Sun Optics Adjustable Airgun Rings/Mount

[Lighthorse]

FalconArts review of the Sun Optics Adjustable Airgun Rings/Mount.
by: Lighthorse (Ken Leamy)

Searching the web looking for adjustable rings can be quite a chore. I was finding prices ranging
from $30 to $500. Being on a tight budget I started researching my options, ending with a set that
cost 80, now with two more guns to go I searched some more and found the Sun Optics and
figured I would give them a try.
I did read were some had problems with screws and others with movement, but I figure for the price
I would try it myself.

So Here we go, I got the SM0130-30mm for 30mm tubes and 11mm rail.
They come in both 1" and 30mm for both 11mm and standard dovetail rails.





In the package. Everything looks well made. Screws are hardened steel, only way
of messing them up that I can see is by not doing what I say in picture 4.



You will notice an extra post. This Post (B) is tor a non locking rail, you can
swap out post (A) which has a locking pin for post (B).



Now before you proceed to do anything, This is !!!!! VERY IMPORTANT !!!!!
LOOSEN both grub screws. you will tighten them later.
If you do not loosen them you will destroy the windage/locking screws.



Now remove the base locking screw and pull up and off the base. Now you can un-screw
the post and switch it with the one without the locking pin if you wish.



Look at the pivot ring and be sure it is set properly on the two windage screws.
There are little indents for them to sit in. Mine was on one but not the other.
If you have to, back off one of the screws and reset the ring.



Now that the ring is set on both screws look and center the ring so that it is in
the center of the hole. OK, you have the ring on the windage pins and centered??
Good, now replace the base and set the rings on your rail. Spin the base all the
way down until tight, now back it off one turn. do this to both of them.

At this point the rings will be a little lose. Don't worry when you are done they
will be very solid. With the rings on your rifles rail set the scope in the rings
lightly tighten, we want to be able to slide the scope forward or backward.
With the scope lightly tightened shoulder the rifle and adjust the scope until you
get a proper picture through the scope. slide the scope and rings forward or
backwards until you can see through the scope clearly. Once you find that spot
tighten the rings to the rail.

Now tighten two screws (one on each side) on the rings and tighten the windage screws.
DO NOT TOUCH the grub screw I said to loosen in Picture 4.

Adjusting the Elevation:
Set a target at 25yds, use a large cardboard so that you can spot where your pellet
is hitting. If you are going to zero at 50yds and you know where the minimum crossover
is then put your target at the minimum crossover. I am zeroing at 50 and my crossover
is 25. Set a mark in the center of the board and draw a horizontal line and bench or
bean your rifle. I will be using a bench rest.
Line up your target and make your first shot. (I suggest going up with a marker and
marking it so as to see it better.) Now that shot will be High, Low, Left or Right.
Do not touch your turrets to adjust the scope. Instead we will adjust the scope with
the rings until your shot is within a few clicks of center.



So let us say your shot was low and to the right (OK, that's where mine is), everything
is still the same you need to follow your shot. So since we are low we will need to
unscrew the screws holding the scope in the rings. Unscrew the rear scope mount one turn
(moving the mount up), This will follow the shot down. If your first shot was high then
you would be raising the front scope ring one turn. Now tighten the scope and with the
scope still on the bench line up the target and take a second shot.
If you are lucky you might be within an inch or so. If you are then skip down to adjusting
the windage, If you are still low you will need to adjust another turn, at this point it
depends on how low, you can adjust by a half a turn or a whole turn. Lets say when you
adjusted it the first time it is now high, well you can turn it back a half a turn and
try it. you want to get as as close to the horizontal line as possible. On the final inch
you can use the turret for the final few clicks. When finished place the remaining 4
screws in the top rings and then tighten in a cross hatch pattern.



Adjusting the Windage:
OK now you are as close as you can get to the horizontal line, now lets bring her home.
To adjust the windage you need to also follow the shot. So you now have a line up one
side or the other, mine is on the right, if yours is on the left you will adjust the
opposite as I do.
Adjustments are as if I am in back of the rifle and the barrel is pointed downrange.
On the front ring I will loosen the right screw a little and tighten the left screw.
On the rear ring I will loosen the left screw a little and tighten the right screw.
Now line up you shot. Keep adjusting until it is on the center-line. Once you are
centered move to your 50yd target and finish zeroing the scope in.
NOW after the windage screws are tight, you can tighten the Grub Screws.

