Scope power adjuster stuck? Help

[Sako7STW]

I put a Leupold VX-1 on my sons gun (yes I know it is a *** scope) as it was one we had available. Well I did my best to make sure the rings were lined up and everything. I slid the scope in the rings and twisted and looked for light before tightening them, ect. well after I tightened it down, now the power adjuster wont turn. well it will but it is extremely hard to turn and wont go past 5 (3x9). Could it be too tight or are the rings not right? Please help!

 

[Broz]

It would help to know what rings you are using. But it sounds like there is pressure on the main tube of the scope and it may be forcing the tube out of round. Also if you are using a front ring with a dovetail twist in system it could be not lined up correctly. Here is what I would do. Loosen the back ring a little at a time and see if the problem goes away. If it does, remove the top of both rings and the scope and check for proper alignment of the two rings. If you dont have an alignment tool a 1" dowl will work. Also look for a problem in height from front ring to back. It could be that the rings / mounts are not correct for the rifle. Never use the scope to turn in the front ring of a dovetail mount. Aluminum tubes are soft and distort easily. The 1" dowel will do this with ease and wil not scratch the rings.

So bottom line it sonds like a misalignment issue and the rings may need lappped. But I have never seen rings that badly out of round. See if you can find the alignment issue and then report back.

Jeff

 

[Gunpoor]

Ditto what Broz said. And BTW, the Leupold VX I is not a *** scope. My son put a VX-I on a rifle of his and they are quite pleasant to look through, especially for the money.

 

[Hired Gun]

There is nothing wrong with the VX-I. I would much rather have that than a Simmons, Tasco, Bushnell Banner etc. Your purchase also helps keep our country strong by supporting the 600+ manufacturing employees at the Beaverton Oregon Leupold factory plus it's a pretty good scope for the money. The power ring will not turn for the reasons listed above. Your rings are either pinched in from overtightening or out of line. You did use a inch pound torque wrench and not exceed 15 inch pounds didn't you? Otherwise no tighter than you can get with your fingers holding the SHORT end of the allen/torx wrench.

 

[Sako7STW]

The rings are the Talley lightweight 1 piece bottoms, 4 screws per ring. I am betting they are too tight. No I did not use a torque wrench as I dont have one. I sometimes dont know my own strength and i was nervous the rings would come loose as it is on a Savage Weather Warrior in 7WSM, pretty light gun!

I am going to try loosening them a tad at a time as mentioned and see if it loosens up the adjuster. Hope I didn't break it!

BTW, I do think the VX-1 is a ***. Sorry it is my opinion. I am not saying Leupold is a bad company or that I dont support them. I just dont believe in cheap, sub-par optics and this scope was given to him by his bio-dad so he wants to use it. Thats the only reason why it is on this gun.

 

[Magnumdude]

From your description, you tightened the ring screws what John Barsness calls, "Farmer tight." That is indeed too tight, and could even crush your scope tube in severe cases. Using an allen wrench, insert the long end into the screw, and using your thumb and index finger only, grip the small end of the wrench and tighten the ring screw. That will result in approximately 15 to 20 inch/pounds of torque. That's a safe torque. Another issue could be the rear ring is mounted too close to the power adjustment ring. In some cases I've seen this cause the power ring to bind. I'm not sure what you could do about that.

 

[Sako7STW]

Well that did fix it. luckily no damage done. It was extremely over tightened from what I can tell. Doing the finger and thumb thing, I was probably a good full turn tighter than that previously.

Looks like I need a good gun tool kit. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Magnumdude]

Check one of the below two on-line stores and do a search for "torque". You'll get a lot of hits. I don't know of any gun kits other than cleaning kits, which in my estimation, leave a lot to be desired. You'll have to piece together your kit, and a Torque screwdriver, or Seekonk wrenches are good places to start. After that, get a lapping kit. You can lap your rings so that you have a stress-free mount.


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