If lapping and RingTrue™ Tape are used, we see no need to spend $150 or more for a pair of rings. Most rings that cost less than $75/pair are machined from extruded aluminum stock. These rings require lapping to remove the extrusion grooves and maximize contact area. For conventional rings, we’ve found that Burris and Weaver 4-Hole Skeletonized rings are reliable and affordable. For tactical rings, we recommend Burris Tactical, Weaver 6-Hole Tactical and Warne Maxima Horizontal rings. After lapping, any of these rings will provide near-perfect alignment and work very well with RingTrue™ Tape. For affordable, fully machined rings, we recommend PRI Tactical, TPS HRT, Warne Mountain Techand Seekins Precision. For more information, see our rings selection guide.
Most rings costing less than $25/pair have one or more fatal flaws: 1. Cheap screws that break when being torqued. 2. Variation in counterbore depth that can allow the cap screw to punch through the cap when being torqued. 3. Oversize ring diameter. These rings are often supplied with a thick fabric tape that does not cover the entire ring surface. These tapes compress over time, causing the ring to loosen, and they can leave a dent the scope tube.
They have the same basic design, function and manufacturing tolerances. The Alignment Tool II includes an elastic shock cord with a cord lock, and has two slots cut into the substrate that hold the shock cord. They allow the tool to be temporarily secured to the scope turret so that it doesn’t fall off during the alignment process. The original Alignment Tool must be held in place on the turret with fingers when the rifle is being manipulated.
No. If it is used a lot, it will eventually get dropped. We simply sand off the damaged corner at 45 degrees to remove the dent. After doing this to one corner, we then repeat for all corners to make the tool look symmetrical. Removing the corners does not alter the function of the tool.
First, perfectly machined rings cannot correct for a bent or twisted rail, which can happen if the rail was improperly installed on the receiver. Second, on high recoil rifles, the scope can slip in fully machined rings because the surface contact area is low (due to the matte anodized surface of the scope tube). That is why some folks use three or four rings instead of just two. Using RingTrue™ Tape, only two rings are needed to keep a scope from slipping, even on high recoil magnum and 50BMG rifles.
This sometimes happens with fully machined rings. We usually insert the cap screws into the saddle and pull the saddle apart a bit with fingers by pulling on the screw heads. If the rings are too stiff for this process, you may not be able to use RingTrue™ Tape without lapping the rings. This is one reason we favor lapping rings before applying RingTrue™ Tape – the lapping process slightly increases the ring diameter.
This sometimes happens. The residue is easily removed by wiping with acetone or lacquer thinner on a rag or paper towel. Do not get acetone on any other part of the scope or rifle.
Yes. Please email us a photo of the damaged tool and we will send you a replacement. This happened a few times for Alignment Tools that were manufactured during the first year. We subsequently altered the bonding process for the spirit level and it hasn’t happened again in several years.
Peel off the tape and remove the residue adhesive from the substrate using isopropyl alcohol (91% or higher) on a clean rag. Then apply a ½” x 2.5” strip of Scotch™ brand double-sided tape to the substrate.
The overall return rate is less than 1%, including both warrantee returns and “buyer’s remorse”.
A 3/8″ nylon washer and an M4 screw can be used instead of the keyring tool.
Yes, they are resistant to water, temperature changes and ultraviolet light, and will not peel off during normal use. We still use turrets that had labels applied six years ago.
We provide extra labels to enable folks to use the same turret blank with a different label, and then switch back. For example, customers sometimes switch from the original IPHY or mil label to a custom ballistic label, and then want to go back to the IPHY/mil label to develop a drop table for a new load.
If the product says ‘Made in the USA’, then it is designed, fabricated and assembled in the USA. We do not always know the country of origin for some of the minor parts that we use, like shock cord or cord locks. Some of our products may be mostly made of parts sourced in Asia or Europe. If so, then we say that on the product page.
Our first product releases only had warranty returns when the product was damaged after the customer dropped it on the floor. We accept that people will occasionally drop things. We design our products to survive 10 random drops from a 3 ft height onto a hardwood floor. The product must not crack, break or exhibit any bondline delamination. We invest substantial product engineering and process development effort into meeting this requirement.
We frequently review our packaging and shipping methods, and update them to reduce the overall shipping cost. We find that USPS offers convenience and affordable shipping rates. USPS is also very reliable for the classes of shipping that we use. Our shipping costs include the total labor cost for fulfillment of the order, but do not include any profit.
No. Export/import laws are complex, with excessive paperwork and duties/fees that are difficult to accurately predict.
No. The eBay marketplace benefits customers because eBay’s policies provide a higher level of buyer protection. For their service, eBay charges us 10% on each sale. We split that extra cost with the buyer and charge an extra 5% for products listed on eBay. Also, the cost of shipping ($5) is added to the sales price on eBay, whereas the shipping cost is added to our website sales at checkout.