Swaro z3 + Talley lwt issues

[Darktimber]

Hi everybody, like a lot of people I've been reading LRH for a long time and decided to sign up to seek advice on a issue im having.

I have a new semi custom rem. 700 in 280 rem with a swaro z3 3-10x42 mounted in Talley lightweight rings/bases. I lapped the rings myself with a wheeler scope mounting kit and took 60-75% finish out of the inside of the rings. Torqued to 17 in/lb per Talley specs. I took it to the range and I noticed the power ring was stiff and it took a bit more effort than usual to sight in, almost like it wasn't tracking properly but I'm not sure, I did get it sighted in eventually though. I also noticed the reticle wasnt as sharp as I thought it should be for an $800 scope. When I got home i loosened the back ring and the power ring became smooth. I reduced the torque from 15 through 12in/lbs and it 's still binding up the power ring. What am I doing wrong?

Sorry for the long first post but I'm really deflated/disappointed

 

[Greyfox]

Check to make sure that the ring base of the Tally one piece isn't making contact with the power ring when you tighten the rings down. ! It's has a tall base that may interfere some power rings. I had this occur but was easily able to correct it. To correct this you can either adjust/slide the scope position in the bases and/or switch the direction of one or both of the ring mounts on the rifle receiver to have the power ring clear the base. Make sure to check eye relief. If you reverse direction of only one of the bases, will need to re-lap the rings. Depending on your receiver's mounts and your scopes ring mounting area , it's possible you may not be able to achieve a proper fit with these rings and maintain proper eye relief.

 

[Darktimber]

Hey thanks for taking the time to read my post and reply to it. Its a good thought, but as you can see there is plenty of clearance with the base. I initially wanted to use lows but ran into the exact problem you described so i had to go with mediums

 

[Farmerboy78]

Dumb question, but here goes, do the rings have moa built it?

 

[Darktimber]

No sir, they are 0 moa.

 

[Farmerboy78]

Sounds like the tube is being torqued causing the binding. How true is the rail?

 

[Barrelnut]

^^^^ What he said.
Read a post recently where there were some issues with Swaro scopes binding easily in the rings. Did you use the alignment bars with the lapping kit to verify how well aligned the rings were after lapping?

 

[Darktimber]

@Farmboy- no rail, ring and base are one piece.

@Barrel nut - i searched all over this forum for an applicable thread with someone in a similar situation but i found nothing. Ill have to look again. I understand that the rings are putting torque on the scope thats literally the only thing thats touching the scope so its the only plausible explanation. My question is what can i do? I already lapped the ring as much or slightly more than the instructions suggest. Im afraid if i do much more the top half of the ring will make contact with the bottom with out placing any grip on the scope.

Prehaps i just need to take the hit on the talleys and move on to my old stand by leupold dual dovetails?

 

[Barrelnut]

Darktimber, have a look at post #6 by Varmint Hunter in the link to the thread below. It addresses your issue directly as he had issues with a Swaro on Tallys.

https://www.longrangehunting.com/threads/burris-34mm-signature-rings-fiasco-beware.203626/

 

[Darktimber]

Interesting stuff i had no idea talley was having issues with their mounts working with swarovski scopes.

I bought the scope and rings from the euro optic show room which is like 30 min from my house and they didnt mention anything to me about it either. If the scope is damaged hopefully swarovski will treat me right.

 

[Darktimber]

At any rate im gonna try one more time to get the talleys to work with this rifle and if the scope is still in a bind after tonight they are going in the trash

 

[Barrelnut]

Varmint Hunter might respond to a request for more info thru a private message.

 

[Darktimber]

Copy that

 

[Darktimber]

Ok so I pulled the scope and lapped the rings again. Now all the finish is removed from the inside of the rings. I put the alignment rods in and it's better. Probably less than .001 of "run out" if that term is applicable?

I put the scope back on and it feels better but i can still feel a difference when I torque the ring down vs it being loose. I can live with it, but my new question is will it damage the scope if i leave it as is?