Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Leupold CDS MOA zero stop----How to

Sent in a Leupold 2-7x33 VX-I to Leupold to retrofit a CDS MOA dial. Forgot to ask if zero stop was possible with the plain MOA dial, but the scope came back with no zero stop. This scope is mounted on a 16" 6.5 Grendel in AR15 config.

No zero stop, NO problem!! If you desire a zero stop, it's easy to do.

Buy a 1/16" diameter ball bearing. You'll also need a 1/16" drill bit and a drill press or a hand drill.





If you take off the CDS dial cap and look on the inside, there is a spot drilled for a bearing. Not sure where this spot is in relation to the numbers marked outside on other caps, but this one is on the #6 hashmark. Decide where you want your zero stop (exactly @ 0 or a bit past 0) and mark/drill the cap to accomodate the 1/16" bearing. You don't want to go too deep as this will defeat the purpose and the cap will rotate past with nothing to keep it from stopping. For this cap, I set the zero 2 clicks past zero.





Put a dab of grease to hold the bearing in place...




Protrusion/Stop on Elevation turret...





Zero...




Zero-stop...






Where dial stops @ upper end...

[img]http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a286/jmsdad/IMAG0906_zpsd0144110.jpg[/img]

Nice pics, but it looks like you got it in the wrong place??????

Nice work.

Not sure what you mean?

Not being critical by any means, but shouldn't the 0 (zero stop/sight in distance) line up with the hash mark on the scope tube? My CDS dials w/zero stop all do. Where the scope stops on the upper end should also be closer to the zero. I may be confused but in looking at the pics it seems the zero stop may be in the wrong place.

It is a bit confusing to my old dinosauer mind to have two zeros with three hash marks between them.

That's actually a 0 and a u (for up direction). It does look like two zeros in the pic though.

jmsdad, thanks for posting. I thought about doing the same but I did not know what size bearing to buy or where to find them. Hobbyshop?

Even if the stop is not "exactly" at zero it still serves the purpose of preventing the dial from being spun to far and loosing track of zero. Besides, you can return the dial to the stop and either back to zero or leave it. You still need would to look at the dial to spin up.

Neat work.
How does Leupold view this as regards the warranty on the scope?

Wsmnut

I would bet it does not void the warranty on the scope and there is not much to go wrong with the cap that would require a trip back to Leupold.

Hardware store...I like ACE because it's closer to me and they stock hard to find items...

I could have set the zero stop at exactly zero, but didn't want to chance it not knowing where it'll end up. I'll drill another small hole and get it line up at exactly zero when I have time next week.

Zero stop is fool-proof for the 11yr old son and myself included. Without the stop, I would hate to imagine the dial being one revolution off and taking a shot at the largest deer one has seen in a lifetime.






I'm not worry about it. It does not affect the internal mechanism of the scope. Worst case scenario is I call up Leupold to order another dial...

Nice work...and tagged for later!

tag

thanks for posting

Tag

worth a tag for sure

Thanks for the info.

tag

Could also be done with a set screw, no?

Why would Leupold put the spot for a bearing at the #6 hash mark? You'd think they would have it lined up with 0 from the start.

Tagola

Wondering same.

I just looked at three caps and the hole or ball bearing is about 1/4 MOA behind zero, except for one that is real close to being at zero.

Up for a good post. Thanks, now to find some 1/16" ball bearings in my town....

Thank you for the write up. I just set mine up and works great!

I'm guessing the ones that come without a zero stop don't get "clocked" prior to engraving.

That makes sense.

Back up.

BTT

Tag, I have one I need to do this with.

Tag

@ passport...hurry up with the mod...I see you tagged the thread twice now.


FWIW, this mod is still working great for me.

Im waiting on a McMillan so it will be a while...............

Leupold will send it back with a zero stop if you tell them to.

I just took a look at some of my CDS dials. One with a zero stop, others without. The bearing on the zero stop is two hash marks to the right of the zero. The bearing needs to be on the right side of the stop as it turns in that direction. That is why it comes up short on the top end as it will be 4 hash marks short. 2 that you set it back for and 2 for the width of the bearing/stop combo. Savy

The CDS system does not turn up and down. The dial stays at the same length at all times. I use the set screw system on my older Nightforce scopes without the zero stop and it works perfectly. You could use a set screw, but it would only mark the stop just like the bearing does. The bearing is less work. Or you can epoxy in a 1/16 pin for the same result.

Tag

tag

For those like me that could not locate a 1/16th ball bearing, #9 lead shot works well. This modification ranks as one of the top ten things I have learned on the Campfire.

tag

I found that the #48 drill bit (.0760) works the best. It must be the drill Leupold uses to pre drill the hole already there. It's a tight fit when inserting in the pre drilled hole on the CDS knob. I just drill deeper and cut the pins from a drill rod. No need to use grease or glue, just tap it in with a punch (snug fit). I must of lucked out on where the pre drill holes on all of my CDS scope (27 of them) the hole are at the second hash mark off zero, When the pin is installed its at zero and when turned all the way up to where it stops, it's 4 marks off before zero. If need to remove just use a fine needle nose to remove the pin. I did this with my first CDS when they first came out, I drilled all of them same depth and made up a piles of pins from drill rod. I have 10 of the Cabelas specials waiting at the Hamburg PA store for me to pickup, so I don't know if those CDS knobs are drilled at the same place as my other 27 where.

