Sako Finland Torques for Vintage Sako Rings

[Texas Chinook]

You need to set your scope in the ringmount without the top ring & turn the "windage" screws in conjunction with the clamp screws until you get the scope centered on both rings so it slides back & forth without resistance & it is also fairly center with the barrel. You do this by turning both the windage screws & the clamp screws to properly align things.

Thanks and sorry for the long response time.

The rings I acquired were used and taken from a similar Sako as my Forester. I really thought I could just set them on and go. But, of course, they may not have been installed properly by the previous owner.

I've now discovered that the rings are very close to being aligned but not quite along my barrel's axis. I say "very close" because when I clamped the rings firmly in their approximate positions and lay the scope in the bottom halves, the scope could rotate with no detectable binding. But... when the top ring halves were loosely tightened, the scope would no longer rotate. When I loosened one of the clamp screws (freeing side-to-side movement between the two rings), scope rotation became easier. So close but not perfect.

I found the small shift in scope rings and barrel axis using a SiteLite laser. I first centered the vertical reticle in the scope using the scope's adjustments and then measured the scope offset with the SiteLite. It's probably close enough to sight in with the scope's adjustment screws but since the Sako rings allow for base windage adjustment, I may as well use them.

Question: If I loosen both clamp screws and then tighten the ring screws (allowing the rings to be seated in perfect alignment) and then tighten the clamp screws, will the risks to the scope be mitigated?

 

[kevinlg]

I usually use a 1" slave steel bar, instead of the scope, for initial rings mounting.

Clamp rings to bar first.

Hope this helps.

 

[paulsonconstruction]

What kevinig said!! I use a 1" diameter aluminum pipe. It's not necessary to "perfectly" center the scope for windage using the ringmounts. That's what the turrets are for. Eliminating any binding or bending of the scope tube once the scope is "fairly" centered is my goal when mounting a scope. The binding when you start to tighten the top ring could be an indication that you need to lap the rings or that you need to reverse the top ring. Some of my older Sako ringmounts have index marks on the side of the ring between the screws that show you when they are joined together properly. If you have the index marks on opposite sides, it can cause the binding you mention.

 

[icebear]

Some of my older Sako ringmounts have index marks on the side of the ring between the screws that show you when they are joined together properly.

This is important! The old horizontally split rings must be assembled with the index marks together. I have bought a number of Sako rifles that some previous owner had put the rings together wrong. Here's a picture - the mark is a single line in the center of the right side (large knob).