The absolute cheapest is the plain Weaver mounts and rings. They aren't as nice looking as some out there and they don't come with any MOA built in, but they're strong and they attach the scope firmly to the rifle.
I personally don't like them. My dad used them on everything, but he was from a different era than me and made do with what he had. He always kept it simple. I do have a set of Weaver mounts on a Win 70 HVB (SA) in .243 with Warne rings and they are solid.
I have used the Burris dual dovetail rings/w inserts and bases in the past and think they are great. They are just as sturdy as the Leupold DD, but with the flexibility of building MOA into your rings. Burris also has a "kit" (it was under $8 when I bought it) for these rings which adds additional MOA if needed. Burris makes plain DD rings (without inserts) and they are pretty strong also. I have a set of them, with Burris mounts, on my .300WinMag.
Friday I acquired a Leupold 6.5-20X50mm LR scope for my 700P and I used a Leupold STD mount that I had on hand but the only thing the local gun-shop had was Millett turn-in style matte 30mm high rings. These got the scope mounted/zeroed but they are not permanent. I'm thinking about the Leupold STD Long Range base and another set of DD rings that aren't so high.
It can get kinda confusing here because each of the mfg. of the STD rings (Millett, Redfield, Weaver, Burris, Leupold) have different heights even though they are labeled high, medium and low.
high med low
.495 .340 .145 Millett
.480 .325 Redfield
.491 .271 Weaver
.300 .180 Burris
.305 .175 Leupold
I would like to have the NF, Badger Ordinance or Mark 4 rings/mounts with MOA built-in but I really hate to spend that kinda money. I have seen but haven't used the dednutz mounts/rings, so I will not comment on them.
There are a lot of options out there. Hope I haven't confused the issue. JohnnyK.
