The correct way to mount Optilocks

[oager]

First, remove the perfectly effective scope and cheap but effective mounts from your rifle.
1. Source an excellent replacement scope and realise it's a different tube diameter
2. Do the right thing by your Finnish rifle and decide on Optilock mounts
3. Make a semi-calculated but ultimately wild stab in the dark at the right height for the rings for your replacement scope's different objective lense diameter
4. Wonder momentarily at why Sako decided to saw a perfectly good mount in half and fasten the rings to the bases with a floating fit
5. Work out a way to assemble the rig loosely to get crosshair alignment, eye relief and recoil lug placement correct before nipping it up
6. Fail to work out a way to achieve the above
7. Work out which bolts to apply Loctite to
8. Undo everything you've just applied the above to because when you tightened the rear scope clamp it pulled the crosshairs to the right/left/right again/ left again (repeat ad infinitum)
9. Get the clamps set right, then realise you need to undo the bases to Loctite the unnecessarily-sawn-in-half rings to prevent the effing scope leaping off the effing rifle
10. Tighten up
11. Peer through a scope picture that looks like a periscope on a rolling sea
12. Sprinkle with vinegar, season with freshly ground black pepper and toss it in the bin as good for nothing (with apologies to Dr Johnson and none whatsoever to the vodka-soused lunatic who whiled away a Scandinavian winter deciding how much fun it would be allowing everyone to spend six months of darkness fitting a single telescopic sight)
13. As long as the deer lean to the right, they don't stand a chance.

 

[Dalua]

That all sounds very frustrating, but I've had only positive Optilock experiences:
I've got them on .223, .22-250, .270 and .308 Sakos, and a .243 Tikka. For a couple of those rifles I've got two scopes both in Optilocks, and they swap on and off with remarkable accuracy.
Nor have I ever applied Loctite to any part of them.

The joining of the rings to the separate bases (and I must say when possible I prefer the non-disconectable ringmounts) is not a challenge - just square them up by eye and tighten. I think if they are a bit off (and they can only be a tiny bit off without it showing, I think) the plastic rings should take care of it.

The ring-height selection is a bit of an art, depending on the objective-diameter (plus Butler Creeks, if any), the barrel-profile and how far down the barrel the objective will end up.

After that, it's always been pretty straightforward: You don't say whether you're fitting to Sako or Tikka, but from memory you just pop the base+lower-part-of-ring on the dovetails in the right position and tighten, pop the plastic things on the scope with the gap at three or nine o'clock and take it from there...

Have you got a recoil pin sticking too far down, or something?

 

[BRYAN]

And get a file to the Sako dovetail and rework it so it's parallel like on all the other rifles since scopes were invented.
Then we would not feel the need to buy special inflatedly pricd mounts made with chewable headed screws.

 

[McKenzie]

I'm with Dalua on this & share the same experiences, including scope swap-ability. No lock-tite & nothing has ever come loose. My complaints would be that the mounts are heavy & you can't get small scopes low enough.

 

[takbok]

I've a good mind to tap my Sako so that I can screw on a nice lightweight DNZ mount or similar.

I'm sure the optilocks have been a good money spinner for Sako. In fairness they are nice sturdy mounts - just a little overcomplicated.

 

[Mungo]

First, remove the perfectly effective scope and cheap but effective mounts from your rifle.
1. Source an excellent replacement scope and realise it's a different tube diameter
2. Do the right thing by your Finnish rifle and decide on Optilock mounts
3. Make a semi-calculated but ultimately wild stab in the dark at the right height for the rings for your replacement scope's different objective lense diameter
4. Wonder momentarily at why Sako decided to saw a perfectly good mount in half and fasten the rings to the bases with a floating fit
5. Work out a way to assemble the rig loosely to get crosshair alignment, eye relief and recoil lug placement correct before nipping it up
6. Fail to work out a way to achieve the above
7. Work out which bolts to apply Loctite to
8. Undo everything you've just applied the above to because when you tightened the rear scope clamp it pulled the crosshairs to the right/left/right again/ left again (repeat ad infinitum)
9. Get the clamps set right, then realise you need to undo the bases to Loctite the unnecessarily-sawn-in-half rings to prevent the effing scope leaping off the effing rifle
10. Tighten up
11. Peer through a scope picture that looks like a periscope on a rolling sea
12. Sprinkle with vinegar, season with freshly ground black pepper and toss it in the bin as good for nothing (with apologies to Dr Johnson and none whatsoever to the vodka-soused lunatic who whiled away a Scandinavian winter deciding how much fun it would be allowing everyone to spend six months of darkness fitting a single telescopic sight)
13. As long as the deer lean to the right, they don't stand a chance.

