Scope mounts -- 6061 or 7075 -- Does it matter?

[Bungi]

While researching scope mounts, I have found many of them are made of 7075 aluminum, while some are made of 6061.

7075 -- Spuhr and ARC and Seekins and Aadland

6061 -- MPA and MDT and Daniel Defense and F3R

I am not a metallurgist, nor am I an engineer, but my limited research indicates 7075 is stronger, while 6061 is lighter.

Does anyone have a strong preference regarding the two?
Or is this a six/half-dozen situation?

Thanks

 

[Trigger Monkey]

In the context of scope mounts, in my opinion, it's unlikely you're going to push either one to the point where the differences in the material characteristics are going to really matter. For example, my Badger Ordnance Unimount is made from 6061 aluminum, while my NF Unimount is made from 7075 aluminum. Both mounts have proven themselves to hold zero, not leave ring marks, and generally just be an excellent mount for my applications on multiple rifles. Also, 6061 isn't always lighter, just like 7075 isn't always stronger; the NF mount made from 7075 is about an ounce lighter than the Badger version. There's also been more than one cracked Spuhr mount that was made from 7075, not throwing shade, just stating facts.

My recommendation is to select rings and mounts from reputable companies that fit your application and the rest will fall into place.

 

[Bungi]

Thanks for the info and recommendation.