leupold classic mounts

[bigrich]

hey fellas , i'm asking for experience and opinions on the old windage adjustable leupold bases . it's a bit of a long winded post , but i wanted to put up all the facts . i've had a FN 98 commercial action put together in 338-06 . after much stuffing around trying to find some steel weaver style bases , i bought a set of warne bases second hand off a rifle in rebel gun works . thanks to rebel for that . correct part numbers and all , but i run out of windage adjustment on various leupold scopes . this rifle has had this issue with other mounts as well . gun smith has previously checked alignment and called it good . even had the receiver squared before the 338-06 barrel was fitted . i haven't shot it yet , just setting up, so i've had to put this style of leupold mount on the rifle instead of weavers for scope adjustment. using a lyman magnetic prism bore sighter that's brilliant once you know how to use it . could be the mount holes are true , just canted of the one side . if it's true but offset by a inch at all distances , i can live with that . shooting at various distance will give me answers . i guess.

now i've done some googling on the leupold bases , their own website says intended for less than 300 win mag recoil. 338-06 recoil is about the same level . however i've found many guys on american forums that have had them on 338 win mags and 375 h&h rifles for many years that reckon they've not had issues . i think the trick is to retorque the windage adjustment screws after shooting the rifle and everything settles into place . do any of you guys have these bases on higher recoiling rifles with any issues ? looking forward to your replies . cheers

[Wapiti]

No issue with recoil Rich.
These mounts on my 7lb 300RUM stalking rifle have held without zero change for over 10 years.

These mounts replaced the QRW ones I had previously, which this cartridge with 200gn bullets, sheared off like a guillotine the recoil blocks under these QRW mounts.
This cartridge in a light rifle makes the 375 H&H feel like a toy.
However the Leupold classics are rock solid, and are of lines that compliment a hunting rifle.
Not everything needs mounts that replicate the clubby tattooed tactical terry in the mirror look.

They will also solve the issue of the many older rifles out there with misaligned barrelled receivers, and the home-gunsmith base holes drilled out of line with the bore, And you can't tell either.

[Wapiti]

And you can get stainless finish, or blued, and the rings can be whatever height you need to get a super-low scope for fast sighting. Which is impossible with pic rail setups in really low mounting situations.

300RUM.jpg (683.56 KiB) Viewed 61 times

[straightshooter]

hey fellas , i'm asking for experience and opinions on the old windage adjustable leupold bases . it's a bit of a long winded post , but i wanted to put up all the facts . i've had a FN 98 commercial action put together in 338-06 . after much stuffing around trying to find some steel weaver style bases , i bought a set of warne bases second hand off a rifle in rebel gun works . thanks to rebel for that . correct part numbers and all , but i run out of windage adjustment on various leupold scopes . this rifle has had this issue with other mounts as well . gun smith has previously checked alignment and called it good . even had the receiver squared before the 338-06 barrel was fitted . i haven't shot it yet , just setting up, so i've had to put this style of leupold mount on the rifle instead of weavers for scope adjustment. using a lyman magnetic prism bore sighter that's brilliant once you know how to use it . could be the mount holes are true , just canted of the one side . if it's true but offset by a inch at all distances , i can live with that . shooting at various distance will give me answers . i guess.

now i've done some googling on the leupold bases , their own website says intended for less than 300 win mag recoil. 338-06 recoil is about the same level . however i've found many guys on american forums that have had them on 338 win mags and 375 h&h rifles for many years that reckon they've not had issues . i think the trick is to retorque the windage adjustment screws after shooting the rifle and everything settles into place . do any of you guys have these bases on higher recoiling rifles with any issues ? looking forward to your replies . cheers

The problem with the so called American "turn in" mounts from various manufacturers is the front dovetail pounding loose with recoil. So combining even a moderately recoiling rifle and a currently fashionable heavy monster scope means one will develop problems after not too many rounds.
Ignoring some the high priced German "custom" mounting systems the absolute best readily available ring and mount system was the Hillver stud mount system. It was sold overseas under many brand names.
They have the widest range of windage adjustment that will accommodate the most crooked barrel as well as tolerating the heaviest recoil.
There are still plenty of new and used mounts and rings lurking in gunshops.
Some of the range is still available new from Lynx although now made in South Africa.

