Originally Posted by Ridge Runner

I pretty much am ANAL about this, takes several hours for me to do it to suit me, don't answer the phone, the wife, nothing, I'm busy
here are the steps I take
remove the plug screws from the receiver
degrease the screw holes
remove the base from the packaging
use a scotch brite pad on the bearing surfaces
mix up a bit of jb weld or other suitable 2 part epoxy
put a thin skim on the base
start your screws, and snug them


disclaimer here, this is how I do it, it works but ya need a bit of experience and you must be familiar with the terms used, you read torque the screws to XX in./lbs, well my mechanical background has proven to the that threaded fasteners hold best if tightened down till they just start to stretch, too much they break, a little bit too much and they break when you try to take them off, its something you have to have a "feel" for

tighten the base screws till you feel them start to stretch, no more
now, clean up the epoxy that oozed out when you tightened the screws, gumcutter 2+2 and q-tips work as well as anything
attach your rings to the base
lay your scope in the cradle, noting how eye relief fits
put top half of your rings on
(CNC machined rings do not need to be lapped)
start all the screws, turn them in till they are not yet snug
make sure the top halves are level and even on both sides

Now every rifle that I'm going to use for distance has a 12 dollar level clamped to the base


attach your level
level the rifle
sight at a plumb verticle line, I use a line on my paneling at the end of my hallway its a distance of 50'
turn your scope so the reticle matches the plumb line
snug the screws
level your rifle again
sight at the same plumb line with your rifle solid,
turn your up/down turret stop to stop, if the reticle leaves the plumb line then loosen up the ring screws, turn your scope a bit, then repeat till the reticle crawls straight up the verticle line

I don't care if the reticle looks crooked, I want it to track dead straight up plumd when I turn the up knob with the rifle level.

almost done

now take a small mirror, hold it against the objective end of the scope, turn the scope to its lowest power and look through it
you'll see the reticle, and its reflection in the mirror
turn the up/dn, lt/rt knobs until the reflection is directly in line with the reticle
(your scope is now mechanicly centered)
if you have a 20 moa base, turn the turret 20 moa down, you should be within a couple inches at 100
RR