Scope bases - epoxy

[TxxAgg]

Does anyone epoxy their scope bases or one piece base/rings? I don't mean epoxy bed them...I mean permanently attach them with epoxy.

For example, have you or would you use JB Weld (along with the supplied screws) to permanently secure talley rings to a receiver?

 

[Felix40]

I bedded my rail and put red loctite on the bolts. I felt like that was as extreme as I would ever go. I can’t imagine gluing rings to a rifle would be a good idea. At some point in the life of that action you may want to change them.

 

[TxxAgg]

I bedded my rail and put red loctite on the bolts. I felt like that was as extreme as I would ever go. I can’t imagine gluing rings to a rifle would be a good idea. At some point in the life of that action you may want to change them.

Red loctite requires 500 degrees to break loose. JB Weld requires 600 degrees. Seems similar

 

[Felix40]

Red loctite requires 500 degrees to break loose. JB Weld requires 600 degrees. Seems similar

Im talking about a rail, not rings. Lots of actions with integrated rails out there. And if I want to go to a different scope diameter I can just swap rings.

 

[Anozira]

If you ever did something different like change from a 30mm to 34mm scope, it would probably require a trip to the gunsmith. What are you gaining by using epoxy?

 

[Rich M]

My dad does the rings for me. He likes it and it's one way to remember him later on when I'm cursing trying to get them off.

Use red locktite and they will never move without a heat source.

I'd be leery of the expansion and contraction of the metal if trying to just epoxy them.

 

[TxxAgg]

If you have a dedicated gun/scope combo that won't change, is there any downside?

 

[OSU Fisher]

If you have a dedicated gun/scope combo that won't change, is there any downside?

What if that scope brakes/fails?

 

[TxxAgg]

What if that scope brakes/fails?

I'd relace the scope. I'm not talking about epoxy on the scope. I'm talking about epoxy between the receiver and base

 

[sndmn11]

Yes

 

[TxxAgg]

like this:

 

[OSU Fisher]

I'd relace the scope. I'm not talking about epoxy on the scope. I'm talking about epoxy between the receiver and base

I understand that. But if you replace the scope maybe you will want a new one with different size main tube, etc. Ive also seen rings, caps crack/fail as well. I wouldn't recommend it I guess is what I'm saying. To each their own but I just wouldnt want to be that limited.

 

[TxxAgg]

I gotcha. I completely understand.

 

[realunlucky]

I guess i don't see what would accomplish that bedding and loc tite don't?

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

 

[mlgc20]

For my 300WM, I had the screws in my receiver tapped to a larger size. I then used red Loctite on those screws. That seemed pretty extreme and really secured those bases. But, I don’t think you’d really hurt anything using epoxy.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Hell no. Guys can do whatever they want but that is something I never have and never will do.

 

[KClark]

Used to be a common thing to do on Mauser actions, the contour of the base was never the same as the contour of the receiver.

 

[Dave0317]

I’ve done it on .22s. I would not do it on a centerfield rifle.
If I were to do it, it would be to attach something like a weaver rail to a cheaper rifle.

If you do some searching, you will find forum posts about Talley lightweights developing cracks. Usually due to improper torque or heavy scopes on light rifles, but still, I’d want to be able to replace it if one did crack.

 

[Shooter71]

It works fine, i do it frequently and it’s far from permanent. Put a little heat on it and everything pops loose. An iron will free a whole action on a glue-in. Someone can do the math, but whats .001” movement of one base with 4” separation at 100yds, almost 1”? Light, heavy recoiling guns with heavy scopes need all the help they can get.

 

[22lr]

I'd see it have some value on a one piece base where you were running detachable rings. I have a fear of commitment with pieces on my rifle and would never commit to a single piece ring/base setup like that though. But that’s just me.

I'm not sure it has any accuracy value that loktite won't give, but if you have a permanent setup it might be worth it from a durability/1 less moving piece perspective. For what it's worth, experiment with it before you do it on your rifle. Start with some scrap metal, epoxy it and see how easy it is to break off. But, something else to consider, how easy is it to clean up or will breaking it apart equal taking the finish off. If it was easy enough to clean without major damage than I'd say it sure can't hurt anything as long as you set it up correctly the first time.