bit of tightness.

3. Make sure you get the alignment straight. A borescope can help you make sure your crosshairs are correct. Also make sure you have it correctly positioned by looking at the adjustment knobs. Nothing like mounting the scope to find out you have vertical adj on the side and horizontal adj on the top.

4. Tighten everything gradually as you would lug nuts. Don't overtighten one side before equally tightening the other. Some folks also apply a small peice of non slip type tape to the scope rings to get an extra tight non slip fit.

5. Ensure that you have proper ring height and that the front of the objective is not pressing against your rear sight or contacting the barrel.

6. If you don't have a borescope and don't want to spend the next year zeroing your weapon, use string and tape to make a crosshair at the muzzle. Then by sighting on an object through the barrel (with bolt removed of course :D) move your scope crosshairs until both the bore and scope have the same sight picture.

I believe at least 90 percent of scopes can be mounted easily by the home user. If you have problems zeroing the weapon, then seek a gunsmith. Your mount may be crooked or you may need to shim the mount.

One last note...if you bought the scope and mounts and rings at the same place, most places usually mount the scope to your weapon for free as a service. If they don't mention it..ask them. I'm sure they will consider this for you giving them all your business.

Good Shooting
RED
 
Red: That's good advice, until you got to "borescope". I never heard of anybody using a borescope for either boresighting a rifle or leveling the crosshairs. A borescope is a device for peering into the bore, looking for microscopic bore problems.

Boresighting, as you pointed out, can be done by conforming the crosshairs to the center of a target, viewed from the breech, with the bolt removed, of course, at a distance of 20 yds. or so.
 
Walter...ya got a point there..I should know- being an old artillery guy. We used a "borescope" to look through our 155 tubes.

I'm thinking of that thingy...I thought it was called a borescope? You stick into the end of your barrel and look through your scope. Inside you will see a target type pattern with numbers allowing you to align your crosshairs. I have to dig mine up to see what exactly the nomenclature is, but I thought for sure they called it a borescope.

Good Shooting
RED
 
The proper scientific term is: Collimator…. though practically everybody calls it a boresighter. -- Kernel
 
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