LET THE DEBATE BEGIN! To lap or not to lap?

That NightForce NX8 is Fire!

The wheeler scope mounting kit Erik is showcasing here is excellent! Caution: there are heaps of terrible scope mounting products on the market with levels that are not even close to accurate. If you want to mount your own scopes seriously consider investing in the wheeler kit… you will not regret it and it will last your lifetime… excellent product. Cheers!

Regarding the lapping debate: My advice is to check out Desert Dog Outdoors and his video titled “Do I need to lap my scope rings?” … Then decide for yourself. My opinion is that lapping is required if there is misalignment, and lapping is not required if there is no misalignment. Not controlling for this can cause problems that are avoidable.

One thing I do is also level the reticle to a plumb Bob/string also.

Keeping it simple!

With all due respect sir, your comments on lapping are misleading. Most factory rifles and budget priced components on the market are not fabricated to the tight tolerances of the custom actions and higher end parts that you work with. The only rational way to determine if you need to lap is to check your alignment with a good set of alignment bars. This is particularly important with older factory rifles and with dual mounts. There is tolerance in the tap holes in the receiver, there is tolerance in the mounts and rails, and there is tolerance in the rings… and these tolerances stack up to commonly create a net misalignment in the rings regardless of how expensive the rings are. With a good set of alignment bars you can verify alignment and decide whether or not to lap based on your actual conditions. Also, NF optics have heavy wall tubes that are very strong and durable that can likely tolerate misalignment stresses way more than a thin walled light weight hunting optic like the Leupolds for example. I don’t doubt that the components that you are working with align well. Of all the scopes I have mounted, 2 of them did not require lapping as verified by checking alignment… so for sure sometimes it is not necessary. But to say you do not need to lap because of $150-$300 rings (paraphrasing) makes it sound like you are in a bubble filled only with lone peak arms actions, expensive rings and nightforce optics. The rest of the shooting community is using every available product on the market including old stuff, cheap stuff, high end stuff, and everything in between. The blanket statement that you don’t need to lap is flat out wrong. To the viewers I recommend checking out Desert Dog Outdoors videos on scope mounting and lapping and checking for alignment… if you mount a lightweight thin walled scope on misaligned rings it can cause you all sorts of trouble that you do not need and is entirely avoidable with proper installation techniques. I would take Erik’s advice about lapping here as being strictly relevant only to the specific components he is using. Cheers!

What height rings did you use?

Do you use any loctite?

whats that gun

use wedge tool , no laping needed

Hoping your rings are aligned..... Check it and be 100% sure