I’ve used NF, Badger Ordinance, and Desert Tech mounts on medium caliber (.338 & .408) stuff without any issues. So from what I’ve seen in this thread Spuhr would not be a good option for a .50 in a 28-35 lb rifle and I should stick with the previously mentioned vendors. Fair statement?
- Thread starter deersniper
- Start date
EraTac, F3 Machine, Seekins/Vortex, Badger Ordnance, NF, ZCO, all look durable and stout.
Accuracy International Picture Thread
AXMC’s and AXSR’s. Badass man.. I’m still trying to justify jumping on the magnum bandwagon (AXSR). When my range I shoot at furthest steel only up to 1660 yds. Thinking 6.5 cr will do that already. All nice setups though.. There's a couple in the px right now for a steal....
www.snipershide.com Just gunna leave this here....
Seems no one has proven Deersniper wrong ?
If Spuhr would just redesign their mounts to be a bit thicker in the top rings, and less sculpted and milled overall, they'd probably stop cracking.
What about that cracking side rail including the new redesigned ones ?
Also the binding of scopes ?
Ahh, I didn't realize there were so many different QA/QC issues... Sounds like systemic problemism. Is it also inconsistent heat treating?
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Yet I’ve never seen thinner sculpted NF mounts crack like that. It’s a design flaw. Whether that be a bad material or hardness call out or a designed in stressor causing cracking under certain conditions. It’s pretty consistent in all the pictures I’ve seen posted with cracked Spuhr mounts.
There are too many other good mounts in that price range and less that don’t seem to have those issues.
I have a really old air gun mount (AI mount) that I had to mill the bottom to fit my S&B. You would think with the sharp ass corner it would induce a stress riser and crack the mount. Never had a problem with it in over 10+ years of it being milled like that.
But more importantly how do I stop the level from spinning around, currently it spins at 5 SPR (shots per rotation) 
I've been loving my MDT mount. the stepped cap mounting is mint.
They don't offer canted mounts if you need that tho.
They don't offer canted mounts if you need that tho.
Think I'm up to 12 spuhrs now... Never had one crack.... Yet.... 
Also never rounded out any of the hardware either. Seeing guys with a cracked ring like above with a hella rounded out clamp screw makes one wonder wtf they are doing tho...
Arc is just gross....
Also never rounded out any of the hardware either. Seeing guys with a cracked ring like above with a hella rounded out clamp screw makes one wonder wtf they are doing tho...
Arc is just gross....
FIFY.
VooDoo
Think I'm up to 12 spuhrs now... Never had one crack.... Yet....
Also never rounded out any of the hardware either. Seeing guys with a cracked ring like above with a hella rounded out clamp screw makes one wonder wtf they are doing tho...
Arc is just gross....
I mean, it’s hardly an isolated incident at this point.
I run both ARC and Spuhrs - and over here in Aus they cost me about the same - $450ish each. It’s crazy to me that lads in the states are paying $400+ for a Spuhr when an ARC is only $280. Bonkers.
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I use ARC rings and SPUHR mounts on different rifles for different reasons...both are the best for what you need them to do
What if I need them not to crack while holding my scope?
just cracked mine……
not sure what to think honestly, was on my gun for the past few years. took it off to put on a new stock, went to remount and CRACK. didn’t do anything different from the first time. 45 in lb fix it stick.
went 15, 25, then 45. on 25 the #1 spot seemed to slip a little bit, thought it was kinda odd. then finally let go on 45.
not sure what to think, makes me nervous that my fix it sticks are off or something. frustrating when you pay all this money for good gear and still have issues.
not sure what to think honestly, was on my gun for the past few years. took it off to put on a new stock, went to remount and CRACK. didn’t do anything different from the first time. 45 in lb fix it stick.
went 15, 25, then 45. on 25 the #1 spot seemed to slip a little bit, thought it was kinda odd. then finally let go on 45.
not sure what to think, makes me nervous that my fix it sticks are off or something. frustrating when you pay all this money for good gear and still have issues.
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I have to chuckle getting the notification for this thread and then rereading my post from 2.5 years ago early on in this thread where I had “only” cracked 2 clamp bars at that time and was OK with it.
In the 2 years since that post 3 more clamp bars cracked while the rifles were sitting in the safe, for a total of 5 cracked clamp bars out of 11 Spuhr mounts… that’s a 45% failure rate. And before anyone asks, no the fasteners were not lubed or loctited which would alter the final torque/stretch values, and yes, my somewhat expensive Mountz torque driver that I use to install scopes gets checked and calibrated several times a year in our calibration lab at work so they were never overtorqued because of an installation tool problem.