Note: If your zero line does not cross the 25yd and 50yd or you do not know where the
50yd crosses don't put the last 4 screws in the top rings as you may need to make
another adjustment when you sight in on your 50yd line.
Remember do not adjust the turrets until you are as close as you can get at the zero
distance you chose whether it is 30, 50 or 100 yards. You should be able to get the
windage right on the money.

All in all I have to say once you are done they are locked in and very solid. I would
highly recommend these rings to anybody. and in my opinion they are much better than
most of the higher priced rings out there.

For more info or to order call Jim at Sun Optics USA and tell him Ken in Maine sent you.

Ken

[Roadworthy]

Ken - You've done an excellent job explaining the Sun mounts.  Jason (NervousTrigger) did one earlier.  There are a couple of things to note.  If the elevation adjustment screw extends past the base of the mount (and sometimes it does) it will put divots in your scope tube.  The 4mm screws for windage and holding windage adjustment screws can tend to strip out.  The holes can be drilled and tapped for 5mm screws which use the same Allen wrench.  Although the surface of the mount is anodized for hardness it does nothing for the soft aluminum beneath.

[Lighthorse]

I believe the issue of the dimpling must have been addressed



As you can see I have this spun down as far as it will go and there is nothing that can dimple the tube.
and if used right the front one would be at least one turn up. and the rear one will follow or be higher.
As far as windage When I finished I torqued them down pretty tight I guess I could have pressed harder
till they stripped, but they held, after you lock them down with the two grub screws they are not going anywhere.
Those were the problem with most people that stripped them out as they forgot to loosen them first.

[Lighthorse]

I am also looking into the stripping problem trhat some have emailed me about.
I myself have not had that problem. I have one more set to put on and will be
getting another for another gun.
I myself do not know the difference between 6063 and 7000 aluminium and
it does not tell me what type of aluminium was used.
My review was done mostly to show how easy it was to use these and how adjustable
they are over the other adjustable mounts. For the price I was very happy with these mounts.
If Sun Optics has changed to a stronger aluminium, I do not know, but I can see that they did
look into the dimpling problem so they may have looked into the strength of aluminium used.

[Lighthorse]

In Answer to a few more questions.
Jim at Sun Optics was sales director for 10 years at B-Square and Duane was the head designer at B-Square
starting in about 2002. Thy have upgraded and reconfigured the mount Sun Optics specifications and all airgun
accessories as all there scope mounts are from new extrusions that they had built and all have been upgraded
to there specifications.
Visually, they look identical, technically they are better. Sun Optics decided to upgrade and build after B-Square
dropped the airgun products from their current owner..Safariland.

[Caiman11]

Thanks so much for the detailed how-to and information.

I've got a Benjamin 392 on the way to Mac1 to get the steroid treatment and mill some groves into the receiver. Right now I'm scope and ring shopping, doing all the research I can to make sure I get it right the first time instead of having to be exchanging stuff later.

Now, I've not actually put a scope on the thing, so I am not sure if the receiver is off center from the barrel on my gun or what. However, the fact that I have to use up a little more than half of the available windage adjustment on the Williams Peep makes me suspect that when I mount a scope on it, I will also have to use up a lot of windage adjustment. In my research, I have read elsewhere that when you use a lot of windage adjustment and stray too far off of optical center, your point of impact will differ laterally from your point of aim at every range other than the range you have zeroed at (for instance if you zero at 30 yards you might be half an inch left at 20 yards and an inch right at 40 yards). That sounds like a really annoying problem to have. As such, I'm strongly considering getting these rings, just in case I need them.

My only worry is-- are they stable? Are they durable enough to hold up to the vibrations and banging around of the pumping action without moving? Do all the extra screws for fine tuning stay in place, or am I going to have to be messing around with the thing all the time instead of shooting? I know you haven't tried these on a multipump, but given your experience do you think these are beefy and well made enough to hold up to the task?

Thanks for your help on this one.
Rob

[bubba zanetti]

Yes!

Thanks for this review indeed!

BZ

[FrozenVapors]

they don't look too strong though for heavier scopes

[Lighthorse]

Not sure about the vibration part as I do not have a springer.
But this is one of the Scopes I have it on.

[Dave99]

I know it's been two years since this review, but thought you might like to know it's still really helpful!