Ha ha ha! Oh, I recognise this!

I think that, with a few minor design tweaks, they COULD be superb. They are robust, and once installed properly, work really well - and allow you to swap scopes very easily. You really do get a return to zero within an inch or less after rmoeving and remounting.

But oh my - the base to ring thing... Surely they could maching a stop into the ring that locks into a slot in the base that stops the bloody thing swivelling as you tighten!!

And as for the screws - I've never come across more pathetic screws. Made of chocolate is too kind a description.

 

[palo]

I've used optilocks for years and never had any problems with them. Selecting the correct ring height is no more difficult than for any other type of mounts.
I would like to see a better system for lining up the rings with the bases though.
I never had to use lock-tite but a couple of my mates had to on the screw that attaches the ring to the base after they came loose.
Another mate had a problem with them on two sako rifles. He has mods on both of them and the recoil was causing the mounts to slide backwards on the dovetails. He had to drill a hole in the action and fit a stop pin to fix it.
The rifles were a 243 and a 6.5x55 so the recoil wouldn't of been excessive.

 

[bewsher500]

I've used optilocks for years and never had any problems with them. Selecting the correct ring height is no more difficult than for any other type of mounts.
I would like to see a better system for lining up the rings with the bases though.
I never had to use lock-tite but a couple of my mates had to on the screw that attaches the ring to the base after they came loose.
Another mate had a problem with them on two sako rifles. He has mods on both of them and the recoil was causing the mounts to slide backwards on the dovetails. He had to drill a hole in the action and fit a stop pin to fix it.
The rifles were a 243 and a 6.5x55 so the recoil wouldn't of been excessive.

thats wierd
the recoil forces the rifle backwards and the scope forward into the dovetail tightening them up if anything

I agree they are very poorly designed though
They need:
a simple pin for the ring to locate on the base stopping rotation
base to ring screw securing from above inside the lower ring to allow bases to stay on when adjusting or removing rings
better quality screws all round
a vertical retainer screw to allow the matched dovetails to centre naturally is the most obvious

 

[McKenzie]

Surely the stop pin would prevent this happening?

 

[Siggy]

First, remove the perfectly effective scope and cheap but effective mounts from your rifle.
1. Source an excellent replacement scope and realise it's a different tube diameter
2. Do the right thing by your Finnish rifle and decide on Optilock mounts
3. Make a semi-calculated but ultimately wild stab in the dark at the right height for the rings for your replacement scope's different objective lense diameter
4. Wonder momentarily at why Sako decided to saw a perfectly good mount in half and fasten the rings to the bases with a floating fit
5. Work out a way to assemble the rig loosely to get crosshair alignment, eye relief and recoil lug placement correct before nipping it up
6. Fail to work out a way to achieve the above
7. Work out which bolts to apply Loctite to
8. Undo everything you've just applied the above to because when you tightened the rear scope clamp it pulled the crosshairs to the right/left/right again/ left again (repeat ad infinitum)
9. Get the clamps set right, then realise you need to undo the bases to Loctite the unnecessarily-sawn-in-half rings to prevent the effing scope leaping off the effing rifle
10. Tighten up
11. Peer through a scope picture that looks like a periscope on a rolling sea
12. Sprinkle with vinegar, season with freshly ground black pepper and toss it in the bin as good for nothing (with apologies to Dr Johnson and none whatsoever to the vodka-soused lunatic who whiled away a Scandinavian winter deciding how much fun it would be allowing everyone to spend six months of darkness fitting a single telescopic sight)
13. As long as the deer lean to the right, they don't stand a chance.

LOL - 100% correct, but then I tied Leopold mounts and they are worse!!

 

[palo]

Surely the stop pin would prevent this happening?

The stop pin on the sako is designed to stop the mounts going forward under recoil which is what it would normally do but in his case the recoil was causing the scope to slide backwards possibly caused by using the mod. I seen it for myself, no matter how much he tightened the base screws it would gradually slide back. I did read somewhere that a mod will make a rifle recoil differently ie backwards and then forwards.

