Saturday was the opening day of rifle season here in NC. I bought a Ruger M77 MkII in 300 WM to hunt elk out west and since I sold my 270 to help pay for the beast, that's all I have to shoot deer with. I took it to the range a couple weeks ago and put about 20 rounds down the barrel to make sure it was sighted in where I wanted it and to get used to the recoil.(Not too bad after I got used to it) I got into the stand Saturday morning and proceeded to miss a nice fat doe(I'm hunting meat, not trophies). Since it was pretty foggy, I thought I must have hit a branch that I couldn't see in the scope. A little while later I picked out a little yearling doe and made a nice neck shot on her and she dropped in her tracks. I got her cleaned and quartered in the cooler and thought I might as well hang out and see if I could nail a bigger animal later in the day. About an hour before sunset, 8 does and a spike walked out into the shooting lane. I waited until the buck was out by himself and lined up for another neck shot. I missed again! (I actually found where the bullet hit the ground in front of him). When I got back to the stand I started looking my gun over to see if I'd busted the scope (a cheap swift 4-12) and discovered that the rings had come loose from the gun. I'm using the rings that came with the rifle from Ruger. The scope was tight in the rings, they'd just come loose from the bases. Should I put some loktite on them to keep them from doing it again or just keep an eye on them and double check them before I go out?

Thanks in advance.

use the locktight.... best to put it on the screws don't want to miss again from a moving ring

I'm sure the loose rings didn't help the situation. Use the blue loctite - I use the 222MS here in the shop. Put a little dusting of rosin inside the rings to prevent scope slippage.You also need a quality scope to handle the recoil of .300 Mag. Might put that on your Christmas list for next season.

If I'm reading correctly..you are talking about the bigger screws on the side of the bases....kinda like the Weaver type bases..If this is correct...the way I tighten both the Weaver type and the Rugers is to take a quarter and put in in your vise grips and tighten those screws until the quarter bends...If you will do this you don't need locktite and they won't come loose...

Those are the ones I'm talking about. When I got home, I used the biggest screwdriver I could find and cranked them down. I'll try the quarter trick too. If they still come loose, then I'll break down and put the loktite on them.

Thanks

I had a buddy that went through the same problem...You can't get alot of leverage with a screw driver...I did the quarter thing....got another half turn on each screw before the quarter started to bend...I've used that method on at least 8-10 guns...None came loose afterwards...

Just make SURE it is blue loctite . Do not use the red loctite

I use a big screw driver about 12-14 inch long craftsman. I get plenty of leverage with it

Degrease the threads with acetone or other solvent. Use removable locktite, and use a proper screwdriver to torque them. Leave the quarters for the bubbas.

Right!