Ring gap orientation makes absolutely no difference, as long as you don't align them straight above each other- - - - -and even if you do, they won't stay that way long. I've got a glass-cylinder engine I use for training purposes, and with a timing light pointed at the cylinder, I can watch the rings rotate around the piston. Rings are constantly in motion, so even if the gaps line up momentarily, the pressure leakage is minuscule. At 2,000 RPM, the individual compression and power strokes happen 17 times PER SECOND! Not much time to get a pressure leak!
Jerry