After the 5th clamp bar failed and was replaced under warranty (thanks Mile High!) I said enough and there are no more Spuhrs in my safe.
My hunch is the failures are a combination of material/process variability coupled with a bit too much filleting and chamfering done in the solid modeling program during the design phase for the sake of cool looks, and there’s not enough margin remaining in the critical high stress areas if the machine shop gets a batch of material that isn’t 100% up to spec or the machining was done on the thinner side of tolerances.
Also of note, you should not have a design where 2 features on the same part are competing to center that part (the ring cap tries to center itself on the scope tube which should be the primary constraint to maintain even pressure on the scope tube, but then when you snug the ring cap screws the flathead ring cap fasteners also try to pull the cap so the conical heads on the screws are concentric with the countersinks in the ring caps-- so if things aren’t machined 100% perfectly those competing constraining features are going to try to pull the cap in different directions and induce additional stresses on the scope tube, cap, or impart bending loads on the fasteners.)
That being said, I still think the Spuhr mounts look cool and I like how the 45 degree ring split allows nearly unobstructed views of the turrets. However, after having 5 clamp bars out of 11 mounts crack while sitting in the safe I’ll let others roll the dice with them. It sucks getting to the range and scratching your head why your impacts are all over the place only to notice the hairline crack in the clamp bar when you get home. After that you make it a point to look at every mount carefully *before* you load up and drive an hour to your shooting spot.
In the 2 years since that post 3 more clamp bars cracked while the rifles were sitting in the safe, for a total of 5 cracked clamp bars out of 11 Spuhr mounts… that’s a 45% failure rate. And before anyone asks, no the fasteners were not lubed or loctited which would alter the final torque/stretch values, and yes, my somewhat expensive Mountz torque driver that I use to install scopes gets checked and calibrated several times a year in our calibration lab at work so they were never overtorqued because of an installation tool problem.
After the 5th clamp bar failed and was replaced under warranty (thanks Mile High!) I said enough and there are no more Spuhrs in my safe.
My hunch is the failures are a combination of material/process variability coupled with a bit too much filleting and chamfering done in the solid modeling program during the design phase for the sake of cool looks, and there’s not enough margin remaining in the critical high stress areas if the machine shop gets a batch of material that isn’t 100% up to spec or the machining was done on the thinner side of tolerances.
Also of note, you should not have a design where 2 features on the same part are competing to center that part (the ring cap tries to center itself on the scope tube which should be the primary constraint to maintain even pressure on the scope tube, but then when you snug the ring cap screws the flathead ring cap fasteners also try to pull the cap so the conical heads on the screws are concentric with the countersinks in the ring caps-- so if things aren’t machined 100% perfectly those competing constraining features are going to try to pull the cap in different directions and induce additional stresses on the scope tube, cap, or impart bending loads on the fasteners.)
That being said, I still think the Spuhr mounts look cool and I like how the 45 degree ring split allows nearly unobstructed views of the turrets. However, after having 5 clamp bars out of 11 mounts crack while sitting in the safe I’ll let others roll the dice with them. It sucks getting to the range and scratching your head why your impacts are all over the place only to notice the hairline crack in the clamp bar when you get home. After that you make it a point to look at every mount carefully *before* you load up and drive an hour to your shooting spot.
There's a thread somewhere that evaluates the different torque wrenches and limiters and how precise they are.
That said, a mount should not be that intolerant. That's a design and/or manufacturing flaw.
Stop dropping the rifle on concrete...LOL
I guess your experience proves the adage that nothing made by man is perfect. Don't have any experience with ARC or SPUHR failing. SPUHR's biggest issue from my perspective is their fasteners. They leave a lot to be desired.
Not being a smartass, but from my perspective the biggest issue is that they keep breaking?
Inexpensive, made in the USA and zero issues.
Having only the pictures of cracked parts on this thread to go by, I think that if I still worked in the aluminum machining arena, I’d want to have some tests done in the alloy in those parts. At least a couple of them look like heavy grain structure or even like cast/precast aluminum.
I did a bit of work developing precast parts for automotive HVAC connections. Much testing and modeling analysis is performed on the various iterations of a design. Being the development group, we saw plenty of failures as we tested to failure.
I’m not casting aspersions as I’ve not seen the failed parts in person, but I would want to test and also polish for micro grain structure analysis. Something is not right. It might even be a combination of things. The multiple stressors mentioned above possibly being one of them.
