Thread: Anyone ever had scope rings slide/move on a dovetail/sako mounting system?

Just curious as to people's experience with Tikka dovetail rings or the current Sako mounting system. Ever had scopes/rings move on the rail from heavy recoil? I know the tapered rail on Sako's is meant to negate the effect of recoil but in my mind you just can't beat a weaver/picatinny mount with the cross-slots for rock solid durability. The tapered rail could actually make it easier for rings to come loose if you dropped the rifle on it's butt? OR is the clamp force of the rings way too much for that to ever happen?

Never had it happen with optilocks.
Curious about whether it's possible with a rail that isn't "clamped" into place with some sort of screw system (such as NEAR etc)?

Never had any of my Sakos or Tikkas had the Optilocks rings move.
The lug/pin on the rear Tikka Optilock ring should prevent it slipping.

Never seen mine move.

Never had Optilocks move, the rear Optilock has a recoil dowel

Always used a locating dowel when using Rails on Remington actions and customs

Had the factory rings move recently on my 308, been set up for 4-5yrs,ist have knocked something recently as one had moved by about an inch. Didn't notice till after a day shooting goats thinking I was having a really bad day

I saw a dude dump a new VX6 on the ground at the range, after the rings somehow jumped out of the back of the Sako dovetail. Couldn’t believe it myself, but it happened. The dude said ‘the shop fitted the scope’ and he never checked it.

Best thing I found with Sako dovetails, is the ability to adjust the rings fore and aft to get the scope windage centred.

Had a situation on my old tikka where the ring without pin in the bottom was sliding on the action and the scope was sliding inside the other ring. Tried to tighten the offending parts down and started stripping threads. Threw it all out and bought DNZ Gamereaper mount.

Never experienced it myself but have heard of a few and seen a couple of Tikkas with the old factory alloy rings move around, all in long action or magnum. Also seen an older European (cz I think) with cheap shit alloy rings move. Air rifles are notorious for it and need some sort of pin/lug.

Personally I don't like straight dovetails without a pin/lug, just seems like there's a fair chance that it will slide eventually. Rimfires I'm not so worried about but if there's not much extra effort I'll do something other than dovetails.

Tapered dovetails such as Sako I've never heard of issues, could be the dovetails themselves could be usually the rings are better.

No problems. The tapered dovetail is a rock.

Here it is on the one piece "Ringmount" version:





Here is an older model. showing the two piece system. The hex screw holds the rings onto a base, which fits onto the action dovetail. This enables a variety of offset bases to be used and a variety of ring diameters to be paired to it. I have had the hex screw come loose once so its worth taking the bases off the action every few years and check its still snug.



Technique for mounting is to loosen off the cross locking screw right off so the clamping block is right out of the way,
Tap the tapered base forward into the tapered dovetail with a plastic mallet (I use a piece of plastic chopping board to allow a small neat swing clear of the action),
You will need to have something to tap it back off when you remove it unless you like to hammer the scope itself !
once its firmly held by friction (or the retaining pin on the rear mount as shown in the silver one) then tighten the cross lock screw as an extra precaution and the clamping block provides extra security and bearing surface.
Then mount the scope in the rings adjust fore/aft and level the cross hairs,
Then tighten the smaller ring screws in a zigzag X pattern bit by bit so they are all even and it doesn't twist out of level.
I then fire a few shots and tighten a little more (to target torque if I'm using that).

Recoil pushes the scope forward each time so the dovetail can only get tighter.
I imagine the friction fit NEAR rail would just stay in place, even without any cross screws - very elegant but a bit high for my liking.

My impression is, although it locks you into a "tapered dovetail ecosystem" with limited adjustment available for eye relief, in most cases it works very well and is a foolproof rugged way for non expert shooters to mount their own scope.

The tikka mounting system (straight dovetail) is more reliable.

no , And ive never had to re sight a scope once dialled in either.

Does anyone know what the torque specs are for the one piece Optilock ringmounts? A Google search seems to suggest Sako recommends 15-17 in/lbs for the small ring screws but I haven't found anything for the large cross screw that mounts the rings to the dovetail receiver...?

I've had both earlier Warne and Talley rings slide on their 11mm bases under recoil with heavier scopes when they haven't had locating pins. With a bare barrel the rings moved forward as expected, and with a rear-acting muzzle brake the rings moved back if I recall correctly, as at the time I was surprised, since this seemed to indicate that the peak forces were created by the brake.

Originally Posted by joelhenton

Does anyone know what the torque specs are for the one piece Optilock ringmounts? A Google search seems to suggest Sako recommends 15-17 in/lbs for the small ring screws but I haven't found anything for the large cross screw that mounts the rings to the dovetail receiver...?

@joelhenton
35 in-lbs/3.9Nm
Apparently Sako are a bit elusive in stating these setting but I found an old comment "from a guy who got this from Sako"
So do with it what you wish :-)