Mr T. Ben,
You seem to be our resident expert on everything M-14 / M-1a related.

Do you have any tips, clues or tricks for mountain a scope?

Springfield M-1a standard, Sladak airborne scope mount, Vortex 30mm rings, Vortex Viper scope.

My biggest questions are:
Loctite or no?
Torque pattern for the screws on the rings?


Thank you in advance!
Semper-

I won't speak for the man but I do remember these are out there. Get you something to watch in the meantime.

Slippery Pete-
Thanks! I watched those videos a few months ago when I put the scope mount on the gun.

Let’s see if I can properly illiterate without confusion-

The scope mount is mounted, I need to mount the scope to the scope mount.

In other words, I gotta toss the rings and scope on the gun.

Ah Gotcha. I think it's mostly preference with the Loctite. I've used very small amount of plumbers tape in the past and they don't back out. Or Loctite if you are feeling more on the permanent side of things. Always a good idea to use witness marks.

I do the standard cross pattern torque on the ring screws making sure the rings are sinking evenly and the scope stays level. I do the old Feeler gauge trick to keep it level. My OCD requires me to check it against a plumb line with a level.

But that's just me. Curious what Tony or others have to say.

quote:

Originally posted by Slippery Pete:
Ah Gotcha. I think it's mostly preference with

I do the standard cross pattern torque on the ring screws making sure the rings are sinking evenly and the scope stays level. I do the old Feeler gauge trick to keep it level. My OCD requires me to check it against a plumb line with a level.

That's one of the questions-
Is it-

1 3
4 2


1 3
4 2


Or- #####


1 3

5 7



8 6

4 2

Because there's 2 mounts

Fwiw, Benny is more experienced than I, but I know a thing or two. I would defer to him.

RE: loctite or no, I've had locktited setups, and ones where grease was used on the threads. It's almost like the 9mm v 45 debate. Properly done, it's not going to shoot loose. In both cases you're filling the void between the threads. Better than dry for sure.

Once upon a time, the key piece was whether the receiver was in spec, this is less of an issue now. Follow manufacturers instructions for what to tighten and how much.

For real scope mounting, I go diagonally across, gradually increasing force. For the rings, per your description, I go 1 1 3 3 4 4 2 2. Rinse and repeat until proper torque. I also like to put a paint marker across the ring and scope tube, to see if it ever moves.

Once upon a time, if you were really really worried you'd lap the rings. I haven't heard anyone talk about doing this for a long time. The mounts and rings available are excellent, you'd have to really fuck up or buy some garbage to bend a tube.

My .02

I'd go with the 2nd pattern you have there, jumping ring to ring instead of torqueing 1 down at a time. . The fun part is the rings with 3 screws per side. Made up my own pattern with those.

I don't know if that's the proper schoolhouse way to do things. I've never had a problem.

Hello!

For the scope rings, I mount them as far apart as they can go and when I find the slots that work, I finger tight the base to Picatinny screw and push the ring forward so it's biased against the forward portion of the Picatinny slot and then torque the rings to 50 inch pounds.

For the rings, I use blue loctite on clean threads. I place the scope in the mount and gently install both rings and all screws, but leave them finger tight. If you're lucky enough to have a scope that has a flat bottom where the elevation and windage knobs are, then you can stack some credit cards, or use one of those scope level wedges to level the scope and torque the ring screws down. Something like this:
https://monstrumtactical.com/scope-leveling-tool/

When tightening down the rings, make sure there's an even gap on the left and right side. Just eyeball it; no need to use feeler gauges. As long as the upper and lower rings aren't touching on either side, that's the important thing.

For aluminum rings, I use 15 inch pounds. For steel rings, I use 25 inch pounds. Or just use the manufacturers recommendations. The above combinations work just as well as mine. For an 8-screw setup, I personally use:
1 3
4 2

5 7
8 6

Keep en even gap between the top and bottom rings and work the torque up from 5 inch pounds and work up to 15 or 25 inch pounds in 2 inch-pound increments.

It's also a good idea to check the side mount screw of the Sadlak after the first range trip to see if it has come loose. Sometimes M14 mounts like to settle, and torquing after your first shooting session should solve any issues on that end. After that, it should be rock-solid.

I also recommend a Bradley Adjustable cheek rest.

Good luck!

Tony.

Gentlemen, THANK YOU very much!

The crazy wisdom on this forum never ceases to amaze me.

quote:

Originally posted by benny6:
...

It's also a good idea to check the side mount screw of the Sadlak after the first range trip to see if it has come loose. Sometimes M14 mounts like to settle, and torquing after your first shooting session should solve any issues on that end. After that, it should be rock-solid.

I also recommend a Bradley Adjustable cheek rest.

Good luck!

Tony.

I got the Bradley a while back, EXCELLENT piece of gear! And pretty much needed with the height of the scope.

I banged out probably 100, 125 rds after I put the Sadlak mount on, I checked it after 50, then when I was done. TIGHT!

quote:

Originally posted by arcwelder:
...
Once upon a time, if you were really really worried you'd lap the rings. I haven't heard anyone talk about doing this for a long time. The mounts and rings available are excellent, you'd have to really fuck up or buy some garbage to bend a tube.

My .02

Sadlak Scope Mount, Vortex Rings and Vortex Scope.
Makes things much easier!

A "trick" I learned years ago (circa 1990ish) was to smear just a dab of grease on the inside of the rings and where the upper and lower part of the rings meet. Holds just a little without slipping and the water-repelling helps too. This was coming from 2111 / 2112 mos (armorers) in the Marines I don't know if this is still necessary these days.

I will see if I can find a link to back this up, but I recall reading that adding liquid loctite to scope ring screws lubricates the threads as you are tightening them, and makes it easy to over torque them. So if you use some loctite, don't horse them down too hard.