Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Talley disappointment

Got a Tikka left hand .260.Decided to go with Talley LW to mount a Sightron 3.5-10 Big Sky.Checked the alignment with bars it was fine. Put the scope in the bottom halfs fit fine put the tops on fit fine.Alighned the crosshairs and set the eye relief.Tightened the screws to 18 in/lbs.Checked the eye relief wasn't exactly right.Loosened screws thats when I saw the scope was scatched up and had a dimple pushed up where the rings go together.What did I do wrong?Anyone have this with Talleys I didn't lap because everything lined up I did a search on here before I mounted all posts said no need to lap Talleys.Not happy now I have a screwed up scope

How did the eye relief change? That may give some clue as to what you did wrong.

Hard to say.

How did you tighten the ring screws?

The eye relief didn't change just wasn't exactly where wanted it.Turned screws till snug even gap between ring halfs then tightened in x pattern 24 in/lb bases 18 in/lbs rings Wiha driver

With the tops of the rings off and placing the scope in the bottom half is there a substantial gap between the bottom of the rings and your tube. There is no need to lap talley lightweights normally but there have been times where there was a big gap there, lightly lapping them seemed to fix it .

TLWs are notorious for this. I lap every set.

There was no big gap top or bottom.Reloader7RM when I did my search wish that would have come up I would have lapped them.As long as I leave then on this gun where they are you can't see it.But it still pisses me off.I really don't think I did anything wrong.The scope came off another gun mounted with Leupold Rifleman rings no marks none.I wanted to put a little nicer mounts on this gun.

Just something I learned the hard way and got schooled up here on the 'Fire on - if you are using bars with pointed tips and checked alignment tip-to-tip and it looks okay, it may still be out of alignment. Flatend-to-flatend is the way to check.

I absolutely would not use Talleys without lapping.

And I have mounted dozens of scopes in unlapped Talleys without marking a single scope.

Guess the world is just a puzzler....

Flat end bars.Everything seemed fine wouldn't have seen it if I didn't want to move the scope

I never lap Talleys.

Dats why we call him Wrongman.....

Just a question, not being argumentative by any means.........When I bought a 7RM from Hill Country Rifles a couple/three years ago, they bedded Talley LW's as well, and lapped them. When I asked why they lapped those rings, they said "we lap every set of TLW's" we install. They love TLW's, but not so much the machinist's who make the actions and bore the screw/mounting holes.

What's up with that?

I'm working with an early Monday morning or late Friday afternoon MkV right now. As close as I can measure there's about a 30 moa difference between where a carefully centered and mounted scope looks and where the bore looks.

JG,

The smith lapped the TLWs on the last build I did with a Borden action as well. If he wouldn't have, I would've prior to mounting the Swaro. After my first encounters w/ TLWs putting the mentioned pinch marks on two scopes, I've lapped every set. Not to mention how out of line many have been. And then you mention HCR bedding them as well. I haven't bedded any yet, but I have seen gaps under some sets. I didn't bed as they seemed to have enough bearing surface and held fine.

I really don't like them on Tikkas since it's a flat on flat approach. If you barely snug them, they have a lot of side to side play for terrible alignment, so it's key to align them properly prior to torqing.

You wouldn't think 17inlbs would pinch the tube, but the lever effect is pressing the pivot in. Lapping seems to negate that effect.

I don't doubt folks get by without issues(IE JB's comment), but it's silly to think it doesn't happen.

Have a good one,

loder

Interesting Reloader. I've been going to Leupy dual dovetails w/Burris Signature rings lately, and will do so again to top off the McWhorter when it gets back here.

The DD/Sig combo is nice. I put that combo on my 6.5-06 APS built and don't regret the decision.

Yet another Campfire mystery.




Travis

+ on lapping TLW.I had them on a Tikka and they scratched every scope I tried.I call them Tally bites.Most rings are capable of doing this but they seemed the worst to me.I now use Signature rings or Optilocks.

