During a lifetime of hunting and shooting, I've made every scope-mount mistake in the book--and invented several new ones. I've also learned a lot about what it takes to properly mount a sight on a gun so it sits securely and aligns precisely. Here are a few tips for mounting optical sights gained from those frustrating mistakes.

Windage adjustments on scope-mount bases should be performed before you do any shooting.

>> Make sure the mounts and rings fit the sight before you leave the store. You know it fits your gun; says so on the box. But did you buy 1-inch rings for a 30mm scope? Did you buy a ring-mount system for a sight with an integral-rail base? Does your new one-piece mount system have enough space between its rings to fit the extra-length adjustment turret on your illuminated-reticle scope? Are the rings high enough to accommodate the big 50mm objective on your scope? I've had to exchange mounts for all of these mistakes.

Ring height is often hard to judge, since scopes vary so widely in terms of objective lens diameter, and not all scopes with the same objective size take the same height rings. It depends on the thickness of the tube material and whether the scope is "armored" or whether there's an adjustable-objective ring.

Scopemakers who also sell rings and mounts usually provide a catalog guide to the correct ring heights for their various scope models. If available, study it before you buy. If not (you might be buying one company's scope and another's rings and mounts), the only sure way is to actually open the boxes before you buy and physically check to make sure the rings will provide proper clearance and spacing for your needs. If the dealer doesn't want to let you do that, take your business elsewhere.

>> Center the sight's adjustments. Most premium optical sights come from the factory with their crosshairs, dot or other aiming point already set at the center of the adjustment range--but not always. So, before you do anything else, turn the sight's windage and elevation knobs as far as they will go in one direction, then count the clicks or intervals it takes to turn them as far as they will go in the other direction. To center, turn them halfway back. This will ensure that the reticle has the maximum available adjustment range in all directions after it's mounted.

Additionally, if you use the windage adjustments built into many conventional mount systems (or the elevation capabilities of insert systems like Burris' Signature rings), you'll ensure that your eye is receiving the maximum clarity and brightness available through the optical center of the lens system, instead of peering through the less clear and more distorted lens edges.