How Scope Mounting Can Become a Profitable Gunsmith Service
Mounting a scope is simple. Mounting a scope correctly is a whole other quest. The optic must be leveled perfectly, or the adjustments at distances other than the zero will track sideways. It must be held by the rings with enough tension to avoid slippage on recoil while not being crushed. Insufficient or excessive ring tightening can cause cosmetic and internal damage to the optic. The scope should be at the right height relative to the stock comb, at the right distance from the eye for correct coverage and focus.
Proper Optic Mounting
All those tasks are simple to do right with the correct tools and experience, but can be quite a challenge without. Worse, many beginner and intermediate shooters do not know what needs to be done. The first task of a gunsmith is to inform customers about the requirements for proper optic mounting, which can be done with educational posters at the store, messages to the mailing list, and other communications. The message is not only about getting the right result at the range or on the hunt, but also about saving time and money in the process.
Bore Sighting
Bore sighting saves ammunition and range time, so it should be offered as a service in addition to optic mounting. Considering the cost of range visits and ammunition, hiring a gunsmith to perform scope mounting using his tools and expertise is usually the smart choice. A roughly zeroed rifle can be fine-tuned with a single box of cartridges, while a completely unzeroed one takes two or three boxes — count that cost! The same is true of the range time required. Most importantly, the proper leveling of the optic avoids situations like this: 100-yard zero is confirmed, but 300-yard test shows strong horizontal deflection. The scope then has to be rotated to true, zero re-checked, and longer distance re-checked. All that costs time and ammo money.
Why Offer this Service?
The key to offering this service to the customers is in finding ways to communicate the extent of potential problems and the availability of a turnkey solution from the gunsmith. A modest fraction of the overall hunting or target shooting rig cost to ensure perfect sighting is usually an easy sell. For the gunsmith, not only is it an additional revenue source, but — perhaps as importantly — a way to avoid being blamed for supposed imprecision of a custom rifle that’s actually caused by an improperly mounted and adjusted scope.
Written by: Oleg Volk, Firearms Photographer
