Scope ring lapping, I don't think so, this is a heck of a lot easier!
Jules' personal endorsement:
"Thanks again Mike Bellm for turning me on to
using a 1" reamer for the scope rings. This beats the hxxx out of lapping. The
rest of ya'll gotta try this. It's so easy. Took me about 10 mins., and the
scope fit in the rings like it was one piece. This thing takes off the high
spots in no time flat. Just take your time if ya'll try it."
First off, get a 1" diameter bar of cold rolled
steel about a foot long for
twisting in the rings and lining them up. Get your windage ring in
position, then tighten down the twist in rings on the bar. This holds the
windage ring in position as you tighten a little at a time from one side
then the other until you have them snugged down. Remove the 1" bar, leave
the rings screws loose, and insert the reamer. Make sure it turns ok, then
start tweaking the ring screws a very little at a time.
I use a short metric adjustable wrench, aka a Crescent wrench..... about a
6" for turning the reamer. Too much leverage and you can get too heavy
handed too quickly.
Remember that the puny little base screws are what is holding the base on
the barrel, which is the best way to ream, and in my case, with the SMP I
have to ream with the base on the barrel since the 6th screw is between the
front two rings and not accessible once the rings are on.
So eeeeeeasy does it with the wrench. Time for the light touch, lots of
turning and very, very gentle tweaking of the ring screws to put pressure on
the reamer. And if the reamer grabs on a corner, DON'T FORCE IT. Back the
screw off so the reamer turns freely, and sneak up on the high spot again.
DON'T TIGHTEN THE RINGS ALL THE WAY DOWN WHEN REAMING or you won't have anything
left to hold the scope. You'll have removed about 2/3 of the finish from the
inside of the rings when there done. This reamer is very sharp and cuts really
fast. After your done reaming install the sticky labels inside the top and
bottom halves of the rings.