VortexOptics Hunter Riflescope Rings

Installed these rings on a Howa 500 Mini Action in 6.5 Grendel to mount a Burris 4.5-14x42mm Fullfield II scope. I have several sets of Vortex rings in various heights, sizes, and base configurations. All of them have worked great for me. These rings were installed on a picatinny rail base I installed on the rifle. The scope fit great to the gun, with a little over 1/4" between the bottom of the scope and the top of the barrel.The rings were installed on the base, and secured to the rail. The QD design with the large screw head makes installation and removal very simple while being very secure. The torque values for the QD base screws as well as for the rings are provided with the rings inside the paper insert in the Vortex packaging. I always hone scope rings to ensure a good fit and to remove any potential burrs and bumps from the rings that could mar the scope tube. Once honed, these rings fit the scope as near to perfect as I can achieve. The honed areas of the rings showed that they were very round to begin with. That isn't the case with most rings, especially in this price range. The torx hardware included with the rings makes tightening the rings easier and less stressful than hex or slotted/phillips head hardware. A small 90-degree torx tool is provided with the rings, but I use a Wheeler FAT torque wrench that takes standard hex inserts for the final torquing.When properly honed, torqued, and installed, these rings provide a secure hold to the scope and to the gun. While 6.5 Grendel has minimal recoil, I wouldn't be afraid to use these rings on any rifle/scope combination up to big bore/African magnums.Tips for installation:Once you have determined where the rings will clamp the scope, and where the scope will be installed onto the gun, hand-tighten the base screws on the ring to where the rings will barely slide back and forth on the base. The slot in Weaver and Picatinny bases is wider than the rod on the bottom of the picatinny rings. Push both rings toward the muzzle before using tools to torque them down. This will keep the rod in contact with the back side of the slot they are installed in. Under recoil, the gun will move towards you. The inertia of the scope and rings can allow the rifle to move under the rings if they are not secured well to the base. By pushing the rings forward until they contact the back side of the slot in front of the rods, this ties the inertia of the scope to the inertia of the gun. In other words they will move towards you together then during recoil. By doing the same thing with the front and rear rings, it will also be easier to change position on the picatinny rail for better eye relief, or to move scope and rings together to another rifle. If you have to remove the scope and rings it will be closer to zero once you reinstall them onto the gun as well by going back to the same point on the base every time.Align the rings to each other before final torque on the base screws. You can use the scope you are installing, but a honing bar is what I use. With the ring base screws only hand tight just set the bar into the lower half of the rings. Gently tap the top of the honing bar with a non-marring hammer (brass/rubber/plastic/etc.) above each ring to get them in alignment. You don't have to hit the bar with much force. Just enough that it would hurt if you hit your finger with the hammer, but not flatten your finger. While aligning the rings, hold them both towards the muzzle as you begin to tighten them down.If you hone your rings, do not hone too much. Only hone them after the screws have been tightened down to the base. install the upper halves of the rings and just finger tighten the screws with. Hone a little, and tighten the screws a little. After a couple of iterations of this, check your wear pattern in the rings. There should be roughly even patterns of wear on both rings, top and bottom. Most of the anozided coating or paint should remain on the rings after honing. You're just knocking down any high spots with honing. If you see uneven wear, or wear patterns that go diagonally from corner to corner (looking down at the rings from the top), your rings need to be better aligned to one another. Honing to get them even without good alignment removes too much material to properly clamp your scope.Ensure to leave an even gap on the left and right side of each ring between the upper and lower ring halves. If one side is bottomed out, all of the load is on the other side. Not only does this twist your scope tube and potentially can dent or at least scratch the tube, it doesn't secure the scope nearly as well as leaving a gap on both sides. The gap amount isn't critical, but 3 sheets of standard copier paper (0.009-.015" thickness) should easily go between the upper and lower ring halves on both the left and right sides when everything is torqued down. If there is no gap on either side, it is not ideal but you can place a flat strip(s) of aluminum foil between the top of the scope tube and the upper ring halves until the paper can slide in the gap on both sides. Without a gap on both side of the rings you have not secured the scope to be reliable under any recoil.

They are very well made. They are very easy to install. I use their scope as well, so they fit perfectly. Yes, I'm a happy camper now.

Great

Screw’s torqued down correctly. Made in China stickers but what priced reasonable isn’t these days?

I love Vortex products in general. The Hunter rings are what I use on all my hunting rifles and they work well.

Good quality, works well.

Fit well

Seem to be made very good.