I have no idea how many Talley LWs I have. more than 20 sets anyway.

I lapped one set years ago, and I won't do it again.

haven't boogered any scope tubes either.

I mount scopes at work and also as a side business. With every ring make I occasionally encounter a set that is slightly off in some form or fashion.

The one brand of rings I've not encountered this with is Talley. The reason is that I've only mounted a couple of scopes using Talley's. Probably 95% of the scopes I mount have Warne, Leupold, Burris or Weaver rings.

I've never ever encountered that problem with Talley rings, then again I don't use Talley rings.

It sure is.... Even more so for some though...

It was a Remington... Pretty easy to answer, you got another head scratcher??

not really surprised you missed the "every set of TLWs", but you seem to miss a lot.

at least you have Savage_99 in your corner.

+1

You miss this part?

I bought a used set of tallies here on the fire.They had been lapped and did mar my scope.I have never lapped them my self with no problems.I actually prefer Burris Signatures in a dual dove tail mount.

I have mounted dozens of TLW rings without lapping and without issue.

I have seen several issues with them caused by lapping.

If you had a Bushnell scope on there he would have said the Talley's needed to be lapped due to the scope.

TLW work great for me. No lapping here.

I must be lucky.

I feel that if rings need to be lapped, they are defective.

Lucky here too, i guess. I have about 10 or so sets, nary a problem.

The stupid flows freely.

It's not too hard to visualize how crooked holes could cause perfectly machined rings to dig into a scope tube. That situation calls for rings with inserts like Burris makes.

Experience also indicates that some people can futz up almost anything.

It's no secret that the receivers and mounting holes are often off on factory rifles. Even the best machined rings don't do any good if the receiver/mount holes are crooked. I have one rifle built on a Borden Alpine action and I mounted Talley lightweights without lapping them because I trusted the action & holes to be straight. On any factory action they get lapped. As soon as you put the lapping bar to them you'll see how far they're off, it's usually a pretty good bit. It's not Talley's fault the factories turn out crooked rifles.

You forgot to lap them.

I don't see why people like the Talley's on here. They are some of my least favorite rings. I bought several sets after reading how great they were on here. After opening the first set, I quickly sold them all off. They were very poorly made imo. I'd rather have an extra ounce and a set of quality rings like the Burris Signature Zee's or even Leupold Dual Dovetails.

So you've never used them, but they don't work.

No, I used the first set. They were very poorly machined. That's why I sold the rest. They certainly do work if you don't mind having a scope with marks all over it, a ring that's pinching the scope, etc. If these were the only rings made, I'd make them work, but why use these pieces of junk when there are so many better quality rings out there?

Are those the ones with the polymer inserts?

That's bullsh^^, plain and simple. I have probably a dozen, and no marked up scopes or anything else that's problematic. So do a lot of others who've commented.

You have zero, but you looked at a set once and feel you're qualified to comment. You're not.

Melvin Forbes uses them. Why don't you call him up and tell him he knows nothing about guns.

If you lap aluminum rings, you're more likely to mark up a scope IME.

Yes they are. They are excellent IMO.

smokepole,

He said he used them.

How many of the scopes you mounted with Talleys, that have not been lapped, have you pulled and found no marks? No cheating, now. Some you actually pulled and inspected.

None. How about yourself.

Amen!

That's the exact reason I don't even take my guns out of the safe, much less into the 'woods'. Why some are happy with a scratch on anything is beyond me.

Ringman, PS: if you read his first post he said he sold them "after opening the first set." That means without actually using them. I believe that version.

Who would buy multiple sets of scope rings, sell them all after opening the first set because they were so messed up, and then go ahead and install/use a set?

I have used multiple sets (haven't kept count) of both the matte blue and silver Talley lightweights, and still have them on three of my center-fire rifles. I have not seen any marking or deformation on any of the scopes. In fact, the only rings that I have seen leave marks have been the Ruger factory rings and the occasional set of Leupolds.

