How to Correctly Mount a Riflescope: Critical Hunting Skills

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Your riflescope is the link between you, your rifle and the target so care should be taken to ensure that connection is solid, reliable and precise. Mounting a riflescope correctly is critical, but not as complicated or technical as it may appear. There are various methods, and tools, for the process but the steps are fundamental.

Required Tools

• A well-lit work area with a sturdy gun vise.
• A torque wrench/screwdriver with appropriate bits.
• A leveling-bubble or other scope-leveling system.

Base

Many rifles come out of the box with bases attached; even so, double-check tightness of the mounting screws with a torque wrench set to the manufacturer’s recommendations. If you opt for your own bases, picatinny rail or other mounting device, make sure this connection is secure and use a thread-locking compound to ensure it stays that way. Some manufacturers do not recommend thread-locking compounds on the next steps, but the base should be rock solid.

Rings

Attach the rings to the base. (Some rings require attaching to the scope first, then setting the rings and scope on the base.) On a picatinny base, set the rings as far apart as possible while allowing room for back-and-forth movement of the scope to adjust for eye relief.

Eye Relief

With the scope set in the untightened rings, mount the rifle in a natural shooting position with a proper cheek weld. Adjust the eye relief by moving the scope forward or back until you have a full sight picture through the optic. Start with magnification set high, but also check at mid- and lower levels to find your happy place.

Level

Using a bubble-level or other system, level the rifle in a gun vise. Once the rifle is level, you can level the scope to the rifle. Snug the screws so the scope won’t move, then pick up the rifle to confirm eye relief and that the reticle is level.

Tighten

Tighten the screws incrementally going from side to side in an X pattern so the rings draw together equally, with the gaps on each side of the rings evenly spaced. Use the scope manufacturer’s recommendation for the amount of torque applied.

After bore-sighting and zeroing in at a range, you’re ready to go afield with full confidence in your rifle/scope combo.

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