Got any pics? Sounds good.

I cant post pics from my pc, if you can post I'll send to you

tagging to bump up my post count

Nother tag

Send me the pics and I'll post them...

Tag

TAG for a future build,

Tag just built 10 yesterday

Might have to give this a shot.

I would bet that yours will be drilled where is should be to stop on zero. I used drill rod as all the CDS scopes I have (37) would take two ball bearing in the pre drilled hole and went past zero before it stopped

What is a drill rod?

I'm curious what Leupold uses for the zero stop. Anyone with a factory equipped zero stop dial care to take a look and post up a pic?

#48 drill rod or you can use a #48 drill and cut .165 off the shank end for the pin

If I have time, I'll look tomorrow and find out.

What do you do with 40 cds scopes?

I found on my CDS scopes that when using ball bearing the cap didn't stop on Zero, with the drill rod it dead stops at zero.

27 CDS scopes go on 27 rifles, other 10 are for X-Mas gifts plus I have 88 other Leupold on rifles and 33 Nightforces on rifles not counting Nikon's, Sightron's, Schmidt & Bender's, Swarovski's, Zeiss, Pentax's, Redfield the list goes on all on rifles

Quite the pile of rifles.

Checked out my scope today, the hole doesn't line up with zero. I'll have to pick up a bit, the set I have doesn't go that small.

thanks, that not even a forth of the rifles I got. The hole wont line with Zero, if it did then with the rod installed it wont stop on zero, it has to be before zero for it to line up on zero, should be between the 59th mark and zero on the dial. So if you need to drill yours do it right between the 59th mark and zero.

Got it,

The factory hole is 180° from zero.

Then you will need to redrill the dial

Yep,that's what I was thinking.

Thanks for the advice. Just gotta find the right size bit and I'll be in business.

Do you order custom dials or just run the stock dial?

I've had 3 and none of them had the pre-drilled hole in the right spot.

I had 37 of them and all had the hole in the right spot

I just run the stock dial, I have a lot of free dial cards, maybe I should send off for them

if your hole is 180 out then you can use any small drill bit you want I used #48 as that's what fit in the predrilled hole

Just checked five of mine, only one drilled in the right spot. Ready to go with some #48 bits and a Dremel. Thanks again for the good advice.

I just finished four, drilled the hole two marks right of zero with a #48 bit and used a 5/64" drill end for the pin. After drilling the hole I pushed the end of the 5/64" bit into place then marked it with a fine felt tip pen. Cut to length by holding the keeper end in a small vise grip then using a Dremel cut off wheel. If you cut it too long, grind some off the end and try again.

Thanks for the info in this thread. The drill rod seems to be an easier, more positive system than the ball bearing way.

That's what were all here on the campfire for, too help each other out. I to think the drill rod is a better way to go than the ball bearing. Glad it worked for you, good shooting.

Spent 15 minutes on my scope tonight. I used the 5/64 bit, then used the dremel and vise grips to make the pin.

When I was done, you could spin mine two clicks below zero. Would have been nice if it locked in on the zero, but I drilled it a hair over because I wanted to make sure it would still "zero". Probably enough room to drill another hole and do it right, but at least for now it won't rotate more than once.

Overall I'd say it worked well. Thanks to everyone for the advice.

If you run into a situation with the zero stops that don't quite line up with zero, you can always get some of these:

http://customturretsystems.com/

They work great, and they're cheap, tough, durable.

I prefer my stop to dial 1 MOA or so passed zero..its how i set my scopes up.

tag

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Tag

What gives when I need more than a revolution of elevation?

I can't get from 25 to 200 with my 300/221 sub loads without going more than 360?

all i would need is the ability to have a firm bottom stop... where I can go back to zero and know which marks apply then...

I do this now, knowing or used to, how many turns up from bottom it took until my home made label applied....

Did anyone ever figure out what the factory zero stop is/looks like?

tag

Tag

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FWIW, one does not need the coupon to get Leupold to cut a dial. The website has an app that lets you out in your parameters and uses the serial number for verification of the free dial. One dial per serial number is free.

Was just pointed to this thread. My Ace did not have the 1/16" ball bearing. However, I did find a 4-40x1/8" set screw. 7/64" drill bit. Drilled a hole just deep enough to get the top of the set screw flush with the center of the cap. The steel set screw will self tap into the aluminum CDS cap.

Looks like the Leupold specific caps all have the zero stop bearing two hash marks to the right (CCW) of the CDS Zero hash mark. Using the 4-40 set screw and the 7/64" bit, I had to offset the hole three hash marks to the right (CCW) from zero to allow the CDS Zero hash mark to line up with the witness mark on the scope. Total of 40 cents and 30 minutes of tinkering.

Yeah, just remove the scope caps if you need to send it back for warranty.

Tag

Very nice!