Or we could just trust that Wanda had a good day in the factory and actually did her job calibrating our favorite brand of torque wrench. Or is it Pham, who has never seen a rifle or scope in her life? Who cares if its off by 10%, right? 10 minutes until lunch.
We've had all brands of torque wrenches schit-the-bed at work. Latest one for me was a 1/4" Snap-On. It was off by 20%.
On the other hand, I've seen several 1/2" wrenches from Harbor Freight do just fine. Good enough for casual use in the backyard garage for things like lug nuts. But its easy for us to check them periodically. I'd be more selective if I was rebuilding an engine though.
So if you're shopping for a wrench to use for scope mounting, you must be concerned with accuracy and repeatability. Especially for such dinky hardware. Too loose, and your rings/mounts may detach. Too tight, and you could crush a scope tube or affect tracking. Some say that they don't care if its accurate, just repeatable. Well, how do you know this?
I ask this because I've had several fish scales, kitchen scales, bathroom scales, etc. and they are not that accurate or repeatable. What makes someone think that a torque wrench is any different? Wanda or Pham did an uber-job that day, just for you!? And how can you make such a statement without data to back it up?
Paying more money might help ensure accuracy and repeatability.
Or just test them and see how they do. I'd rather do this.
J
