I watched a hunting show tonight. It discussed mounting scopes and bases. It was the person that owned MidSouth Shooters Supply. (I think)

They discussed that you have to start mounting the base first. And that all surfaces must be clean and dry, with no oils and they mentioned even, no finger prints on the metal. Before they set the mounts, they put a level on the bore of the rifle. The rifle was level. They then put the base on the rifle. And the base had to be level to the rifle. They discussed how important a quality base is.

Then, they used a torque screw driver. The screws were set at 65 pounds per inch. But they work the screws in steps.. 20, 40, 65 pounds per inch torque.

The rings were wiped clean of all oils, water, finger prints, etc. The bottom was on the base. The scope was then wiped clean and put in the rings. The scope had also been wiped clean before it was placed.

When they put the top part on. They mentioned that the tops are machined to the bottom and that you should keep track of what top came off what bottom and in what direction. I never knew that.

They did an alternate tightening pattern on the screws. Setting then just tight enough to set the scope to the "shooters" pull for eye relief. They explained that if you pull that rifle to your shoulder and have to make any adjustments at all with your head to see the full scope.. you need to adjust it again. The ring screws are set at 30 pounds per in.

The person doing all this explained that without the proper mounting of the scope, any long range shooting would be a hit or miss. They were discussion 1000 yard shooting. Its hard to explain what they were telling in detail but over all it was a real informative show. And I realize I have a couple scopes that need to be checked again.