Couldn’t sleep last night thinking about how to lap rings and here comes Desert Dog and explains it perfectly!

I only recently discovered this channel and I'm very glad I did. I was vaguely aware of ring lapping, but clearly haven't given it enough thought.

Excellent video. No other gun channel on youtube that I'm aware of supplies this quality of information AND with demonstrations of the points being made. The channel is a great resource. Much appreciated!

Dog of the Desert: Once again you have produced an interesting and informative video. Thank you for sharing your your experience.

I am a long time client of Charley Robertson / Score High Gunsmithing. I have purchased and installed many of his micro adjust pillars and his bedding compound. He taught me the importance of ZERO stress on ALL components! This of course includes the scope so of course scope rings. I also just discovered your channel. This was an excellent explanation of lapping and I just ordered the less expensive alignment tool but will upgrade when I have a bit more extra $ . Big Thank you sir !

Gosh Darnitt, I have to check all my rifles now, thanks a lot DD, better get busy

Great info and a real eye opener. Thanks.

Great video! Clear & Concise

Lapping almost takes out all of the scope “bite”, so if you have to remount that scope on a different rifle, it doesn’t have the scratch rings on it.

Great info. I'm glad I get your notifications

This video shocked me. Outstanding high value content. Thank you!!!

Great video. Thank you for sharing. I have learned a lot from your videos.

WOW DD!! There's so many accuracy killers out there! Thanks for the great video

DD, you’ve opened up another door that I’ll need to explore. Over the past few years, I’ve seen more things on your channel that I’ve later bought and learned how to use… Looks like lapping tools will be on my list after the holidays, lol! Take care and be well. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

👍 very helpful! Thanks for sharing!

Always making great content. I still haven’t figured out how you don’t have more followers

Thanks for the video. I did not know of the newer non pointy alignment tool.

Desert Dog, thank you again for this scope series. I’ve never lapped rings but will now look into it. I also went from not considering anything other than Leupold to now seriously looking into Trijicon. Once you look into all of their lines of scopes including Accupoint, Huron, Credo and Credo HX they have a lot to offer hunters. I actually called them and asked about the difference in the Credo and Credo HX. They said that all of those scope lines are built with the same housings and same glass, go through the same testing. The weights of the scopes and price differences just reflect different features like reticles, parallax adjustment capabilities, illumination or lack there of, etc etc. None of them are really “budget” scopes. The Huron has some excellent options if someone doesn’t care to have illumination. I’m going to try one of their scopes but don’t know how I’m ever going to decide which one.

If you wanted to hit the lapping trifecta I would suggest Leapers UTG rings holding a Burris Fullfield atop a PSA AR..You would probably hit a million views with the results..

Great video!

Had no idea this was something that could be required when mounting a scope. Will get one of these tools and check mine.

Incredible video

Thanks for the helpful video. I was interested in that slider style alignment tool and discovered something else Armament By Design makes: a scope ring alignment bar for installing rings on a rail or dovetail bases. That might tell you when your rail or scope bases are off.

i see new video from desert dog , i click like

One more thing to keep me up at night 😂 thanks

Just ordered the alignment tool. It would be great if they had the ability to put a bore sight laser in the tube so we could check windage alignment of rings too (paired with bore sight laser in chamber).

amazing explanation, thank you so much

Great Video! I think I'll buy a lapping tool!

The gun builder I've used the most always laps the bottom portion of the rings but not the top rings. When I contacted Talley, the man there stated to me he never laps his rings because they are precision cut and to a tight tolerance that if you lap them, you're opening up the ring inner diameter and you may get scope jump during recoil. Lapping also potentially changes ring torque recommendations. I bought the Wheeler ring lap kit and sure enough noticed uneven wear while in the process of lapping some rings so that told me it's necessary. However, with my most recent builds and using Nightforce ultralite rings, I didn't lap, just lazy. But I haven't noticed any adverse issue. Over the years when I've talked to a few ring manufacturers, none recommended lapping. When I spoke to some reps at Zeiss, Swarovski, Leupold, Leica, and NF, none told me that lapping was necessary if using quality rings. Another issue, like you mentioned, is changing pic rails and or actions. In recent years, I've decided to use pic rails on all my rifles and buy fewer scopes. So, I use the NF ultralite rings and just switch the scope out on rifles. So, even if the rings are lapped but there's a flaw in a different action or its pic rail, I'm still running into an issue. 'Ultimately, I think it's a good idea to lap

Thumbs up on the false positive comment with the coned alignment tool. I never understood why they were so popular. Also, need to lap is not a function of the price of the rings. The rings could be perfect, but the bases, mount, hole locations, pins… could be off. Your test rig demonstrates that well. Big fan of Burris Signature Rings with the knuckle style plastic inserts that can make up for some misalignment.

Great Video! There must be a couple thousand videos on mounting and leveling scopes, but very little is said about lapping the rings. Good work!