I did a bit of work developing precast parts for automotive HVAC connections. Much testing and modeling analysis is performed on the various iterations of a design. Being the development group, we saw plenty of failures as we tested to failure.
I’m not casting aspersions as I’ve not seen the failed parts in person, but I would want to test and also polish for micro grain structure analysis. Something is not right. It might even be a combination of things. The multiple stressors mentioned above possibly being one of them.
Every time I read one of these threads, I want to go back to my cheap ass 30-30 and iron sights (not to mention that awesome vision of being 14).
Maybe I'm jsut having a shitty day.
Maybe I'm jsut having a shitty day.
Every once in a while, I get out the iron sight rifles and have a good time with them. It is harder for my eyes these days, but they still work and bring back good memories.
I would, but no longer have access to all the good equipment for sectioning, polishing and microscope analysis since I retired during the Covid Wars.
didn’t know if maybe you had contacts maybe still lol. let me know, offer will stand to anyone, its useless to me
I recognized that they are breaking for this person and I said that.
Their issue is outside of what I and a few others have experienced with SPUHR.
That is my point
i’m paranoid now my fix it sticks are off, or i’m doing something wrong.
any affordable torque testers? or anywhere to send them in to get tested?
after click to torque each screw, i do it another time to be sure, is it bad to keep repeating it?
ugh……
any affordable torque testers? or anywhere to send them in to get tested?
after click to torque each screw, i do it another time to be sure, is it bad to keep repeating it?
ugh……
I would not keep repeating the torque click
Torque any other mount down using the same tools and same method. It won’t break.
Repeating it isn’t hurting anything. Clicking a torque wrench on a fastener won’t move a fastener, unless you apply more torque than the wrench is set to.
But even if you’re over tightening them by 20%, are we really gonna blame that on a mount cracking? They’re supposed to be optic mounts, not grandma’s fine china.
Wiha has great torque hand drivers they offer in three different torque ranges. The guy on here who did the torque driver testing found the Wiha to be very consistent. If you get it directly from Wiha it's about $65-70 bucks and although it may not state so, it does come with the removable drive extension/bit holder, so you just need to buy the correct sized bit driver(s) for your mount's screws.
My Wiha TorqueVario-S is the 10-50 inch lb model #2852.
Whelp I joined the broken clamp bar club. I've owned plenty of Spuhr mounts and hadn't had issues before. And I stuck with them because the amount of accessories that can bolt on, diving boards of all sizes, Send It level mounts etc. Considering replacing this with a badger.
Over rated is a fair assessment, it's at a premium price and has had a known flaw for years with minimal effort put in to fix it. Hmm, maybe use steel or a steel insert for this clamp bar, easy fix.
I mounted this last summer, I'd guess it's broken in the last month or so. The last screw was wiggling out but it still shot ok last week.
Over rated is a fair assessment, it's at a premium price and has had a known flaw for years with minimal effort put in to fix it. Hmm, maybe use steel or a steel insert for this clamp bar, easy fix.
I mounted this last summer, I'd guess it's broken in the last month or so. The last screw was wiggling out but it still shot ok last week.
Does anyone know when the issues started happening.
I have some old ones…did the material or something change?
I have a couple of Spuhr mounts that I still use. Never had the problem yet as I said a few posts ago.
I have a new rifle coming so I decided to try a new mount - the Badger C1 Max. It is AMAZING. Built like a tank. The machining is a work of art.
I would highly recommend trying it.
I've got 3 SBs mounted in Spuhrs, and I love the mounts. I've never had a problem, but I can't ignore the experience that so many keep having. Mine have been solid, all were purchased between 2016-2020. However, I wouldn't be surprised to find one of them cracked tomorrow based on how often this is happening. I'd love to continue buying them in the future, but a few months ago I bought a new NF and decided to put it in one of their Ultra Mounts instead of another Spuhr. I would rather have the Spuhr, but I just don't have the confidence in them I used to. It's a shame because they are my favorite mount.
Have you emailed Mile High? They will square you away.
Yes, they will. But the problem I see is that there has been no identification, nor revision to fix the problem that I'm aware of...so you're just going to get another part that will fail like the last one? I'm not stating that as a fact, but rather asking how will it be any different?
I called them and emailed them as they requested. I'm sure they will send out a new clamp bar. And I'm the meantime until the new part arrives I borrowed another clamp bar off an unused Spuhr.
