I have recently had a spate of bad luck with scopes rings and bases. Leupold mounts that moved as soon as the temperature went below freezing. A Nikon scope that slipped in the mounts when the temperature went below freezing. Objective lens covers on a pair of Nikon EDG 10x42 mm binoculars that went on tight in the comfort of my home only to fall off due to gravity in mild, but below freezing temperatures.
I replaced the scope and rings with a Bushnell Elite 2.5-10 x 40 mm and put Burris extension rings complete with that handy Burris paper on the bottom of both rings. This was on an old Remington 760 pump in 30:06. I suspect that the rings were not snug in the base as the old 760 was minute of acre until I put on the new rings. It shoots well now. A salesman I know and trust always said the Nikon scope tubes were soft. I know they were not bead blasted ( surface hardens the aluminium tube whether a scope tube or a phonograph tone arm), but soft I cannot say. The Bushnell tubes are hammer forged so they should be a fairly skookum tube. The scope that gave me the grief was an old Nikon Monarch in 1.5-6 42 mm objective. I have a lot of different rifles and scopes, but this was new to me.
The screws were tight. I have buggered up scopes from over tightening, so I am very careful about screw tension. The bases I believe were just a trifle too narrow. Between the lens covers falling off and the scope slipping on an '06, I wonder just how much reduction in tube diameter occurs when the metal cools?
Anyone else have experience or thought on this? Please chime in.