I just picked up the RWS C-Mount version of the b-Square version of this site for just under $10 at Green Top in Ashland VA (looked to be the last one they had.)  The included instructions did NOT have your essential notes on loosening, then tightening, the grub screws.  Or the great pictures to guide the whole process.

One detail that came in a response to a Tom Gaylord post on the original b-Square that might be useful in this thread: it IS possible to adjust the elevation without removing the scope from the rings.  Instead, the poster removed the base from the dovetails, fully unscrewing the base mounting bolts.  Without the cross bolts the bottom ring bolts can be turned while the rings are on the scope.  I find it a bit fiddly to get the right lineup to put the cross bolts back in, but that's what dental probes are for

Thanks for the great post!

[Roadworthy]

Removing the scope WITH the rings to adjust height - I never THOUGHT of that one!!  I always adjust the height where I want it BEFORE setting windage (contrary to instructions).  That system works well for me.

[Lighthorse]

Ummmm, yes I should have thought of that myself. Nice tip 😄
I'm glad it is still helpful. Thanks  😎

[TF89]

I have used these or tried to, a bit fiddly for me.  I have not given up, just put them aside to work on other projects.  The issue that I have found when adjusting is maintaining an even tension.  The pieces are all wobbly and as the screws are tightened it becomes stiffer, however making adjustments can/does bring the wobble back until tightening.  That wobble can cause the POI or alignment to change.  If you ever have to remove the scope expect to need adjusting again, not as much but it will require more tweaking. 

Once you finally get it set, it stays, which is what a person wants from scope rings.  In my opinion it takes some patience to get it there.  Granted the cost seems worth the extra effort.  I'm just guessing as I have never used the higher end (more expensive) hardware and for all I know they have the same issue.

Thanks Ken for the awesome tutorial.  Very nice as it reduces the learning curve on these rings. 

Dave

[robertr]

 Did not work well on my D350, would not stay tight, might be ok for pcp though.

[K_sqrd]

My first experience with this type of mount was the single piece RWS C-mount probably made by B-Square.
It's still is usable though not presently in service. I then purchased a second RWS C-mount and it was pure junk!
The windage screws were a sloppy fit to begin with and stripped while trying to set up the mount. They were
replaced with larger cap screws from the hardware store - can you say Frankenstein mount? LOL!! I also
discovered that the dovetail was milled too wide for the standard 11 mm rail. Reversing the clamp on one side
did not solve the problem. With the stop pin removed and the other two base screws tightened, I could easily
slide the entire base off the dovetail with one finger. I could also slide it back on with out loosening the screws.

I've since moved on to using the Hawke 17021S adjustable dovetail to Weaver adapter. It requires the use of
Weaver rings but there is a large variety to choose from. The adapter is rock solid and adjusts easily for droop.
Windage has not been a problem so far.

[Lighthorse]

 I need to jump in here, K_sqrd is NOT talking about the Sun Optics adjustable mounts. The RWS C-mount is not made by Sun Optics or B-Square. I personally use a lot of these mounts and to this date have only messed one up, and that was my fault, was in a hurry and forgot the grub screws.

[K_sqrd]

Please note that I Did say that the mount was from RWS. My experience was before Sun Optics took over production.
However, the design has not changed over the years and it seems that since Sun Optics has taken over production,
the quality has improved. Glad to hear it. The grub screws were not a problem in my case. It was just sloppy machining
and bad quality. I did read about others having the same problems I had at the time. I also posted that the first one
I purchased was fine and is still usable with no problems. Just to be clear, here is a link to what I was referring to...

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/513287/rws-universal-c-mount-with-integral-1-rings-rimfire-and-airgun-gloss

It has three base screws and this exact mount was actually developed by B-Square.

EDIT: A little more info on the B-Square adjustable mounts...

https://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2007/07/b-square-adjustable-scope-mounts-part-1/

https://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2007/07/b-square-adjustable-scope-mounts-part-2/

https://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2007/07/b-square-adjustable-scope-mounts-part-3/

[Iamscotticus]

Good concept for those who need it. 
I have heard of some PBs that were so off the scope didn't have enuf adjustment.
I just can't get over the splits at 8&4.  That makes for an upper that needs to be spread apart to slip over the tube and an egged tube if over tightened.  This type is also a challenge to lap, especially if steel. 
Ive done it and It was a lot of work just to be sure I didn't damage my tube.
I like the concept but I'll take a normal 9&3 split.