I confess that I am pretty much an inveterate scope swapper. If there were commonly problems with Talley lightweights, I should have run into at least one bad set. So far, it hasn't happened.

In my limited experience compared to others.
Only sets (couple) that marked the scope were sets that the bottom half were like pinched together and the scope had to be pushed into the ring. That hasn't happened in several years so I figured it was a early production issue. I have used probably 20 sets in the last ten years.

DNZ although not very attractive are also very functional and what I prefer on the T3.

smokepole,

Ringman asked,


smokepole answered,


You mean you never took some apart or you never found marks after taking them apart?

As far as whether I did or didn't is not part of this thread. You didn't accept the OP word that he installed a set. YOu brought up how many you have used. If it weren't for Talley's light weight, I would stick with Burris Signatures.

I've used the Z rings with inserts.I think they were Z rings. They have the Weaver bases. I haven't used the dual dovetail rings. May have to give them a try. I love rings with polymer inserts. I have Sako rings with them too.

SIGNATURE ZEE rings are the ones with the Inserts that go on the weaver style bases.

+ 1

Ringman, do you often refer to yourself in the third person? Would you prefer that I follow suit?

You asked me "how many," and I gave a very direct one-word answer. Interpret it in whatever way Ringman desires.

And you're correct, I didn't accept what the guy (not the OP) said the second time, because it conflicted with what he said the first time.

But how about my unanswered question--who would buy a few sets of rings, open the first set and get rid of the others because the first set was all messed up, yet still install and use the first set? Would you?

smokepole



I never do.



There's no suit to follow since I don't. If you want to please do.



So, in other words you have NOT taken any apart so you don't know if the scopes are dinged or not.



It's not called "conflicted". It's called elaboration when more information is needed.



You choose to be foolish at times. This is one of them.

So you don't understand what referring to yourself in the third person means?

Wrong, Ringy. Just in the past two months I took apart three sets of Talleys, no scope marks. One was a scope I drug all over the mountains in Alaska and beat the crap out of, wore the paint off the side of one of the rings.

I have marked up scopes in the past, but it's been long enough that I couldn't tell you which rings I used. I can tell you it was before I knew how to mount a scope correctly. Those, I don't blame on the rings.



Ringman, there's only one fool here and it's not me. What the guy said is ridiculous, and can be dismissed out of hand.

No one who's knowledgeable and experienced with scope rings would look at a set, pronounce it too messed up to use, and then go ahead and use it.

Then again, maybe he did. In which case, he just demonstrated that he doesn't know what he's doing when it comes to mounting scopes. Good thing you're convinced he's worth listening to.

Ironbender, thanks for explaining what "third person" means so I didn't have to.

smokepole,



You could have stated that the first time instead of this verbal running around the bush.



Then why did you respond?



His communicating skills are no better than mine. I didn't catch where he explained to me where I referred to myself in the third person.

ironbender,



I understand the third person. I don't refer to myself in the third person.

What does this have to do with Talley rings?

Pinching problem solved



Sold my 257wby to pullit and there were no marks on the tube when I pulled the scope out of these.

pinching 'problem'?

Have mounted over 20 rifles with Talley LW's without lapping or any scratches on the scope tube. Best application for the Kimber Montana! Life contains many mysteries.

Yes, I am wondering about that too.

On my 5th or 6th set of Talleys. No alignment or pinching/marking problems experienced and not expecting any.

I have sold numerous Leupold scopes on the 'fire after mounting them in Talley rings and none of them had ring marks. I must be one lucky SOB since I never lapped any of them. How much does the outside diameter of scope tubes vary from manufacturer to manufacturer?

You would be surprised (or maybe not), even in some pretty expensive scopes.

As I wrote in my latest optics book, scope mount manufacturers often get blamed for the cumulative dimensional errors of other stuff, plus errors in mounting.