[UTGrad]

I installed Burris Signature Series Zee rings on my muzzleloader and have a couple questions. The screws on the ring halves are torqued snug but one side has a little more of a gap than the other side (see pic below). The other question I have is I got the standard inserts (no MOA adjustments). I noticed when I rotated the scope to level the reticles, the inserts rotated a little as well. Is this normal? Everything is nice and tight and I look forward to taking it to the range.

 

[BarkBuster20]

The gap will be the same as long as you tighten the screws evenly on each side, just loosed up the screw thats on the side where the gap is less and tighten up the other untill its even.

 

[UTGrad]

So it doesn't sound like a big deal.

 

[StretchNM]

Well, it could be a big deal. You should loosen them and tighten them evenly as Barkbuster said. Give the rings and scope tube the attention they deserve, I say.

Now the halves turning inside loosened rings is ok, but I made sure mine stayed right where they were....even with the half of the ring. Now, while the rings are loose, don;t let the inserts slide outward (forward or rearward), keep them evenly distributed inside the rings. According to your picture, the inserts have come forward of the front rings in the second picture. I would fix that.

Take great care installing them and you'll only need to do it once. That's my advice anyway. I could install those Zee rings in twenty minutes if I did it poorly, or thirty if done nicely. I think I might just spend half an hour.

 

[Jim H]

those inserts are self centering. and self aligning if the two rings are not perfectly in line with one another. so in that case if the two rings were out of sinc with one another due to misaligned screw holes for bases or what not, the inserts will do what they need to do to align with one another and as a result could show as protruding a bit diferantly no matter how much you tryed to keep them centered. so go slow, torqe equaly but let the inserts do their thing. other opinions will vary.

 

[BarkBuster20]

shouldnt take much more than 5-110 minutes to fix that problem, its not a big deal at all, unless you leave it as is (and it probly would be fine like it is anyway) better to get it set up right.

 

[UTGrad]

I backed out the screws and realigned the inserts. Again they are the 0 MOA inserts so their only function is to ensure even contact with the rings and scope. I got the ring halves to match up more evenly. I got the inserts a little more even, but it really doesn't matter cause as after taking a second look, as long as the inserts are flush with the scope they are doing their job.

 

[StretchNM]

Yes, that's true UT, but remember the insides of the rings are concave. The outside of the inserts are convex. THis may sound like an over-simplification, but there's a madness to the method here. When tightening down the rings, theoretically the inserts should slide into position within the confines of the concavity of the rings. But, if they don;t, it means there's a little space there that they'll eventually want to get to. Recoil may eventually fix that problem for you........ and leave you with loose rings and an ineffective scope.

Now, if you loosened the rings and pushed the (front) insert back a little, so it was centered in the rings, then when you tightened it wanted naturally to squeeze back forward again, that would be different. That would mean the insert truly was aligning itself with the concave inner side of the ring. That would be good(!). But if it squeezed forward just that first time when you tried to install it, but then didn;t squeeze forward after you fixed it, that would mean something else. I think anyway........

What I did when installing mine was to take an upper ring half and push the insert into it. It slide around pretty easily, which is why the halves won;t always stay even with the ring halves. But if I pushed the insert into the ring half with my thumb, using a noticeable amount of pressure, the ring was centered in the ring half. Why? Because the apexes of both the ring and insert aligned themselves. The insert did not protrude forward or rearward of the ring.

I hope that explanation makes sense. I'm beginnign to wonder if it even makes sense to me!