DIY Riflescope Zero-Stop

[SDMF]

I’m sure this process will work for a whole bunch of other scopes beyond the NF SHV, that’s just the one I made. I saw the idea originally referenced on either Long-Range Hunting or Rockslide, I don't recall which.

I really like the 3-10x42 NF SHV on a hunting rifle. They’ve got a simple duplex available and have very tactile “clicks” when dialing, as well as a stellar reputation for tracking precisely. What they don’t have is a zero-stop. You can go to the NXS 2.5-10x24/32/42 but it’s 2x the $$ and there are no more “simple reticles” in the NXS.

For explanation sake there are 3 basic components of the turret:

1. The turret pillar to which everything attaches. The pillar also has the datum-line for “zero”.

2. The turret cap which has the MOA designations from 0-9 and a line @ each 1/4MOA or “click”.

3. The turret cover that threads on and covers everything.

I started with a calipers and measured the OD of the turret pillar and turret cap, then the ID of the turret cover. That’ll give you a general idea how big the “hole” needs to be in your material as well as what you need for wall-thickness so the cover “stops” on it, and lastly, how much total OD of your stop can fit under the cover.

I tried 1MM wall thickness copper-tube and 2MM carbon fiber tube. Both fit over the pillar and under the cap, but the cap slipped under the “stop” and essentially the stop didn’t stop precisely and just jammed up the turret cap.

I tried bronze bushing and SS tubing that were ~1/2MM under size, but a “window” in them making them a “split-ring” but once snapped in place, the wall thickness didn’t allow for the cover to go on.

Ultimately I used 20MM ID/23MM OD AL tubing. 3 100MM long tubes were ~$15 off of Amazon.

I have a rifle sighted in and turret zeroed. I used the backside jaws of a calipers and measured the gap between the bottom of the pillar and bottom of the turret cap. I locked the calipers, used them to mark the tubing with a sharpie. I then used a thumbscrew-style tubing cutter and cut off my ring/stop stock. I then cut out a “window” that would allow me to see the zero-datum line on the turret pillar as well as allow me to spring the stop just a bit when installing it on the pillar. The pillar is 20.5MM, the ID of the AL tubing is 20MM.

I used a wire-wheel on a bench grinder to knock down any burrs.

You could get more precise with a file or if you had a lathe to measure and cut more precisely. This method works for me.

 

[svnmag]

I've had this question for a long time: Do you write/freelance for shit? I know you told me once your hobby would be ruined by occupation: Shooting is your hobby?...

 

[SDMF]

I saw the concept on another site, this wasn’t my original idea, just my execution of someone else’s.

No writing, no freelancing, no “influencing” (except for a few friends I have to brow-beat), no I don’t wanna.

Yes, just a hobby. Dad was a good teacher, good shot, and loved to buy/sell/trade as a hobby. I got to see a lot of gun’s come and go. @ 12yrs old I was mounting my own scope and loading my own shotgun and rifle ammo. In fact @ 12, I was loading dad’s shotgun ammo for trap league. If I didn’t have 100 trap rounds loaded (and the lawn mowed) by Thursday afternoon each week during the summer, I didn’t get to shoot.

 

[svnmag]

That's awesome.

 

[CatDaddy]

The 3D printer I bought last winter could be very handy for this. I may have to try it!

 

[SDMF]

The 3D printer I bought last winter could be very handy for this. I may have to try it!

The original thread I believe from Rokslide someone had mentioned they were using a 3-D printer to make their zero-stops.

My idea behind posting this was to give folks a fairly easy and inexpensive solution to replicate, or, hopefully expand upon with an even better solution they could share w/the group.