Is Mounting a Scope Hard?

When having trouble choosing between a scope and binoculars, shooters generally recommend going with scopes. Whether you’re hunting or target shooting, they’ll make your shooting experience more convenient and safe.

They’re part of essential shooting equipment with a primary function to aid in aligning a firearm’s barrel with a target. Designed similarly to telescopes, they include an objective lens to allow adequate lighting and an ocular lens to make the aim visible to any shooter.

Since various shooting scopes are available, it is best to look into top models before deciding on which one to get. Aside from determining the type of scope, another primary concern is how hard they are to mount.

Mounting Shooting Scopes: Is It Hard?

Mounting a scope comes with challenges, but don’t worry; you’ll be pleased to learn that the challenges of mounting a scope decrease with constant, deliberate practice. Simply put, it is not hard to mount a rifle scope once you learn how to do it properly. It is also important to realize that it is better to learn how to mount it on your own.

Also, don’t get intimidated by others who have learned how to do it ahead of you. You also run the risk of having improper mounting if you ask somebody else to do it.

Mounting Shooting Scopes: Common Mistakes

To help you learn how to mount your scope correctly and do it well over time, below are the most common mistakes you can avoid.

1. Not Getting the Right Tools and Having Overtightened Screws

The first thing you need to do before you start mounting is to ensure that you have all the tools and materials you need to do so.

The essential tools for mounting scopes are gun stabilizers, leveling kits, and torque wrenches. On top of that, you should always check how you fit your screws. If they are too tight, you might send your bullet to an unintended location by accident.

Also, note that over-tightening will likely just damage your entire scope and mounting system. You can avoid this by using the correct torque wrench and thread-locking compound.

2. Not Picking the Right Type of Mount

With the different types of mounts, it might be challenging to pick which one works best for you. There are two major types: a setup that uses a rail and a scope ring and another with a base and a scope ring.

The most basic and standard setup is the scope ring and base setup. We especially recommend this for beginners.

On the other hand, experienced long-range shooters may benefit from having the rail and scope ring setup. It will involve the use of a single rail, usually Picatinny, in mounting the scope to your rifle barrel that then serves as your base. It also works great for tactical shooters.

3. Not Executing Proper Lapping

Finally, a common mounting problem is incorrectly lapped rings in the scope. Fortunately, it’s very easy to address. You simply need to ensure the proper contact between the scope’s body and the ring. Some have out-of-whack rings to the point that they already dig deep into the scope’s body.

Having a lapping compound inside of rings can help so that the scope can slide easily between loose rings.

Mounting Shooting Scopes: Additional Tips

Now that you know a few mistakes to avoid, below are further tips to consider, especially when learning how to mount a scope properly.

1. Learn Proper Leveling

Leveling can be confusing at first because there are several ways by which you can do this. However, the important thing to consider when mounting is ensuring that the riflescope is on the same (horizontal) plane as the gun’s action.

This is crucial because your gun barrel would be canted left or right if your scope is leveled incorrectly. In some cases, leveling kits would help ensure that your reference level is always perpendicular to your barrel.

Placing the smaller reference level on your base mounts the bottom half of scope rings also works. Also, screws should be a bit loose so that the scope can be moved and rotated with a bit of resistance.

2. Learn How to Adjust Reticle Focus Properly

Should your scope happen to have one, adjusting the reticle focus helps. A reticle focus influences how crisp the appearance of the reticle image is when looking through the scope.

Mount your gun with this as if you were shooting while pointing your viewfinder at a light-colored wall. Don’t rush. Taking your time to make these adjustments will help secure your mount and make your scope appear crystal clear.

The Challenge of Mounting a Scope

Don’t let mounting your scope intimidate you. By keeping the most common mistakes in mind and the additional tips we shared with you, we are confident that you’ll be able to master the techniques required in no time.