Video Transcript
There are a lot of mount options out there for different scopes. Now, when it comes to finding a good mount option, there's actually not that many options. So you have the names like Geissele, Reptilia, Badger Ordnance, Scalarworks. But we also have Nightforce as definitely one of those premier scope mounting solutions. So this is one of the options that we are selling. We are selling the UltraMount in 30mm, 34mm, both in black and FDE. And what we're going to do is just go over some of the basics of this mount, demonstrate how to set it up on a gun, demonstrate an example way of mounting and leveling an optic on it. And hopefully that'll help you guys out with not only selecting a scope mount, but installing it on your gun.
So once you get the packaging for the mount is you're going to get the mount itself obviously. So the mount is going to come essentially preassembled. So also on the mount you're going to get your torque specs, which is really nice to have. So you don't have to Google it when you go to mount your optic. So you get 25 inch pounds for your cross, your cap screws and then 100 inch pounds for your cross bolts. So this is made out of 70-75 aluminum. So it's a very durable material and also goes through Nightforce's really good QC process. So rigidity, durability, maintaining zero is not going to be a concern of yours if you're getting this mount. Also in the package, you're going to get a little card here that gives you some information about it and you'll get an Allen key. But we're not going to worry about the Allen key because we're going to use a torque wrench.
Here is one of different ways you can do it. You can do it with a wedge leveler like this. Now these aren't the best solution out there, but they are pretty easy to do and they get the job done fairly well. Now I will note that optic mounts like this that have a lot of material here, these actually won't fit. So that's not really an option for this guy. You can use something like this Badger Ordnance Dead Level. This is probably one of the better ways to do this. However, these are kind of expensive and if you're not mounting optics on a regular basis, you probably don't own one of these. So what we're going to do is just demonstrate a way to level the optic with very, very minimal tools. Actually, all you need is a level and a piece of string and this is called plumbing or plumb. We're going to plumb the optic is what we're going to do. So what we want to do is we're going to take the screws out of this, get this mounted on the gun, get the optic set in there and we'll go from there. So the tools that you're going to need for this, you need a torque wrench. So 25 inch pounds set on this guy with a T15. We're going to need another torque wrench of some kind that can go to 100 inch pounds. This is for our cross bolts and this is a 13 mil size for your cross bolt. And then like I said, a level and a piece of string.
For the gun itself, what you're going to want on the gun is a bipod or something up front and then something on the rear, like a bag, for example. It doesn't have to be solutions that are as expensive as this bipod in this bag, but just something that you can get the gun on. It could be socks, it could be a pile of clothes. Just something that when you put the gun down, it is level on both left and right and up and down. So in this case, like I said, we just have the bipod and we have a bag. So we're going to start with taking these screws out of the mount. Once we've got the screws taken off of the mount, we're going to go ahead and place this guy onto the upper receiver. So this is where you're going to want to start to figure out your length of pull and your eye relief and all of those things. I have a good idea of exactly where mine is for this optic setup and this gun. So this is the 9-4, 2.5-20.
So generally, just a quick note here is you're going to want to set your eye relief, your length of pull, for when you're in the prone. So don't do this when you're standing up because when you're in the prone, your neck is going to go forward a little bit farther and you're going to have a really tight eye box if you have this set up for understanding. So I about know exactly where this is going to be for me, so I'm not going to get behind and demonstrate that. So once I get the optic setup about where I want it, I'm going to put these the scope rings back on with the screws. Now if you want to do blue loctite on these, you can for demonstrating purposes. We're not going to do that. Just put a drop on there if you so wish. So all I'm going to do is just get these screws started. I'm not going to tighten these down basically at all quite yet.
Place the rings back on. Obviously they're not tightened down whatsoever yet. Now what we're going to do is we're going to get this gun pointed at our string hanging from the ceiling. Explain that string in just a second. And as we get that pointed at the string, I want to get the gun level. So I want it level from left to right, so not side to side and in up and down. Now the up and down is not nearly as important as the left to right can't, but it's going to be nice to have. So the string hanging from the ceiling, we have a weight tight at the bottom of it. And what that string is, is we're using gravity to get a perfectly straight line. So when my gun is level pointed at it, I have the reticle lined up right in line with the string. That will level the optic and that is called plumb or plumbing, whatever you want to call it.
The way I'm going to level the gun, like I said, the left and right is what I care about most right now. So I'm going to put the level on what part of the gun the mount is on. So obviously it should be the upper receiver. You shouldn't be mounting your mount to the rail. But if you do for whatever reason, then put your level on the rail. So in this case, I got it on the back of the upper receiver. I'm just going to make sure it's straight on there. And I'm just going to adjust the gun slightly to get it level. Okay. So nice and level. I'm already pointing at the string. As I look through the string, I just want to be lined up with it. I am. Keep everything level. Everything's level. So now what I'm going to do is I'm going to start to torque down my top screws.
So as I torque down these screws, I'm going to do like a tire pattern. So I'll go bottom right and then top left. And then I'll do the opposite with the other rings. I'm just going to go in that pattern back and forth until they're all torqued to spec. So a quick note with the string. The farther away the string is, the better. So in this case, we're really close. So this isn't a great representation of how to do this. So if I can have this string 25, 50 meters away, like out your window, you have a string hanging down from a tree or something, that would be ideal. But we're up close. And again, this is just for demonstrating purposes. I'm going to do is as I tighten this, I'm just going to get it finger snug.
Basically as soon as I start to feel resistance. And as I do this, I want to watch to make sure that this is getting tightened down equally and I don't have the ring all the way down to the mount on one side and then a big air gap on the other side. So everything's snug right now. The optic shouldn't move. It's not torqued to spec yet, so I'm going to come in here, make sure we're still up against the string. We are.
We're still level, so now I'm going to go ahead and torque it to work all these screws down to spec. We've got 25 inch-pounds. I'm going to do the same pattern. Alright, so we got those rings torqued down. We're going to go ahead and torque down the mount itself. There you have it,
like I said, this is not the best method for leveling an optic. It's just one of the easier ways and requires the least amount of tools in supporting equipment. If you're not mounting optics all the time, you're probably not going to have a lot of power. I like that fancy badger ordinance leveling system. So just like I said, get a string hung up as far away as possible. Get your gun level pointed at it and then just use your reticle to line up with that string and that's going to give you a very level optic.
It's pretty simple, guys. On your scope rings, you have Nightforce logos written on them. They can face either way. They can face towards each other, away from each other. They can both be facing forward, both facing backwards. That doesn't matter. These scope mounts are pretty simple and that's one of the really nice things about them. Not too much to explain about it. If you guys have any questions regarding this mount, if you guys need help installing it, mounting an optic in it, anything at all, just go ahead and email us at team@trex-arms.com.