Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Reaming Talley LW ring mounts to 26mm ?

Would like to use a set of Talley LW one piece aluminum ringmounts to mount a 26mm Swarovski scope. Has anyone used a reamer to open up a set of Talley 1" LW's to 26mm ? Thinking a reamer should work fine. in lieu of the purchase of a reamer, possibly emery cloth wrapped around a 1" wood dowel ?

Everything I could dig up previously pointed toward Burris signature rings with insets. However, I like Talley rings. any downside to slowly opening up a set of 1" LW rings ?

Forget about Mickey Mousing it with the dowel. The reamer is the way to do it.

Or just order some 26mm from Talley.

@Tejano, I did not see 26mm LW's offered for Winchester mounting pattern. Sent an email to Talley to see if possible to get a set of one-off's.

@pal, Yes, reamer would be cleaner, more professional. Only catch would be to order one with flutes long enough to span both mounts at same time to ensure concentricy.

Keeping them concentric and in line with one another would be extremely difficult using a wood dowel with sandpaper wrapped around it. Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me - I can forsee an expensive Swaro scope with ring marks in your future.

drover

LW's suck ass,Swaro sucks ass,so I say DO it...mainly because it will be funnier than fhuqk! Hint.

Bonus Humor Points Awarded,for Crying Karen melting down and fretting a fhuqking scratch on the Goat Fhuqk. Hint.

LAUGHING!..............

Completely unnecessary. Just ream them individually.

Why piddle around with a non-standard size tube? Why not just invest in a set of rings the correct size or dump the scope. Hint....

I'll grant her (1) chance to connect dots by default. Hint.

What rifle? Chambering? RPM? COAL? Application? If only because particulars,do tend to "matter". Hint.

Don't be in such a hurry,to make STUPID fhuqking mistakes.

Hint..............

Doing one at a time with a short reamer is an option. Would prefer to do both at same time, while mounted, to ensure concentricity.



Talley does not offer 26mm LW's for Winchester scope mounting pattern. Nor will they do a custom order. 1" LW ring mounts + reamer will still be less than 20% of cost of scope. I'd loose more $$$'s swapping scopes than the cost of the reamer.

I don't think you'll find a 26 mm reamer easily. If you insist on reaming you will need to use an expandable reamer. In any event the very high torsional stresses in reaming will create some difficulties in work holding, ie: there ain't much to grab onto on a scope ring. If I was doing it, and I ain't, I'd be looking at a fly cutter on the mill. I'd shim the gaps on the 1" rings to provide a near perfect 1" circle, clamp the assembled ring as securely as possible and run the fly cutter through in 2 passes. The second pass should be dead nuts equal to your scope tube O.D.
my.... 2 cents worth.

Sir,

There are a number of fixed flute and expandable 26mm reamers on ebay for less than $100. I was planning the work holding to be rings mounted to the rifle to maintain concentricity. Thinking that fixed helical flutes would be a smoother, lower torque, proposition.

Thoughts?

Here’s a little food for thought: According to some here, LW aluminum rings are somewhat prone to cracking. What will be the result of removing material from an already marginal strength ring? Happy Trails

Yep, turning a crappy weak mount into an even weaker one sounds like a good plan👍

Come on!

I've not personally had any issue with Talley LW's on 9 and 10 lb .375's. Do not think that a 10% reduction in cross section is going to be an issue on an 8 lb .243. Appreciate all of the input. Currently set up with a set of Leupold 30mm Low QR mounts with Delrin spacers. I'll post up after I sort out the LW's...

Oops, sorry, I didn't know 26 mm reamers were that common. You'll want to make a trial run on scrap to see what size your finished hole is I guess. Obviously, you plan on hand reaming with the rings installed on the rifle for alignment purposes...so maybe you would want to consider a bridge reamer? I still don't know how you plan on maintaining alignment of the reamer, hand reaming is a task fraught with peril. Maybe make a bushing to fit the reamer shank and the unreamed ring? I'm not being deliberately critical or obstructive, but it needs to be thought out with the prices of the original rings.

A machine shop with a mill & a boring head w/bar could do a nice enough job. Getting the things clamped up square might be the tricky/costly part.

If you happen to know of a shop in your area it might be worth asking.

One of the more expensive reamers has about 7" of flutes. Some taper on the front end. Need to span 5" +/- from front of front ring to rear of rear ring. "Might be" sufficient. I agree, the shorter reamers would need a "bore guide" to maintain concentricity. I appreciate the thoughtful input.



Agree. Unfortunately, "that guy" locally sold out and closed up about 10 years ago...

You seem to be intentionally sabotaging what is actually such a very simple project. What would it cost you to ship this tiny set of rings to a competent machinist who already has a 26mm reamer?