Diana 34 scope slipping. What is the solution?

[AirShot]

Tell that to John Ford of Sportsmatch, they forge there billits of aluminum before machining making a much tougher material than than cast or roll formed aluminum. My brother was a purchasing agent for Navy special forces and bought many Sportsmatch mounts, even toured there factory!! They may have made some economy steps recently but as of less than 10 years back all there aluminum mounts were made from forged aluminum material. Had the pleasure of talking to John at one of the world matches somevyears back and he stated that forged aluminum was his companies trademark !! Dont know whybthe would change that !!!

 

[thumper]

Tell that to John Ford of Sportsmatch, they forge there billits of aluminum before machining making a much tougher material than than cast or roll formed aluminum. My brother was a purchasing agent for Navy special forces and bought many Sportsmatch mounts, even toured there factory!! They may have made some economy steps recently but as of less than 10 years back all there aluminum mounts were made from forged aluminum material. Had the pleasure of talking to John at one of the world matches somevyears back and he stated that forged aluminum was his companies trademark !! Dont know whybthe would change that !!!

@AirShot

Interesting story, as always.... Just to note, John Ford died in 2015.

I specifically asked Sportsmatch directly what material their rings were made from, and if they were forged. This is what I was sent. If they were indeed forged, I would think they would have mentioned it. But, maybe we will never know. 



Dear Mr Jones



Thank you for your email. The material used is 6082 T6. 



Glad you like them.



Kind regards







Matthew Ford-James

Managing Director

 

[AirShot]

Yes, the 6082 material is the type of aluminum, and yes I know John passed away. The forging of the billits made his aluminum much tougher, that is what forging does.. It compacts the molecules and makes a stronger material. It has always been Sportsmatches claim to fame, why would they ever change it? Perhaps they waned to keep it a secret...who knows...

I highly doubt you will ever see one of their mounts crack!! 

 

[jkingrph]

If I could not use a stop pin, I would suggest degreasing the grooves on the rifle, and the clamping surfaces on the rings. How does using some low or med strength thread locker sound, I think I would try the low strength first as you have a relatively large surface to work with, just an idea. As an anerobic acting compound it should help.

 

[Dan25]

All those fasteners for the rail and only 2 per ring cap...I presume you mean the scope is slipping in the rings. But whatever the case...

Before resorting to a more aggressive approach, borrow or buy an inch*lb torque wrench. Clean all surfaces with a clean-evaporating solvent like paint thinner (stoddard solvent) to remove any residual oil from manufacturing or human hands. Then torque the base screws to ~30in*lbs and the ring screws to ~15in*lbs. Then test it to see if it still moves (tip: place a piece of masking tape on the tube right where it meets the edge of one of the rings...if the scope slips, it will be easy to recognize right away).

If that fails or if you want to move on past it, some guys have had success with applying rubber cement to augment the grip.

And if you want to go all out, lap the rings to improve contact with the scope tube. Most of these extruded aluminum rings have fairly poor surface contact. See an example https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=109966

Yep, since I got a Wheeler scope mounting kit with torque driver, alignment bars and honing bars I have become quite popular with fellow shooters. The kit was well worth the money.