A couple of days ago I wrote about the use of a “Coaster”, an item of fishing gear, to make an ad-hoc throw lever for a telescopic sight’s power ring. A lot of readers seem to be looking into that, with much success.
However, Tom G. wrote to describe an issue with his extended-eye-relief scope, complete with pictures.
Hi Peter,
I was excited when I saw your blog post about using the Coasters as a scope dial ring handle. I had seen it before but hadn’t kept the link. I ordered a set and tried to put them on my rifle. This is a cautionary tale that it won’t work for everybody.
My rifle is a Ruger GSR “scout” with a forward-mounted Burris optic. It has very little clearance between the power ring and the rail.
I painstakingly trimmed down a bunch of the ribs with nippers, then took the whole thing (just the coaster!) to the belt sander and reduced it some more (“trimmed). The picture “divots” shows that I could not reduce it enough, it still bound up. The picture “clearance” shows how little room there is. So now I’m back to square one. Either I bubba the rail or find another solution.
But the second one will work on another scope!
Keep up the writing!
Tom
(Feel free to use this on your blog if you want)
Thanks for writing, Tom, and for sharing your experience with us.
The obvious answer, of course, is to use a slightly higher set of scope rings, to allow greater clearance between the power ring and the rail. Of course, this may not work for everybody; it will mean adjusting one’s sighting technique to allow for the changed height, which may be less comfortable than before. I guess there are trade-offs everywhere. Still, if you want a really low-mounted scope, then I guess that won’t allow enough clearance for the Coaster to be usable as a throw lever. YMMV.
One possible solution, that would be less comfortable than a full-size Coaster but should still be usable, would be to use a regular cable tie instead. They’re thinner than the Coaster. The “nub” where the ends come together would still offer at least some purchase to turn the power ring more easily.
Peter
There are metal zip ties for use in high heat applications such as exhaust systems.
Grainger, McMaster-Carr, etc may have them. Or look up exhaust wrap.
I have many of the metal cable ties, and getting the tag end trimmed without leaving a very sharp edge can be challenging to say the least. If you have one and want to try, go for it, but I would not go out and buy some to try. Besides, they are hard enough slippage might be an issue, though coated versions are available too.
Good point, and sadly, not a one size fits all fix. Concur with CDH, be VERY careful if you use the metal ties. I have the scars to prove those @#@$%#@ have sharp edges when cut!
Thanks everybody for the suggestions. I explained to Peter that the rifle just fits so well with the scope low like that. There is a metal screw holding the ring in place, I guess I could figure out the thread pitch and get one with a long head.
@Tom: take out the metal screw, and take it to your local Fastenal or Grainger outlet. They can analyze the thread pitch and get you what you need.