Another lesson under the belt - parallax binding up

Recently got another inch cut off my 260 with a new DPT magnum can fitted. Got it home and finally got around to taking it to the range to re zero etc. Noticed my parallax dial was quite stiff and didn’t seem to have the full range of motion that I remembered. Didn’t think much of it at the time but it sat on my mind.

A few days later I was sitting at home with it still on my mind and me cursing that it might be buggered. Pulled the rifle out and lined up some trees 800m behind the house and had a play, sure enough the parallax wouldn’t focus. I went and got my other rifle with the same scope (Swarovski Z5) and put them side by side. Sure enough my other one moved much more smoothly and had its full range of motion, focusing nicely upon on the trees. Bugger I thought, I’ll have to take it in for repair.. I undo the rings and pull it out and hello, it’s suddenly operating like normal again!?

I start messing around with fitting it back in the rings (Talleys) and as soon as I hit a certain point in torquing up the screws it starts binding the parallax dial. I try swapping the ring tops around but still does the same thing. By this point i’m a wee bit fustrated as it has been in these rings perfectly fine before the latest chop. Anyway, I head into my local (Manawatu H&F) filled with good buggers who give me a hand trying to tidy up the rings to remove any pressure points. Head off to the range to fit it again and do a zero but nope it’s still binding that parallax. I pack it away and check zero my other rifle.

On my way home I drop into the local and they throw me some Optilocks to see if the scope is fine and confirm if it’s definitely the rings. Once home again I try a few more tricks that might work like rotating the rings etc. No joy. I then pull out the Optilocks and for the millionth time re mount the scope - Bingo she torques up nicely and everything is functioning as it should.

Now I am happy because I have resolved the problem but fustrated that I need to fork out a decent sum for some damn Optilocks! I’ve used plenty of Talleys across a few different rifles without issues so this was new. The Optilocks are damn nice though. Always a new lesson to be learnt!

Mate to be brutally honest, the fact that the thin swaro tubes are so sensitive to ring types would be a massive redflag. Talleys are good rings as you've stated and worked with all your optics.

Optilocks are my preferred rings. They grip the scope well without garking the anodizing. You also have some options for correcting base misalignment.

Swarovski have good glass and nice and light but I've had z3 z5 and those big turret X5's and the whole lot broke down on me, lovely glass just quite delicate so ya gotta be mindful of that

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Originally Posted by mawzer308

Mate to be brutally honest, the fact that the thin swaro tubes are so sensitive to ring types would be a massive redflag. Talleys are good rings as you've stated and worked with all your optics.

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Just the trade off you make in order to have it light aye. The thing I find most annoying was that it was fine before I pulled it apart for the chop. It’s been on and off a few times with previous rifles too. Ahwell. A new set of Talleys would probably fix it aswell but I think i’ll just fork out for the optilocks. Definitely got me keeping a closer eye on my other Z5 that’s in Talleys on my SAUM.

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Originally Posted by stagstalker

Just the trade off you make in order to have it light aye. The thing I find most annoying was that it was fine before I pulled it apart for the chop. It’s been on and off a few times with previous rifles too. Ahwell. A new set of Talleys would probably fix it aswell but I think i’ll just fork out for the optilocks. Definitely got me keeping a closer eye on my other Z5 that’s in Talleys on my SAUM.

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Spot on with the trad off and they cant be beaten on clarity
Certainly is weird though that it all of a sudden gave you grief, glad it's sorted.

Do you have a picture or the offending set-up and know what the screws were torqued to? Did the gunsmith put the scope on after chopping by any chance - perhaps they overtorqued it?

Just don't fuck around with second tier optics, you know what to buy!

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Originally Posted by andyanimal31

Just don't fuck around with second tier optics, you know what to buy!

Sent from my SM-A226B using Tapatalk

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The only brand I haven't had fail on me was Schmidt bender and nightforce and I've tried a heap of brands out now. The leupold I have now is holding up good, 4 years and still going strong getting punished

Maybe dropped at gunsmiths, and ring distorted a fraction , shows when torqued up?


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Ive had it happen. The Element Helix actually has a warning note with the scope not to over torque the rings because of this.

Only need 15 inch pounds on most ring cap screws

Had an early Redfield 35 years ago that worked fine,unless you put rings in certain spot on scope tube.if there where eye relief was good it turned into a 3x7instead of a 3x9.move it along in rings and was fine.

It doesn't take much misalignment to tweak a scope tube out either, that's one of the reasons I really dislike any scope mount setup that needs lapping. I've had one where it needed to be lapped, and subsequently due to an issue with the rifle and needing to strip it back to a bare receiver the ring bases needed to come off the receiver. Once it was reassembled back into it's stock and the bases retorqued the alignment was up the shit and an attempt to relap meant everything went sloppy and suddenly needed to start shimming... Nup, bin models.

Replaced with something decent name of which I can't recall at the moment, no more problem.

If weight isn't an issue and there's no issue with ejection port clearance, I used steel one-piece rails bedded to the receiver and sintered one piece rings. No issue with alignment at all that way - ever.