 

[nicowilson]

Dalua - my experience was similar to yours although I found getting the reticle level was fairly tricky.

 

[lochty]

Re original post...the Optilocks on my 7mm 08 had a machining fault, which meant I rapidly ran out of scope adjustment. However, a little adjustment with a bore scope and milling machine (handy to have) fixed them just fine. But not what you expect to have to do to £120 odd's worth of mounts.....

 

[Mungo]

The stop pin on the sako is designed to stop the mounts going forward under recoil which is what it would normally do but in his case the recoil was causing the scope to slide backwards possibly caused by using the mod. I seen it for myself, no matter how much he tightened the base screws it would gradually slide back. I did read somewhere that a mod will make a rifle recoil differently ie backwards and then forwards.

From what I understand, this is quite well known with mods: they can create something like a reflected shock wave that moves along the barrel in the opposite direction to the usual recoil. This can cause problems for scopes, and (as I understand) is why some scope manufacturers won't honour a warranty if used on a rifle with a mod.

 

[oager]

Good news about the Loctite - here's hoping. Agreed re some way of sitting the rings - that is plain fiddly. I haven't zeroed it yet, so here's hoping it all stays in place. It's on a 595, so the recoil lug drops into the front slot. Not experienced the moderator reflecting recoil to shake mounts loose - maybe from a muzzle brake?

 

[Mungo]

Your post reminded me of my instructions for zeroing. I feel they are so excellent that I think they must be recreated in detail here:

How to zero (relevant to the OP since the rifle in question was wearing Optilocks...)

Step 1: put target at 25. Do not bother to bore sight. Do not bother to use a colaminator. Blithely assume that, at this distance, you couldn't possibly need to do either.
Step 2: fire shot. Observe large clod of earth displaced about a foot to the left of the target.
Step 3: refuse to believe, despite the evidence before your eyes, that you can possibly be shooting that far off at ONLY 25 yards.
Step 4: without adjusting anything, fire 2 more shots. The crater a foot to the left of the target grows.
Step 5: reluctantly accept that maybe you should have tried bore sighting, but decide to push on anyway.
Step 6: adjust scope (taking care to forget that 1 click at 25 yards will not move the POI very far at all).
Step 7: fire 2 more shots. Express wild incredulity that, despite moving scope 6 clicks to the right, you are only just shaving the edge of the carboard box.
Step 8: fire 2 more shots just to be sure. The ground behind and slightly to the left of the box is now beginning to resemble the beaten zone on a battlefield. Spend some moments admiring this and musing on the nature of warfare and man's inhumanity to man.
Step 9: continue to forget that 1 click at 25 yards will not move POI verty far. Adjust scope 'a few' more clicks to the right.
[Important note: at every stage, the critical number of clicks to adjust the scope must always be 'a few'. Under no circumstances pay any attention to the helpful notice on the scope turrets informing you that '1 click = 1cm at 100m', and certainly do not use this in a meaningful and constructive way when planning how much to adjust your scope].
Step 10: decide something must be terribly wrong, that Sakos are rubbish rifles and you've been sold a lemon, that Meopta scopes are worthless baked bean tins and that Sako ammo cannot be trusted. In fact, blame the farmer for not mowing the grass in your favourite zeroing field, blame the cows for looking at you funny, blame your pregnant wife for needing to go the toilet twice in the night, and blame everyone on SD just because.
