Scope issues with Bolt Gun
- Thread starter Panhandler88
- Start date
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I said that because a 1 piece rail is more likely to fix his issue. And when he starts shooting it long distance he’ll want the 20 moa anyway.
You might want to try the Burris Signature Zee rings as they have different inserts for you to correct many alignment problems. They work extremely well.
https://www.burrisoptics.com/signature-rings
https://www.burrisoptics.com/signature-rings
kenboyles72
Active Member
Might try a one piece rail and go back to the lower rings. The height of the rail should give you enough to clear the bolt and give better alignment and security.
Ha hey man they store I bought all of this from out it on for me I don’t know any difference. I’m not a rifle guy I shoot bows but thanks I’ll try to get it switched out
Update I went to the range again today with a buddy who knows a whole lot more then me about this and he found that all the bolts that held the mounting plates to the rifle would come loose after about 3 rounds. We put my exact setup on one of his .308 bolt guns and he sighted it in within about 12 rounds so we will finds some new bases to mount to rifle and that rail system y’all recommended might be the direction I go
Put some blue Loctite on the screws.
^^what he said.
To mount a new scope:
1. Install rifle in a jig so that the receiver is level in all 4 axis.
2. Install scope mounts. Ensure the are level. If not level, swap mounts front to back & back to front. If not level, turn mounts 180 degrees on receiver. If not level, try another set of mounts. (note: one-piece scope mount is preferred, but 2-piece will work)
3. Install scope into scope mounts. Ensure the scope is level (note: unless you purchased MOA offset rings). Lap scope mounts if necessary.
4. Boresight rifle\scope.
If these instructions don't work for you; take your rifle, scope & mounts to a qualified gunsmith.
Best of luck and good shooting.
1. Install rifle in a jig so that the receiver is level in all 4 axis.
2. Install scope mounts. Ensure the are level. If not level, swap mounts front to back & back to front. If not level, turn mounts 180 degrees on receiver. If not level, try another set of mounts. (note: one-piece scope mount is preferred, but 2-piece will work)
3. Install scope into scope mounts. Ensure the scope is level (note: unless you purchased MOA offset rings). Lap scope mounts if necessary.
4. Boresight rifle\scope.
If these instructions don't work for you; take your rifle, scope & mounts to a qualified gunsmith.
Best of luck and good shooting.
If you checked to make sure the scope is tight and lined up perfectly with the barrel And if the scope itself is not defective or the barrel bent, shot out or too much headspace in the chamber.
Also the bolt lugs may not be making 100% contact-that one is tricky.
You can take layout fluid and a q-tip, wipe it on the bolt lugs and open and close the bolt several times, take it out and look at the wear. It should be even. However cheap, mass produced components cannot be expected to be as perfect as a custom Weatherby!
Since sharp corners hold heat and can crack, I round off the sharp corners with 400, then 600 grit wet sandpaper and polish the lugs with rouge or rubbing compound and a dremel polish wheel. So far I haven’t really reduced the amount of metal making contact, just made the action super smooth. (I also polish every sear on every gun! SMOOTH! And every automatic feed ramp-oh yes! Everywhere there are moving metal to metal parts, I polish) The next step is where I am in conflict with some guys I think messed up bad.
Lapping compound, they get fine grit and apply it to the bolt lugs and action the bolt. Here is why I disagree, that method removes material from ALL the lugs, not just the ones that need it! Get it? Why remove material from the lugs that already do not make contact?, Then even more has to be removed from the lugs that do!
And you’ll see where, because that’s what the layout fluid is for. The lugs that are making contact are the ones that are addressed, 1 thousandth, 2 thousandth’s, hopefully not 3 Thousandth’s. Personally I wouldn’t want to go more than 1-1/2 thousandth’s. You can see how the lug wears by the layout fluid, so with 600 or 800 grit you remove only in that area. If you are unsure, even 2% unsure, don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do it, you can ruin your rifle.
Take it to a gunsmith and tell him to smooth out the bolt’s action.
Last, as far as bolt lugs go, it should go without saying that before you do any of this, you need to purchase a go, no-go headspace gauge since even with a new rifle, this could be the issue. Besides, you will always be able to periodically check your headspace after that.
Since free floating barrels are the most accurate and most bolt actions are that way, you can also bed the receiver to the stock with epoxy, and install sleeves on the screws that fasten the receiver to the stock. This solidifies the two components thus reducing harmonics and greatly improving-Accuracy!
What free floating means is the barrel not making contact with the stock.
Also, make sure the bolt handle isn’t making contact with the stock either when it is closed. If it is, take the stock off and get a drill bit or something round and wrap a piece of sandpaper around it and carefully remove material until there is no contact. 1/16 – 1/8 inch is fine.
And last, the sighting in, it seems to me there is a couple of solutions. You can't uses the old rings because they're in the way of the bolt so you are stuck with the medium set.
you said the scope was bore sighted to gun before hand which makes me think you had it done. If so, buy your own Bore Sighter and zero the scope yourself. It's actually very easy. Either that, or do it the old fashioned way using the directions near the end of this comment
Here is an example of a couple but you can get cheaper bullet boresights
https://www.chiefsupply.com/bushnel...fzO9CoPydE1Yb8Qi3Lo6_GHDQY-xUkwRoCf-YQAvD_BwE
this next one is more expensive but it has software that comes with it.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1...ight-with-srl-100-rifle-scope-reticle-leveler
NEXT
In the days before laser bore sights, we just used some sandbags and a couple of boxes of ammo and zero'd the scopes that way. Believe me when I say you can zero your scope in perfectly doing it the old way with sandbags and a good shot, We’ve been zeroing scopes the old way a lot longer than bore sights have ever even been out!
