My Bad. Thanks for clearing that up. It wasn't making much sense to me.

Thanks
 

Over 120 responses to the poll. Thanks for all your input and a special thanks to those who added comments to the thread.

From day one there was a 60/40 split that has been maintained. I have been convinced to be a bit more careful in mounting my scopes. I am just about to mount a scope and I will use alignment and lapping tools this time. My reasoning is that, although the risk is relatively low when you skip the extra steps, you have spent enough on the gun and scope to spend a little more time and expense to do it correctly.

Cheers,

If your mounting a cheap scope to a cheap gun and don't care about your stuff then just drop it in a torque away. Every rifle I own gets a bedding job and either lapped rings, Burris Signatures with inserts or Near Mfg Alphamounts. It doesn't take that long to properly mount and lap rings. I wouldn't trust anyone else to mount a scope for me as I've seen "gunsmiths" mount scopes with pinched tubes and the vertical cross hairs so far out of plumb with the bore of the rifle you had to can't the gun 10-15%. Sure it will work for a hunting rifle that isn't used for long range but what's with doing a half arsed job? If your going to do a job, do it right, and that means having the right tools and learning the skills to use them. I love the Burris Signature rings as they are pretty much fool proof, but just a bit bulkier than some other rings. The Near Alphamounts are works of engineering genius and look amazing but at $325 obviously aren't for every rifle.

I always lap mine. Even good quality rings are not machined perfect. You can see this when you use the alignment bars that come with a scope mounting kit. One the extreme end, I’ve had hard kicking magnums where the scope has moved due not having aligned and lapped rings. I would also never trust any of the big box stores to mount my scope after fixing many of the poor mount jobs they have done over the years. And how can they know you’re correct eye relief? Ive often thought of mounting a scope is like getting into a car and adjusting the seat and mirrors- it’s all personal.

I voted level, and install, but I did have to lap a set of leupolds on a rifle once, you could tell as soon as setting the scope on they needed lapping. Also threw out a set of used Weaver Grand Slams I bought used that were already lapped.

Other then that, I've been happy with scope mounting, and I've done plenty. I also agree with not letting most others mount for me, especially most gun shops.