Rail and scope mount on Howa. DIY or gunsmith

[MANNY82]

Hi guys,

Recently bought a Howa .308. Picking it up today. Also bought a Warne aluminum rail, rings and a scope. Been browsing the tubes and the attachment of the rail looks easy enough. I have a torque wrench 2nm to 10nm.

Question is, since it's a rail and not a custom scope mount, do you think this is a DIY job? Not sure what can go wrong. Or should I rather have a gunsmith put everything together?

Any tips will also be valued.

Sent from my MAR-LX1A using Tapatalk

[shooty]

Is there pre drilled holes where rail goes? If yes then DIY

If not. I would rather ask gunsmith. As they will have better setup to drill in exactly the right place.
As if little out. Your scope will sit wrong and need more adjustments.

[Epsilon]

An easy diy as the holes are already drilled and tapped.

[Dunc1957]

Very easy to fit. just follow the torque specs on the rail mounting instructions. clean out the holes with some accetone and an ear bud to get rid of the machining oil. Bit of blue loctite and away you go.

[Againstthegrains]

Its good to learn how to do it yourself, so that when things go wrong in the field you can fix it yourself. Work out what tools you need (normally just an allen key or two) and carry these with you on trips incase your scope gets bumped out of alignment, works loose, or needs to be swapped out. etc.

[oafpatroll]

Very easy to fit. just follow the torque specs on the rail mounting instructions. clean out the holes with some accetone and an ear bud to get rid of the machining oil. Bit of blue loctite and away you go.

Don't skimp on the degreasing. Also suggest taking care if you don't have access to a torque driver. An Allen key wrench pushed from its end can strip those little threads if you go full kragaap.

[Ds J]

Hi Manny,

It is quite easy to do. Take it slowly and think about every step. One learns much more by DIYing it, and except for a bent scope not much can go wrong. Your torque wrench is an excellent tool to prevent damage.

Some errors I have made, or seen:

- dirt between pieces; this includes grease, oil, burrs, dust etc
- check alignment and direction of the pieces - the pieces do not always fit everywhere. I am not sure of the Howa!
- make sure to tighten the screws bit by bit, and in turn;
- check spacing between ring pieces - it can happen that one screw pulls the rings into contact with each other
- make sure that the scope is centred in itself (that the horisontal and vertical adjustments are not turned too much in one direction)
- make sure that the rings align before tightening the scope. If anything seems out of place, ask on the forum, or go to a gunsmith.


ENJOY!

[aimpoint]

I find it interesting that you guys suggest to remove any grease or oil on the screws. I was always under the impression that torque specs are given as wet specs, in other words with the screws being lubricated.

All my Spuhr mounts came with instructions not to remove any factory grease before torquing and if the screws are dry of add some grease

[Ds J]

I find it interesting that you guys suggest to remove any grease or oil on the screws. I was always under the impression that torque specs are given as wet specs, in other words with the screws being lubricated.

All my Spuhr mounts came with instructions not to remove any factory grease before torquing and if the screws are dry of add some grease

This is interesting. Does anyone know more about this?

[shooty]

This is interesting. Does anyone know more about this?

Not heard about this. As locktite then wont work at all to help it sit.

Unless those are where will need to be loosened again. And it was for the reason of getting it loose again.
In cases where I know bolts need to come loose again I add like copper slip for anti seize.