[bigrich]

No issue with recoil Rich.
These mounts on my 7lb 300RUM stalking rifle have held without zero change for over 10 years.

These mounts replaced the QRW ones I had previously, which this cartridge with 200gn bullets, sheared off like a guillotine the recoil blocks under these QRW mounts.
This cartridge in a light rifle makes the 375 H&H feel like a toy.
However the Leupold classics are rock solid, and are of lines that compliment a hunting rifle.
Not everything needs mounts that replicate the clubby tattooed tactical terry in the mirror look.

They will also solve the issue of the many older rifles out there with misaligned barrelled receivers, and the home-gunsmith base holes drilled out of line with the bore, And you can't tell either.

\thanks for the info mate . you've made me feel much better about the leupolds . your 300RUM generates more recoil than my 338-06 . the leupold mounts on my 98 are a set of impossible to find gloss ones for the FN commercial that were old stock hidden on the back wall of a gun shop and the medium gloss rings i've got were new old stock from premium optics i think . almost wish i had waited for the 7 months or so to get a blued moly lothar walther blued barrel on my 98 , it woulda looked so old school , but i scored a new IBI stainless barrel in 338 on ssaa gun sales . took jim in toowooba a week to put it together for me . i'm still gunna drive to texas to get him to do my "special" projects

[bigrich]

hey fellas , i'm asking for experience and opinions on the old windage adjustable leupold bases . it's a bit of a long winded post , but i wanted to put up all the facts . i've had a FN 98 commercial action put together in 338-06 . after much stuffing around trying to find some steel weaver style bases , i bought a set of warne bases second hand off a rifle in rebel gun works . thanks to rebel for that . correct part numbers and all , but i run out of windage adjustment on various leupold scopes . this rifle has had this issue with other mounts as well . gun smith has previously checked alignment and called it good . even had the receiver squared before the 338-06 barrel was fitted . i haven't shot it yet , just setting up, so i've had to put this style of leupold mount on the rifle instead of weavers for scope adjustment. using a lyman magnetic prism bore sighter that's brilliant once you know how to use it . could be the mount holes are true , just canted of the one side . if it's true but offset by a inch at all distances , i can live with that . shooting at various distance will give me answers . i guess.

now i've done some googling on the leupold bases , their own website says intended for less than 300 win mag recoil. 338-06 recoil is about the same level . however i've found many guys on american forums that have had them on 338 win mags and 375 h&h rifles for many years that reckon they've not had issues . i think the trick is to retorque the windage adjustment screws after shooting the rifle and everything settles into place . do any of you guys have these bases on higher recoiling rifles with any issues ? looking forward to your replies . cheers

The problem with the so called American "turn in" mounts from various manufacturers is the front dovetail pounding loose with recoil. So combining even a moderately recoiling rifle and a currently fashionable heavy monster scope means one will develop problems after not too many rounds.
Ignoring some the high priced German "custom" mounting systems the absolute best readily available ring and mount system was the Hillver stud mount system. It was sold overseas under many brand names.
They have the widest range of windage adjustment that will accommodate the most crooked barrel as well as tolerating the heaviest recoil.
There are still plenty of new and used mounts and rings lurking in gunshops.
Some of the range is still available new from Lynx although now made in South Africa.

thanks for the feedback mate , i've been on a lot of american forums researching this subject , i think the main reason this style of mount fails is people twist the front rint ring in and out a few times , wearing the mating surfaces, and they fail to re tighten the rear windage screws after they "settle in" after a few firings . the hilvers i'd forgotten about , i've used them in the past , but a lot of the rings aren't the quality of the early ones and appear to be of lesser grade steel . but i'll look into them . my scope is a vx1 2-7x33 gloss , click turrets not friction . so not heavy which should help . another solution if i want to go back to weaver style mounts is the scope itself. 3-9's have about 52 moa of adjustment , 2-7 about 67moa . if i can find a vx3 1.5-5x20 they have 120moa of adjustment ! that'd definitely get me out of trouble i think . thanks for your help mate