I made a bone head mistake...

[Bayman]

I like to follow instructions to T but apparently I followed the wrong ones. I recently bought a sports match dampa mount for a Beeman RX1. I looked up the torque specs for the ring clamps on the sportsmatch website. It says 30 inch lbs so I strapped in my Nikon EFR and tightened the ring clamps to that. I liked the quality of the sportsmatch rings so I ordered a set with my new Green laminate Hw97. I strapped in a new Hawke 4-12x40ao Airmax and tightened those to the prescribed 30 inch pounds too. Problem is I lightly kinked both scopes. I found this out when removing the Nikon. It has to be sent in for unrelated warranty service. They may bounce my warranty claim due to overtightened rings. Bottom line follow the torque specs for the scope and not rings. If you didn't know this already.

[young_skywalker]

Good reminder!

[DanD]

I like to follow instructions to T but apparently I followed the wrong ones. I recently bought a sports match dampa mount for a Beeman RX1. I looked up the torque specs for the ring clamps on the sportsmatch website. It says 30 inch lbs so I strapped in my Nikon EFR and tightened the ring clamps to that. I liked the quality of the sportsmatch rings so I ordered a set with my new Green laminate Hw97. I strapped in a new Hawke 4-12x40ao Airmax and tightened those to the prescribed 30 inch pounds too. Problem is I lightly kinked both scopes. I found this out when removing the Nikon. It has to be sent in for unrelated warranty service. They may bounce my warranty claim due to overtightened rings. Bottom line follow the torque specs for the scope and not rings. If you didn't know this already.

I had a 30 inch-lb moment a few months ago. I was hitting everything I could with my new FAT wrench and snapped a mounting stud off some lovely vintage glossy dovetail rings. So, keep it under 30 for holding vintage gear to the rail. Or I could have just gone by feel like I have for the previous decades and would have probably been fine. I do 15-17 in-lbs on the ring screws and the scopes stay put so long as I check the screws every few sessions.

[mpbby]

A very good alert, thank you!

Having a homogeneous torque at the rings, my main goal is to have one less cause to don't hold zero, so, I also got my brand new FAT wrench ..  I have 2 Sportsmatch DM 60 (dampa mount), but didn't consult the site.

I 'think' (most probably, but not 100% sure at the moment) that, considering the dampening, I tried with 10-12 inch/lb to the rings and 15-17 to the base, and neither one is moving on the Diana 350 (Vortex Diamondback 4-12x 40AO).

[Bayman]

A very good alert, thank you!

Having a homogeneous torque at the rings, my main goal is to have one less cause to don't hold zero, so, I also got my brand new FAT wrench ..  I have 2 Sportsmatch DM 60 (dampa mount), but didn't consult the site.

I 'think' (most probably, but not 100% sure at the moment) that, considering the dampening, I tried with 10-12 inch/lb to the rings and 15-17 to the base, and neither one is moving on the Diana 350 (Vortex Diamondback 4-12x 40AO).

That good information too. Just in case it starts sliding in the dovetail the sportsmatch torque spec is 44 inch pounds for the rail clamping bolts. I had no problem with those bolts or any bolts really. The sportsmatch mounts are quality pieces. My problem was the scopes couldn't handle the specified ring clamp torque. Btw if you haven't already you might want to mark the mount position on the receiver with pencil or piece of tape. I have heard stories of guns like ours plowing the recoil pins through the receiver holes. I had a cheap box store Beeman Magnum springer do this once. It was ugly! Thank goodness it was only that junky gun.

[Yogi]

Let us see how good those scope warranties really are.

-Y

[Bayman]

Let us see how good those scope warranties really are.

-Y

Yeah They're hardly crimped but we'll see if Nikon voids my warranty and bounces my unrelated warranty claim. If they do I'll be disappointed since I've bought at least eight of their scopes. If they bounce the claim they can keep it and I'm done with Nikon.

The Hawke is working great and I'll just use it as is for now and hope to forget it's crimped under the rings. In fact I'm having another one delivered tomorrow to use on my Rx1 while the Nikon is out for repair.

[Relentless Holiday]

Ouch. bummer.

[nced]

I like to follow instructions to T but apparently I followed the wrong ones. I recently bought a sports match dampa mount for a Beeman RX1. I looked up the torque specs for the ring clamps on the sportsmatch website. It says 30 inch lbs so I strapped in my Nikon EFR and tightened the ring clamps to that. I liked the quality of the sportsmatch rings so I ordered a set with my new Green laminate Hw97. I strapped in a new Hawke 4-12x40ao Airmax and tightened those to the prescribed 30 inch pounds too. Problem is I lightly kinked both scopes. I found this out when removing the Nikon. It has to be sent in for unrelated warranty service. They may bounce my warranty claim due to overtightened rings. Bottom line follow the torque specs for the scope and not rings. If you didn't know this already.

Some scope mount manufacturers don't even list the torque values for the top straps. A perfect example is the one piece BKL-260 and two piece BKL-263 Double Strap mounts. Here is a link to the installation instructions without a hint of what torque spec to use for the top straps, only the base screws..........
https://www.bkltech.com/articles.asp?id=134
From the above...........
"What is the recommended torque applied to the base screws?
Our recommendation is 35 in/lbs. If there is a problem with clamping after this much pressure has been applied then please contact us"
According to the above link the top strap screw torque is determined "by sight". Also from the above link......
"How do I know when the scope tube is properly clamped?
When the oval shape of the ring becomes a circle around the scope tube and no gap is seen between inside diameter of the ring and the outside diameter of the scope tube. Important: Do not close the gap between the edges of the ring (the flat surfaces where the screws are) as this might crush your scope tube! Please refer to our technical data sheet for more information.

Anywhoo....here are the scope mount torque specs for multiple applications...........
http://www.weaveroptics.com/resources/ring_charts/weaver_torque_specs.pdf
Notice that most torque specs for the "caps" is 15in/lbs which is what I normally use, however some "cap" specs are listed as 20in/lbs and one even had a "cap" spec of 25in/lbs. Obviously, if "only" 15in/lbs of "cap" screw torque can damage a scope tube with BKL "double strappers" just inagine what 20 or 25in'lbs can do.

While I've never used the Dampa Mount you mention I really take recommended top strap torque values with a grain of salt (or salt shaker). Here are a couple examples of scope tube slippage when I used only 10 in/lbs of "top strap scrfew torque" and then scope tube damage caused using my normal 15in/lbs of torque on the narrow top straps of the BKL-263 double strap mounts............

Multiple BKL double strap "double dents" from repositioning the scope several times and torquing the top straps to 15in/lbs..........


For my 1" tube scopes I do use cheap Weaver Quad Lock mounts and found that the narrow top straps similar to the BKL "double strapper" will hold the scope firmly in the rings with as little as 10in/lbs screw torque, yet the scope tubes aren't damaged using 15in/lbs top strap screw torque.........

Unfortunately the "Quad Locks" are only available for 1" tube scopes so I need to find a suitable replacement for scopes with a 30mm tube.

Anywhoo.......the above applies to top strap screw torque regardless if the mount is fixed or "spring loaded" so my recommendation based on my experience is to start top strap screw torque at 10in/lbs and increase the screw torque gradually in the scope slips the rings. I had issues with 30mm scopes slipping in my BKL one piece rings till I did a "cheap scope ring fix" by lining the rings with cloth electrical friction tape. Worked a treat however I never did solve the one piece BKL mount slipping on the receiver dovetails issue, even when using 5in/lbs OVER the BKL recommended 35in/lb max torque..........