Picatinny Rail Installation

Support
Precision Shooter.

Apparently, doing honest reviews and putting together safety and education content isn't the way you become rich on the internet! So. Your support is the main, direct way to keep me doing this. Become one of the blokes to support the site and related projects. Good on ya mate!

HomeContentEquipmentPicatinny Rail Installation

I am getting closer to actually firing the new rifle! Wowsers.

Most modern Bolt-Actions don’t come with any form of sights on them. The days (and practicality) of using Iron Sights for long-range shooting means that most rifles come with mounting holes, and not much else.

So it was time to install something to mount some optics onto.

Picatinny Rail or 2-Piece Base?

The first decision was between using a more ‘traditional’ 2-piece base, where the mounts are individually fixed to the rifle action or a one-piece Picatinny rail.

Uni-Rail-3

I chose a Picatinny rail for a couple of reasons. Firstly, one-piece pretty much (barring manufacturing defects) ensures there can be no misalignment between the two bases – a great way to start transferring some stress from the bases to the rings and to your scope itself. One-piece means that the rings have a ruler-straight aligned from the start. This also reduces the likelihood of having to lap the rings

Secondly, I recently picked up a Picatinny rail mount for my go pro – so it also means I am going to be able to mount the camera on the system as well. I am in all likelihood also going to get a bit of rail installed under the bipod area – but this gives me options. I like options.

Rail

Steel or Aluminum?

Having decided on a Picatinny rail, the next choice was steel or aluminium. In my case, I am not trying to save weight – this isn’t a mountain rifle – so I went with the heavier, sturdier steel. You can read online more if you really want to know about the implications of mixing steel and aluminium bases and rings, or the theories on metal expansion under heat – but for me – I am working on the simple premise of heavier and sturdier is better.

Mounting

While you could just screw the rail down onto the top of the action, I wanted to ensure I was setting it up for the most solid base possible. Using an epoxy resin ensures there is a great surface bond between the two.

As always – with Nathan Foster’s excellent book I set to making my 700 as accurate as it can be.

Kerry Adams
Kerry Adamshttps://thebloke.co.nz
A constant learner with an inquisitive mind, Kerry created The Bloke as a way to share what he was learning from the community of experts he found himself surrounded by. Precision Shooter and GunSafe soon followed. Somewhere along the line, he picked up one or two things himself. But don't call him an expert.

Related Reads...

The gun got a paint job!

Black guns are boring. I knew, even before getting it, that I wanted to give the KRG Whiskey-3 chassis a paint job at some...

Support our supporters and support us!

[adrotate group="1"]