Yes, y'all told me so

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treepotato

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... aaaand I should have listened.

It's been posted here before that when getting a new gun with a pre-mounted scope that you should remove it completely and reassemble it with locktite.

Silly me, I checked the ring screws on my new gun, a CVA Optima V2, nitride barrel and Nikon scope. The rings had locktite and were on solid. So rather than take the whole setup off I just added a bit of blue threadlock one at a time while checking the rings and assumed (danger!) that whoever had mounted the rings correctly had done the same with the base. Bad assumption.

After struggling to get decent groups since Christmas I hit the range again today thinking adding o-rings to my primers may prevent the fliers, which seemed in equal number to the number of primers that leaked into the breech. So, no primer blowback today, that was a success, but the best group I could get at 100 yards was 1.77". Grrrr.

So I decided to check over everything, including the scope base.

All 4 base mount screws were loose, and none had locktite like the rings did. The design is quite solid, which made any movement unnoticeable to my eyes. The forward screw hole pocket that's under the front ring was also full of oil. When I took the scope out of the rings that entire cavity was filled with oil. My eyes rolled so far back in my head I saw my brain... as tiny as it apparently is for not doing this to start with.

Time to start over, this time with a solidly mounted scope.

So thanks for telling me, wish I'd have listened! Live and learn.
 
treepotato,
Don't feel bad as I have been there and done that. I bet if we took a poll and people were honest,we would find out that a whole lot of people have done the same thing.
Cal45
 
You live and learn. I went through the same thing more than once. It's easy to assume it was done right in the first place. You figured it out and good for you. Learning these things are what the forum is about. A lot of these guys probably forgot more than I know.
 
The scope base was probably put on at the factory. Then the scope was put on at the dealership. It’s hard telling how many people buy those package deals. With the scope already installed and don’t check a thing. They hunt for years with a rifle shooting 2-3in groups thinking well I guess that’s as good as it can do. But say aw it shoots good enough to kill a deer. Lol

You can buy a custom rifle and a night force scope. But without good solid rings and bases you still don’t have much.
 
To the best of my knowledge CVA has never thread locked the screws on an included scope mount of any firearm they ship ship.
 
To the best of my knowledge CVA has never thread locked the screws on an included scope mount of any firearm they ship ship.

Correct! Nor do I want them to. I Loctite bed all my scope bases 100%. I don't want Loctite on the threads of the screws and holes before I do this. I want it done right the first time, by me. Then it never has to be done again.
 
I go along with Busta. I now always take scope and/or mount off and do it myself the right way. As far as leveling the crosshairs most places just use eye balls. I can't hardly stand that.
 
When remounting the scope make sure you push each ring individually as far forward as it will go so it's in contact with the slot in the base. Only then should you tighten the rings onto the scope. This allows both rings to share the recoil evenly. Of course this only applies to Weaver type bases and picatinny rails.
 
... aaaand I should have listened.

It's been posted here before that when getting a new gun with a pre-mounted scope that you should remove it completely and reassemble it with locktite.

Does anyone else use a nice fingernail polish instead of Loctite? I keep a bottle in my safe, as well as one in my garage - motorcycles, atv's, etc. Use a good color for the "softer" lock and the clear for a permanent set. Also, a dash at the edge of a screw or nut allows a quick visual check - tho it hasn't failed me in 30 years. It comes with a great applicator brush, it never goes bad, and if I lose/misplace a bottle, there's always more, as well as the 'remover" in the girls bathroom in the house. ;-) When I first leaned this trick, the only difference between the two was the dye...
 
When remounting the scope make sure you push each ring individually as far forward as it will go so it's in contact with the slot in the base. Only then should you tighten the rings onto the scope. This allows both rings to share the recoil evenly. Of course this only applies to Weaver type bases and picatinny rails.

That's true with rings that are mounted to slotted type bases. The CVA scope base, though, is drilled and tapped directly to the receiver and the lower half of each ring and the base are a single piece of metal. I like the design, it's quite robust and has one less potential failure point since the rings and base are one piece.

Wasn't expecting the base to be mounted with a quart of oil under it, though. Ok, that's an exaggeration but not by much... I don't know they could have put more oil in there. Somehow my base stayed tight enough that it never leaked out or became visible as a slow seep while shooting or cleaning, but it does demonstrate the contours of the base match the receiver near perfectly, it's a really good fit.
 
Does anyone else use a nice fingernail polish instead of Loctite?

Sounds like a great alternative. I usually have several bottles of blue thread lock scattered among tool boxes and shooting gear, but will keep that in mind if I'm out, especially while traveling.

I do have clear nail polish on a pocket pistol front sight; it's securing a thin strip of 3M reflector tape that added some contrast (black gun, black rear sight, formerly black front sight).
 
Does anyone else use a nice fingernail polish instead of Loctite? I keep a bottle in my safe, as well as one in my garage - motorcycles, atv's, etc. Use a good color for the "softer" lock and the clear for a permanent set. Also, a dash at the edge of a screw or nut allows a quick visual check - tho it hasn't failed me in 30 years. It comes with a great applicator brush, it never goes bad, and if I lose/misplace a bottle, there's always more, as well as the 'remover" in the girls bathroom in the house. ;-) When I first leaned this trick, the only difference between the two was the dye...

I have also used fingernail polish but i did not realize it was the same as Loctite ?
 
I use and have always used clear nail polish in the place of loctite. Make sure all the surfaces are clean and without oil. Also put a dab on the top edge of screws to give you a visual. If the polish has been broken or sheared in some way you may want to check that screw.
 

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