Step 11: revist your musing on the nature of war, and consider the fact that the very impressive craters in the meadow were made by 'only' a .243, and imagine what being under fire from a .50Cal must be like. Congratulate self on being born at the end of the 20th century, rather than the start.
Step 12: adjust the scope 'a great many' clicks to the right (please note that I am a trained scientist, so while 'a few' and 'a great many' may seem arbitrary to the uninitiated, they are well established units of scientific measurement).
Step 13: fire a shot. Feel a wash of immense satisfaction to see it strike within the 2 inch ring.
Step 14: fire 3 more shots, just because it's really very easy to print a group with touching holes at 25 yards.
Step 15: rush these shots and scatter them. Crash into despondency.
Step 16: become aware that you are under observation by 3 five year old girls and their mother. Become needlessly furtive and nervous.
Step 17: accept offer of a daisy chain. Agree that bunnies are cute but eat daddies veggies, so should be shot (mental note to self: rural children are rather more robust and unsentimental than urban ones).
Step 18: accept offer of tea later when have completed recreation of Third Battle of Ypres in the meadow.
Step 19: wait patiently for girls plus chaperone to wander a safe distance away. Promise not to shoot any lambs.
Step 20: Move target box to 100. Roll up sleeves, hitch belt up a notch, spit on hands - generally prepare self for 'the real deal'.
Step 21: Fire a shot. Express utter incredulity that this is now 7 inches high.
Step 22: decide this must be operator error (a rare admission), so refuse to make any adjustments.
Step 23: fire 2 more shots. Feel inordinately pleased that these clover leaf with the first (still 7 inches high). Decide you are a really very good shot indeed.
Step 24: completely forget that, now, (as the scope turrets kindly point out), 1 click really does equal 1 cm.
Step 25: adjust scope 'a great many' clicks down.
Step 26: fire a shot. In horror realise that it has gone 2 inches low.
Step 27: decide that the scope is clearly faulty and that you have a bedding problem with your rifle.
Step 28: roll on back, chew grass stem, contemplate glorious early summer day. Watch buzzards being harrassed by rooks. Listen to skylarks. Try to calculate whether you can afford an EVEN BETTER scope and to have rifle bedded.
Step 29: suddenly remember that 1 click does really equal 1 cm at 100 metres. Congratulate self on deep understanding of ballistics.
Step 30: adjust scope up 'a couple' clicks (this is clearly more precise than 'a few').
Step 31: fire a shot.
Step 32: stare in befuddlement at target through scope. Shot is nowhere to be seen.
Step 33: walk down to target. Dance triumphant jig of joy upon discovering that shot is perfectly in bull.
Step 34: rush back to rifle, loose of 2 more confirmatory shots.
Step 35: plunge into despair when these go wildly wide.
Step 36: using new found maturity and wisdom, accept that this has nothing to do with anything but your own incompetence.
Step 37: calm down. Have a pee. Have a cup of tea. Spend some more time contemplating the glorious Scottish countryside.
Step 38: with the utmost concentration and care, using every scrap of the principles of marksmanship, slowly and methodically fire a 3 shot group.
Step 40: breathe a very long sigh of relief when these form the kind of group you want to pin up in the downstairs loo.