Rings were fully removed from the rifle before it went away for the chop and just stored at home before I then put them back on again.

Burris Zee rings with the inserts for the win.
Tallys rely on the tapped holes in the receiver being perfectly aligned, AND the holes in the ring mount screws being perfect also.


40 years of engineering has taught me the world seldom looks like the plan, and allowing for misalignment, distortion and Friday manufacturing is a good thing.

@Kelton sorted me with a set of burris rings and we are all go again without a $300 optilock bill. Legend

Would lapping the rings have helped?


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Originally Posted by buzzman

Would lapping the rings have helped?


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I'm picking it would have, the other thing I do when fitting Talleys is to have the base half of the ring fitted to the action but not torqued and then sit the scope in to check alignment, then remove the scope and torque once the alignment is confirmed.
I have never had an issue with them fitted in this way, I have never needed to lap them either, but would do it if required.

I found the Z5 to be a slightly bigger 1" inch than other scopes inch, so perhaps the swaro was borderline too tight / squeezed out of round even before the chop

I get the feeling the rings are squeezing in at the sides when being tightened. You can see the marks on the scope from it. Even at about 15 inch pound it still does it. Could probably get them fully lapped properly but ah, got another solution now so no worries.

I had the same issues with a Z5 in my Talley rings the rings were set pretty close to the adjustment knob.
So can you try turning the ring around to get it further away from the turret and i lapped mine i have a bar and compound if you want to try it.

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Originally Posted by stagstalker

@Kelton sorted me with a set of burris rings and we are all go again without a $300 optilock bill. Legend

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He's bloody helpful is Kelton - when I asked the forum if there was any 257 Roberts brass that a friend was after out in the world for he spotted a bag at his local shop and bought it on the spot so I wouldn't miss out! Cheers @Kelton ��

standard for a seagull bro, think mine broke all 3 times i brought one

And here we go, round 2… disassembled my saum this time as I got a new staggered mag box fitted. Re assembled it back the exact same way and we have a binding/grinding parallax… everything is the exact same as when it was perfectly fine before. About to throw my toys..

there is a nice 3x9 Leupold freedom in for sale section.......
ducking or cover as jandles start being hurled...big name/big price tag scopes,might just not be all they are cracked up to be by comparison.
hope you get it sorted soon.

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I reckon lapping is your answer. This is a Weatherby vanguard with some basic cheap rings. Amazing how crooked they were at beginning of lapping.

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Originally Posted by RUMPY

Attachment 211738

I reckon lapping is your answer. This is a Weatherby vanguard with some basic cheap rings. Amazing how crooked they were at beginning of lapping.

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Got a lapping bar coming to give a try. Fingers crossed

Alright, a lapping session and a touch up of the screw holes on the ring tops and we are back in action for the second time round.

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Originally Posted by stagstalker

Alright, a lapping session and a touch up of the screw holes on the ring tops and we are back in action for the second time round.

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Did you measure the Z5 to compare against other 1" scopes ? It might be just the paint they use but I found mine to be slightly over 1"

Talleys make an alignment bar for setting up their rings, without using it you are reliant on a bit of luck in achieving perfect alignment as there is firstly the possibility of improper positioning of the screw holes in the receiver, and secondly you are reliant on the heads of the fasteners to locate the bottom half of the ring. These fasteners (shank and head) are a clearance fit in the screw holes as per normal engineering practice, so you have the possibility of misalignment occurring at that joint. The alignment bar has a slot milled in it so that you can fasten the mounting screws while the bar is still in position. I have a 30 mm alignment bar (a 1" alignment bar is also available) that I have used on 3 separate guns with success without lapping and not causing ring marks on the scopes. When you lap rings material is being removed with the rings in a specific position, the quantity of metal being removed to make a good fit being equal to the amount of misalignment present. If you remove them and remount them this position may not be repeatable, however you may also find this process may be effective.

FFS just buy a set of Sphur hunting rings and be sorted, forever!

Seems rather strange that this all happened after it came back from your gunsmith.
Is it still grouping the same?

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Originally Posted by Sideshow

Seems rather strange that this all happened after it came back from your gunsmith.
Is it still grouping the same?

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First rifle is shooting good and didn’t have the rings or scope on at gunsmith. Second rifle didn’t have rings or scope on at gunsmith either and work was only done on the magazine box, spring and hinged floor plate.

weaver clip over rings,one mounted each way around...never had issues and been using them for 30 years...well did have one set stretch after mounting a painted scope in them...gave a wee squeaze up and they good as gold again.... cheap n reliable..bit like the end user really I guess.

I'm currently experiencing this with my Burris Signature 3-15...it's been fine for 2 years, then when I pulled it out to use it the other day, I could only use the first half of the parallax range. After reading this my hopes were high that removing from rings would sort it, unfortunately it hasn't resolved my issue....sigh

Optiloks are a great option for sure, heavy and expensive though. I have my z5 mounted on my Tikka with Sportsmatch rings. Not the r prettiest, but robust as hell and they’re always straight because they use the dovetail milled into the action. I’ve really pleased with them, especially for the how little they cost….

I like the dnz 1 piece mounts