If it was me, I'd just look down the bore and zero the scope that way
After you take out the bolt, set the rifle on sandbags and look THROUGH THE BORE at the target and adjust the scope to the target also (And/or the fixed sights)
Double or triple check it to make sure both are on target. Put the bolt back in and fire the weapon, adjusting the scope to preference.
(You can use a monocular to look through the bore, or even half a binocular)
However, if none of that works, you can copy what some of the golfers do to their clubs when they're standing near a tree after missing a shot!
That’s a number one gun pun!
Trivia question. With the barrel parallel with the ground, approx 1 meter off the ground, and when a 150 grain bullet is shot, how long will it take for the bullet to hit the ground?
9.9046568 mph
4.43 m/s or approx ¼ of a second.
Or just do this, hold a bullet size object 1 meter off the ground and drop it. That’s how long it takes for that bullet to hit the ground after it’s been shot.
Also the bolt lugs may not be making 100% contact-that one is tricky.
You can take layout fluid and a q-tip, wipe it on the bolt lugs and open and close the bolt several times, take it out and look at the wear. It should be even. However cheap, mass produced components cannot be expected to be as perfect as a custom Weatherby!
Since sharp corners hold heat and can crack, I round off the sharp corners with 400, then 600 grit wet sandpaper and polish the lugs with rouge or rubbing compound and a dremel polish wheel. So far I haven’t really reduced the amount of metal making contact, just made the action super smooth. (I also polish every sear on every gun! SMOOTH! And every automatic feed ramp-oh yes! Everywhere there are moving metal to metal parts, I polish) The next step is where I am in conflict with some guys I think messed up bad.
Lapping compound, they get fine grit and apply it to the bolt lugs and action the bolt. Here is why I disagree, that method removes material from ALL the lugs, not just the ones that need it! Get it? Why remove material from the lugs that already do not make contact?, Then even more has to be removed from the lugs that do!
And you’ll see where, because that’s what the layout fluid is for. The lugs that are making contact are the ones that are addressed, 1 thousandth, 2 thousandth’s, hopefully not 3 Thousandth’s. Personally I wouldn’t want to go more than 1-1/2 thousandth’s. You can see how the lug wears by the layout fluid, so with 600 or 800 grit you remove only in that area. If you are unsure, even 2% unsure, don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do it, you can ruin your rifle.
Take it to a gunsmith and tell him to smooth out the bolt’s action.
Last, as far as bolt lugs go, it should go without saying that before you do any of this, you need to purchase a go, no-go headspace gauge since even with a new rifle, this could be the issue. Besides, you will always be able to periodically check your headspace after that.
Since free floating barrels are the most accurate and most bolt actions are that way, you can also bed the receiver to the stock with epoxy, and install sleeves on the screws that fasten the receiver to the stock. This solidifies the two components thus reducing harmonics and greatly improving-Accuracy!
What free floating means is the barrel not making contact with the stock.
Also, make sure the bolt handle isn’t making contact with the stock either when it is closed. If it is, take the stock off and get a drill bit or something round and wrap a piece of sandpaper around it and carefully remove material until there is no contact. 1/16 – 1/8 inch is fine.
And last, the sighting in, it seems to me there is a couple of solutions. You can't uses the old rings because they're in the way of the bolt so you are stuck with the medium set.
you said the scope was bore sighted to gun before hand which makes me think you had it done. If so, buy your own Bore Sighter and zero the scope yourself. It's actually very easy. Either that, or do it the old fashioned way using the directions near the end of this comment
Here is an example of a couple but you can get cheaper bullet boresights
https://www.chiefsupply.com/bushnel...fzO9CoPydE1Yb8Qi3Lo6_GHDQY-xUkwRoCf-YQAvD_BwE
this next one is more expensive but it has software that comes with it.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1...ight-with-srl-100-rifle-scope-reticle-leveler
NEXT
In the days before laser bore sights, we just used some sandbags and a couple of boxes of ammo and zero'd the scopes that way. Believe me when I say you can zero your scope in perfectly doing it the old way with sandbags and a good shot, We’ve been zeroing scopes the old way a lot longer than bore sights have ever even been out!
If it was me, I'd just look down the bore and zero the scope that way
After you take out the bolt, set the rifle on sandbags and look THROUGH THE BORE at the target and adjust the scope to the target also (And/or the fixed sights)
Double or triple check it to make sure both are on target. Put the bolt back in and fire the weapon, adjusting the scope to preference.
(You can use a monocular to look through the bore, or even half a binocular)
However, if none of that works, you can copy what some of the golfers do to their clubs when they're standing near a tree after missing a shot!
That’s a number one gun pun!
Trivia question. With the barrel parallel with the ground, approx 1 meter off the ground, and when a 150 grain bullet is shot, how long will it take for the bullet to hit the ground?
9.9046568 mph
4.43 m/s or approx ¼ of a second.
Or just do this, hold a bullet size object 1 meter off the ground and drop it. That’s how long it takes for that bullet to hit the ground after it’s been shot.
Last edited:
Seriously?
There's some good stuff there about looking through the bore. Personally, if someone's eyes are up to the task, it still works great. With a quality scope and a thorough reading of the manual, it's then usually possible to zero any rifle with two shots.
But where did all that stuff about action honing come from? The OP didn't ask anything about that. It just appeared out of thin air. Ditto for the trivia and humor.
Note the formatting, too.
I suspect someone's bowl of copypasta got accidentally overfilled and served up.
OK, from that point of view, I must agree. "Intrigued" is definitely applicable, here.
Thank you Ben, that's the first time I've heard it mentioned that way!
