bases and rings questions

[superbee]

Okay - I am putting together a remington 700 sendero sf in .300WinMag for long range shooting, f class competitions, sniper comps, etc..,

i have noticed a trend lately that alot of shooters are placing super heavy duty (badger ordnance, leupold mk4 , etc.,)bases and rings on their rifles.

1. if i am not a duty slotted sniper do i really need such a heavy duty base/ring system?

2. won't standard leupold bases and rings last and work just fine, even with the recoil of a .300WinMag?

thanks in advance for comments and advice

george

 

[Ian M]

There may be a few reasons for using tactical mounts, ranging from "they are cool" up to the need for the simplest and strongest system available. Bottom line is that they are extremely strong and they return to almost perfect zero when properly torqued. They will take more abuse and punishment than most other designs. They are also significantly more money - over 200 bucks for rings and base. Plus they should be installed using an expensive torque screwdriver for the ring capscrews (15 inch/lb) and an equally expensive torque wrench (snap-wrenchs from Sekonk are most popular) set for 65 inch/lb for the 1/2" side nuts.

Are they essential to LR accuracy? Not if you take reasonably good care of your equipment. Fact is that there are some non-tactical mounts that are extremely strong. Personally I prefer the Weaver design such as the Warne Maxima over the Redfield design but that is mainly because of one failure I had a few years ago.

Redfield design mounts are now available in three modes - the standard mounting system as sold by Leupold, Redfield, Burris, Millett etc that employs a dovetail and opposing bolts. Then there is the dual dovetails that are touted as being stronger - these are available from Leupold and others but do not have the provision for windage adjustment. Last is the modified standard design that incorporates plasic liners inside each ring. The liners or sleeves can be oval shaped, thus enabling some offset scope adjustment, plus they are great protection from ring marks on the scope body. This modified design is sold by Burris and also used in current Sako rings, maybe a few more makes also.
Leupold makes a special tapered long range base for the standard and modified rings mentioned above - no sweat to mix Leupold and Burris etc in most cases. You can also get tapered two piece Weaver-style bases that are less costly than the one-piece Picatinny rails (a slightly modified Weaver style base - the dimensions vary slightly).

Picatinny rails allow switching scopes with ease - something that most guys don't need. You just drop the scope rings into the cross-slots, push the scope body forward in the slot and crank the torque wrench.

Hope that this is slightly clearer than mud. Bottom line is the dollar and personal preference. The recoil of a .300 mag in a fairly heavy rifle will not be hard on any decent mounting system.

 

[BountyHunter]

You are correct, most do not need that type of setup. You can be happy and cheaper with a set of Weave, Leupold or Redfield bases. If you think you are going to try out to a 1000 yds then buy the Burris Signature rings ($50) with insert kits, which allows you to add elevation into your setup and still keep the scope optically centered. Burris makes the Signature rings for any base and they are use in heavy recoiling guns all the time with no problems.

 

[FatBoy...]

Superbee,

Where do you plan on shooting 1K in TN?

If you're just shooting to 1000, you shouldn't need more than maybe 28 moa to get you there (with a slow round) so a tapered base/rings may not be necessary.

FatBoy...