Riflescope Mounting & Torque Specifications

Orange arrows indicate “center” cap-screws

F3R Machine one-piece riflescope mounts come with (18) Torx-Plus socket-head cap-screws. A T25 Torx-Plus 1/4″-hex-drive bit is supplied – we strongly recommend using a suitable in-lb. torque wrench to secure your one-piece riflescope mount to your firearm, and your scope into the mount.

Torque specifications that we have found sufficient are as follows:

Rail clamps: Tighten in two stages: After tightening all screws finger tight, torque all six cap-screws to 25 in-lbs, then torque further to 50 in-lbs. Start with the center cap-screw on each rail clamp.

Remember to push the scope mount forward on your rifle before you torque the rail clamps, so the integral recoil lug on the bottom side of the scope mount properly engages the slot in your MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail. This will ensure that when your rifle recoils rearwards, it will pull the scope mount with it, and the scope mount will not slide on the rail.

Scope tube caps: Tighten all twelve finger tight, then torque all to 16 in-lbs. Start with the center cap-screw on each tube cap.

To level the scope within the mount, typically the center cap-screw (of a row of three), and the cap-screw across from it (on the other side of the scope tube) are held a little looser than finger-tight while aligning the scope. These can then be tightened partially beyond finger tight once the scope is aligned, so as to prevent the scope from moving within the mount as the remaining scope tube cap screws are torqued.

We recommend using a click-style torque wrench to secure the scope mount to your host firearm, and your rifle scope to the mount. The following brands are reputable, and can be found via a Google search:

Borka Tools Torque Driver

Wheeler Engineering F.A.T. Wrench

Brownells Magna-Tip Torque Driver

Fix-It Sticks Torque Driver