I looked into lapping years ago....it seemed a bit of effort and expense...I seem to recall "proper" scope alignment as a main issue. Nowadays..I've moved to one piece picatinny rails and one piece (QD). Spuhr...so...I guess I've dodged the lapping issue....assuming my Spuhr is as aligned as it is expense. I liked the look of your alignment checking tool...makes sense.. Recently I was forced to bed an EGW picatinny rail onto a Rem 700 B Series. I ran out of adjustment (200yard zero) for my Pulsar Scope. This hadn't happened before on several rifles. The front of the rail was sitting up in the air (say 1 mm?) when the rear was snugged up. I bedded using JB weld..not tightening the front of rail down... elevation issue perfectly resolved.. I then bedded the rear under snug tension to improve and uniform contact area. Thanks for a well informed and balanced video again. 👍👍👍👍👍

I thought i knew more about things than i really do.

What do you think of the Optilock system, with the plastic inserts? Sako claims, those rings do not need to be lapped because of those sleeves. Thanks, great video as always!

Good one.

I’ve always used Seekins or Talley rings and I’ve lapped them all. Watching this video I’m thinking that buying mid priced rings or budget rings is smarter than buying high dollar rings that you have to lap anyway. If you have to lap an 80$ set of rings why spend 200$ on a set that you also have to lap? At the end of the day you’re getting the same result.

Good job 👍

Rings should always be lapped, it is quick and easy and no reason not to do it.

Oralie, good video

Great video. You proved it.

Spot on

The only rings I’ve found that don’t need lapping, in my experience, are the S&K Cone-Trol rings and similar type rings. I’ve found very few rings that don’t need a least some lapping.

Well…that convinces me!

If you torque your scope rings to 135 ft/lb then the scope will fill the voids in any imperfections or misalignments in the rings, but accuracy may suffer

yes lap the rings

_THANK YOU for an excellent video ❗❗❗🙏😔🙏_ Me, lap on every installation, period. I have a question, what is the best means of installing a scope that will "isolate" it, from, the imperfections of the mounting system and the imperfections of the rifle and possible "movements" due to temperature variations and vibrations at/due to firing? Is it advisable to "bed" everything? I trust my questions are clear. I have read all of the comments and replys so far and have some ideas, but I dare pose these questions. 🌲🙏🖖🙏😔🙏🌲

I’d like to see a video from you on your thoughts on barrel lengths for 30-06 and 300 win mag

Thanks for the great content, super informative and helpful! Any recommendations on lapping compound? I've heard Aluminum Oxide is the way to go, but having serious trouble finding any. Would love to hear your opinion on best types/brands of lapping compound. Thanks again, and cheers!

👍👍👍

Who makes the stock that the custom FN mauser action is sitting in? I like that it seems to have a texture to it.

I have always lapped my rings - never had any ring marks on the scopes when I removed them

Hi DD, What does one do with vertically split rings in terms of lapping ?

Iron sights it is...

In my experience having to lap rings is a way to make up for poor scope mounting procedures. Over or under torqued bases, rings or rails are most of the problem. If the problem is anything other it can usually be corrected by properly tightening the screws before having to lap the rings.

Hey DD, what are your thoughts on Trijicon‘s Accupoint scopes? Are they worth it in their price range?

I shoot long distance with 338 Lapua, but I just don't want to deal with this for some reason. Seems annoying. I just put all my effort into reloading excellent ammo and buying quality components for the rifle.

The rifle, the impulse by Savage, I’m using for my elk hunt has the pic rail and the receiver as on unit. Would this help eliminate the alignment issues? I’m still going to use the tool to check the rings. Bedding a scope is defiantly something I can’t trust with doing properly.😂

I hate that Burris sold out and went to China they made damn good scopes and had good glass for the price.

Doesn't the torque screwdriver compensate for any uneven pressure on the scope tube caused by misalingment?

I’d be Curious about one piece mounts like the dnz. Lapping seems necessary.because of the variables.

Do one piece mounts make up for higher tolerances in the action and picatiny base? Do they need laping as often as two separate rings?

Why do a lot of high quality rings say not to lap then? Like Nightforce rings for example. Also what if you run one scope on several rifles?

4 points . Lv this videos & last one. Heard what you said of two piece mounts. And i dont use pics. Request more info on two piece mounts and two on a one piece 3 screw classic set up. Sometimes use DD like them lots . Your take ?

I've had awsome luck with one piece Talley rings.

Do I still need to polish the scope rings after internal cylindrical grinding?

I’ve been using unlapped rings for years, is it too late to take the scope out and lap the rings after all these years?

Are those kokopelli alignment bars?

Do I need to lap my Scope Rings? Leveling the scope to the action is more important to prevent reticle cant and loss of accuracy as distance increases. But rings should be aligned "if they need it" although not as critical as leveling.

Doesn't make sense? Rifles with scopes have always been more than accurate and most scopes are adjusted at .25" per click at 100 yards, I know competition winners that have never even heard of ring lapping

Ok, so I have been an avid hunter for years. I have never lapped scope rings. I don’t think any of the animals I have taken have ever noticed. Can you point me in the direction of any good videos that demonstrate improved accuracy before and after scope ring lapping? I need some convincing.

Variables, variables, variables. 😅

Well you just blew about 90% of your viewers out of the water in the last minute of the video: "Once you lap a set of rings, they're only good for that one rifle." Ouch. Makes perfect sense of course, but ouch. I see a lot of one-piece mounts in a lot of hunters futures.

Keep in mind that lapping rings will void the warranty with some manufacturers.

Anyone who laps Nightforce rings is a complete fool.