Congratulations - you have just used an entire box of ammo to zero, whiled away a beautiful morning in an idyllic place, and learned precisely nothing (you will do exactly this all over again the next time).

 

[AN DU RU FOX]

HE HE reminds me of the time i did just that but with a sheet of ply the size of a bog door and missed! and had too keep walking back to check if i had hit it at 100,note to self use a steel plate closer it makes a noise,i now bore sight ,

 

[merlin]

Brilliant Mungo.

 

[levigsp]

Your post reminded me of my instructions for zeroing. I feel they are so excellent that I think they must be recreated in detail here:

How to zero (relevant to the OP since the rifle in question was wearing Optilocks...)

Step 1: put target at 25. Do not bother to bore sight. Do not bother to use a colaminator. Blithely assume that, at this distance, you couldn't possibly need to do either.
Step 2: fire shot. Observe large clod of earth displaced about a foot to the left of the target.
Step 3: refuse to believe, despite the evidence before your eyes, that you can possibly be shooting that far off at ONLY 25 yards.
Step 4: without adjusting anything, fire 2 more shots. The crater a foot to the left of the target grows.
Step 5: reluctantly accept that maybe you should have tried bore sighting, but decide to push on anyway.
Step 6: adjust scope (taking care to forget that 1 click at 25 yards will not move the POI very far at all).
Step 7: fire 2 more shots. Express wild incredulity that, despite moving scope 6 clicks to the right, you are only just shaving the edge of the carboard box.
Step 8: fire 2 more shots just to be sure. The ground behind and slightly to the left of the box is now beginning to resemble the beaten zone on a battlefield. Spend some moments admiring this and musing on the nature of warfare and man's inhumanity to man.
Step 9: continue to forget that 1 click at 25 yards will not move POI verty far. Adjust scope 'a few' more clicks to the right.
[Important note: at every stage, the critical number of clicks to adjust the scope must always be 'a few'. Under no circumstances pay any attention to the helpful notice on the scope turrets informing you that '1 click = 1cm at 100m', and certainly do not use this in a meaningful and constructive way when planning how much to adjust your scope].
Step 10: decide something must be terribly wrong, that Sakos are rubbish rifles and you've been sold a lemon, that Meopta scopes are worthless baked bean tins and that Sako ammo cannot be trusted. In fact, blame the farmer for not mowing the grass in your favourite zeroing field, blame the cows for looking at you funny, blame your pregnant wife for needing to go the toilet twice in the night, and blame everyone on SD just because.
Step 11: revist your musing on the nature of war, and consider the fact that the very impressive craters in the meadow were made by 'only' a .243, and imagine what being under fire from a .50Cal must be like. Congratulate self on being born at the end of the 20th century, rather than the start.
Step 12: adjust the scope 'a great many' clicks to the right (please note that I am a trained scientist, so while 'a few' and 'a great many' may seem arbitrary to the uninitiated, they are well established units of scientific measurement).
Step 13: fire a shot. Feel a wash of immense satisfaction to see it strike within the 2 inch ring.
Step 14: fire 3 more shots, just because it's really very easy to print a group with touching holes at 25 yards.
Step 15: rush these shots and scatter them. Crash into despondency.
Step 16: become aware that you are under observation by 3 five year old girls and their mother. Become needlessly furtive and nervous.
Step 17: accept offer of a daisy chain. Agree that bunnies are cute but eat daddies veggies, so should be shot (mental note to self: rural children are rather more robust and unsentimental than urban ones).
Step 18: accept offer of tea later when have completed recreation of Third Battle of Ypres in the meadow.
Step 19: wait patiently for girls plus chaperone to wander a safe distance away. Promise not to shoot any lambs.
Step 20: Move target box to 100. Roll up sleeves, hitch belt up a notch, spit on hands - generally prepare self for 'the real deal'.
Step 21: Fire a shot. Express utter incredulity that this is now 7 inches high.
Step 22: decide this must be operator error (a rare admission), so refuse to make any adjustments.
Step 23: fire 2 more shots. Feel inordinately pleased that these clover leaf with the first (still 7 inches high). Decide you are a really very good shot indeed.
Step 24: completely forget that, now, (as the scope turrets kindly point out), 1 click really does equal 1 cm.
Step 25: adjust scope 'a great many' clicks down.
Step 26: fire a shot. In horror realise that it has gone 2 inches low.
Step 27: decide that the scope is clearly faulty and that you have a bedding problem with your rifle.
Step 28: roll on back, chew grass stem, contemplate glorious early summer day. Watch buzzards being harrassed by rooks. Listen to skylarks. Try to calculate whether you can afford an EVEN BETTER scope and to have rifle bedded.
Step 29: suddenly remember that 1 click does really equal 1 cm at 100 metres. Congratulate self on deep understanding of ballistics.
Step 30: adjust scope up 'a couple' clicks (this is clearly more precise than 'a few').
Step 31: fire a shot.
Step 32: stare in befuddlement at target through scope. Shot is nowhere to be seen.
Step 33: walk down to target. Dance triumphant jig of joy upon discovering that shot is perfectly in bull.
Step 34: rush back to rifle, loose of 2 more confirmatory shots.
Step 35: plunge into despair when these go wildly wide.
Step 36: using new found maturity and wisdom, accept that this has nothing to do with anything but your own incompetence.
Step 37: calm down. Have a pee. Have a cup of tea. Spend some more time contemplating the glorious Scottish countryside.
Step 38: with the utmost concentration and care, using every scrap of the principles of marksmanship, slowly and methodically fire a 3 shot group.
Step 40: breathe a very long sigh of relief when these form the kind of group you want to pin up in the downstairs loo.

Congratulations - you have just used an entire box of ammo to zero, whiled away a beautiful morning in an idyllic place, and learned precisely nothing (you will do exactly this all over again the next time).

The times I've watched a similar carry on. Its well worth you making a video next time so everyone can watch how its done.

 

[Whitebeard]

I fitted a new set of Optilocks to my new Sako 85 no problem all i had to do was file down the length of the recoil pin to a depth to fit the slot in the top of the action.
Initial bore sighting and first shot printed 8" to the left of my aiming point @ 100yds quick adjustment and two shots later was spot on

Ian.