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Talley ring alignment on 455 American

764 views 15 replies 10 participants last post by  teetertotter 
#1 ·
I installed a new set of Talley rings 22CZRH on my 455 American. I wanted a bit lower of a mount than my BKL rings provided. I spent forever trying to get the cross-hairs level on the scope and finally had one of my much better sighted friends give it a look.

His initial reaction was to point out that the bottom post of the reticle was not centered with the bore. Once he pointed it out I could see it was blatantly off to the left. No wonder trying to get the post to line up through the center of the bolt was causing me to have a canted reticle.

Did I do something wrong when I installed the rings? I put them on just the same as I have my old Warne Maxima rings but used a little less torque. 25 bottom and 20 top.

Any suggestions as to what I should try?
 
#2 ·
Here's how I level my scopes:

Find something that you know is plumb, or hang an object on a string. Stand back away from this plumb line and get your rifle leveled (preferably in a gun vise or shooting rest). It can be hard to find something to index off of that's square and flat on the top of your rifle. I usually use 2 equal length spacers (shotshell powder bushings work great) that I place on top of the stock, one on either side of the barrel. Anyway, with the gun sitting level its easy to align your vertical crosshair with the plumb line. Carefully tighten the ring screws a little at a time, alternating sides so you don't cant the scope. Double check when screws are tight.
 
#3 ·
Leveling the scope is not the main problem. I can eyeball a 22 close enough to shoot tree rats with. For everything else I use plumb lines and levels. My main problem is the scope does not align with the bore now that I have installed the Talley rings. You can tell the back end is off to the left a noticeable margin when you compare the center of the bolt with the vertical post in the trticle
 
#5 ·
TKE921;

Talley is very easy to deal with and stands behind their products. But, it may not be the rings that are at fault.

1. Is the barrel concentric with the bolt? That 455 has a slip-fit barrel & therein may lie the problem.
2. Are the receiver grooves parallel to the bolt? Highly unlikely, but possible.
3. The rings are indeed the culprit.

900F
 
#6 ·
This has me thinking....
So while I'm no fan of putting anything down the bbl bore that doesn't belong, and not knowing the 455 barreled action system, I am still wondering if an appropriate caliber, xtra long cleaning rod run through the bbl from the crown down and out through the action (bolt removed), far enough to see if the bbl is lined up to the action concentrically. Also, I'm thinking that a pair of straight edges placed against the action dove tail, one on either side and long enough to extend out over the bbl a little way, ought to help show if the action dove tail is in line with the bbl too. I imagine that if the rings are to blame, swapping them front to back and rotating them 180 degrees should put the scope off to the opposite side of the bbl.
 
#7 · (Edited)
I'm not saying that it's not off centered, but sometimes our eyes can play tricks on us. Try shouldering it left handed and look at it with your left eye and see it it looks slightly off centered in the opposite direction or even spot on. It may just be tilted slightly giving the illusion that it's off center.
 
#10 ·
I was hoping this would end up being one of those..."Oh you obviously did this wrong and that is why you got your result...do this and it will be fixed"

I had BKL rings on it initially and everything was perfectly centered. This left shift only happened after the Talley rings were installed. I have had a few people look at it and everyone agrees. I agree more when I look with my glasses on....stupid astigmatism anyway.

If I get time @ work today I am going to call Talley today and get their thoughts.
 
#11 ·
You could try flipping them around so the clamping screw is on the opposite side, but those rings appear to be symmetrical, so I don't imagine that would help. If they are symmetrical, then the issue isn't likely the rings. Can you measure the rings to confirm? Can you post a picture to show us what you see? I'm curious what Talley has to say.

In the end, a small offset, especially to the left for a right handed shooter, isn't too big of a deal, IMO.

JMK
 
#12 ·
I'd remove the scope and rings, then start measuring stuff to find the problem. A good straight edge will tell you if your dovetail aligns with the bore and action. A dial caliber will tell you if the rings are symmetrical. You can inspect the dovetail to make sure there aren't any burrs or debris that would make the rings sit funny. Also check to see if the rings fit the dovetail properly. Since your old rings worked fine I would suspect the new rings are not seating correctly or they are defective. Good luck getting it figured out.
 
#13 ·
I spoke with Talley. They were very nice people. The guy there did tell me something I was not expecting. He said they recommend setting the scope in the rings, attaching the rings to the dovetail, and torquing the bottom screws all the way down BEFORE you ever put the top screws in the rings at all. I have always snugged up both sets then torqued the bottom, then the top.

I will try to reinstall them that way tonight and see where I end up. If it doesn't help I will just send them back.
 
#15 ·
Took the rings off and reset them according to the instructions I was given by Talley. I will say doing it that way sure makes it easier to adjust eye relief and turn the scope in the rings. My reticle was still to the left however. I had another set of eyes look @ it tonight, who had no knowledge of what was going on. They also believed the reticle was to the left.

I unmounted the rings and scope and laid a large ( 24" ) square on both sides of the dovetail. it seemed to be straight to us. I am going to pack up the rings and a note and send them back to Talley.
 
#16 ·
TKE, were the rings you purchased their Steel Fixed version or the light weight. I only know that their FIXED Steel models are a matched set.

What did Talley do for you? Are you back to shooting?
 
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