Rifle Scopes Hunting Base and Rings

[Big_Kumar]

I have a Remington 700 ADL in 7mm that I bought almost 20 years ago and I am swapping scopes on it. This rig has dropped a lot of deer and pigs for me over the years from 10 yds to 300+ yards. It still has the original Weaver style 2 piece base on it and I have been using Warne Maxima rings, with no real complaints about either.

Since I am swapping scopes, I have been thinking that this would be a decent time to put a 2 piece picatinny base on and grab some new rings. I have been looking at the Burris XTR base and thinking about grabbing a pair of maybe Seekins rings.

-New scope is a Vortex LHT 4.5-22.
-I would like to stick with a 2 piece mount since it is an ADL and load/unload is from the top.
-The budget is flexible, but I don’t want to waste money for no reason.
-Weight is a consideration, but not the deciding factor.

Am I going to be gaining anything or am I just spending money because new things make me happy? Also, any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Mbaysinger89]

Talley LW are the best hunting rings IMO. No ring base junction, less screws to come loose, blah blah blah. They are lightweight, affordable, install easy, and good quality. If you plan on swapping scopes back and forth they don't make much since, but then neither does a 2 peice Pic base. Chances of it fitting up to a full rail on a different rifle is slim.

 

[Big_Kumar]

Talley LW are the best hunting rings IMO. No ring base junction, less screws to come loose, blah blah blah. They are lightweight, affordable, install easy, and good quality. If you plan on swapping scopes back and forth they don't make much since, but then neither does a 2 peice Pic base. Chances of it fitting up to a full rail on a different rifle is slim.

I hadn’t even considered the direct mount rings. I know some people swear by them, but I have never had a set. It gives me another option to think about though.

And I don’t plan on moving scopes around. Once it is mounted it should stay on there for the foreseeable future which is why I was wondering if it was worth changing bases and rings while the scope was off.

 

[st1650]

for a 30mm tube scope, the Hawkins hybrid direct mount are slightly higher quality than the Talley. They are also twice the price.
Also if I was going that way, I’d do 8-40 screw pitch instead of 6-48 but I’m probably in the minority here. Either way, I’d definitely use blue loctite and a torque limiter on the base screws.

 

[gopherslayer]

Go with what you posted that you wanted to switch to. I have 8 rifles with the XTR 2pc base and use Vortex Pro or Warne Maxima horizontal rings. If you’re adverse to chinese XTR bases you can get Warne 2pc bases also, which I have a set mounted on my Browning HCS.

Talleys are prone to cracking and really should be bedded on a 700. They also can crack at the ring base junction. There’s enough pics on the web.

 

[aprocast]

Your choice of XTB bases and seekins rings is excellent and clearly better than the other options mentioned above

 

[Quick1]

Be sure to check out American Rifle Company M10 Rings. I was using Seekins/Vortex which are great rings, but am switching them all to the M10 Rings. I used my first pair on a Vudoo rifle and loved them, rock solid and easier for scope set up.

 

[st1650]

I went with MDT Elite on my HDMR 2 and honestly had I known better I would have went with ARC M10 rings.

 

[Big_Kumar]

I went ahead and ordered the XTR base. This is probably a decent time to pull the old one off and drop a new one on. The only real justification I have is that there are more options for picatinny rings vs the weaver style. It will also let me bed the new base, which may or may not actually help anything.

I still haven’t decided what I am going to do with the rings. Probably just keep an eye out for a decent deal on a gently used pair of decent rings.