I had a local gunsmith mount my scope today. I went to a reputable place but the main guy wasn't there. His son put it on. A guy at work said that you should put a 1'' bar in the rings to make sure that they are in alinement and do a few other things. But he just put the scope in the rings without checking. and then he boresighted it. Being a green horn is this normal practice. Or should I be worried about a bent scope. Gun tikka 270wsm leupold vx 111

If you are using twist type rings like redfields or leupolds,you want to use a bar or a dowel to twist the rings into alignment.Using the scope to do so can damage the scope.However if the rings and bases are weaver type,I wouldn't worry about scope damage.

I you had the Optilock rings for that Tikka it should be good. No twisting required...

If your gunsmith has a good name and reputation, I'm sure the son is as particular.

judgemint - I don't think you need to worry about your scope installation. I think I would be more worried about the 'advice' you get from your guy at work.

Actually, I think the guy at work knows exactly what he's talking about. However, if the rings are the Optilocks with plastic insert then no, a bar is not needed to check alignment, since they are self aligning. I suspect the guy at work has no experience with these type rings. He might only have experience with conventional type mounts and was assuming that's what you would be using. With conventional type mounts (Leupold, etc.) I too use a 1" steel lapping bar to make sure everything is in alignment. If it's not, I lap the rings until things are in alignment, assuming of course that nothing else is out of whack.