How do you use QD rings/mounts...if at all?

[BeeMaa]

@SaintPanzer - I take my scopes off for storage in the vault as well. Less dings.

 

[BeeMaa]

@Aaron N - I forgot to mention ring alignment as another advantage of integrated rail scopes. No need to make sure the rings are aligned or worry about lapping them to remove imperfections. Another time saver when mounting.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Scopes that have an integrated rail for mounting have several advantages.

First is mounting. There are no rings required. This means one less point of failure. Normal rifle has the action, scope base, rings then the scope. The integrated rail removes the rings from the equation.

Plus the scope is already level. Forget about having those PITA scope leveling magnets. Not to mention if you have to make an eye relief adjustment and now you are starting over.

It takes me about 15 minutes to mount an integrated rail scope vs 45 minutes to an hour for a traditional scope to get things to my level of perfection.

Not sure if there is a difference in weight for the those counting ounces and grams. Probably a push for most people who aren’t sheep hunting.

Sleeker design. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I like it. But I also understand that it’s not for everyone.

Integrated rail scopes are more popular in Europe than here in the US, but the advantages are clear. The mounts are also typically European and of exceptional quality. I have three different brands of mounts and all lock up like a bank vault.

I see more advantages to this design than a traditional scope and will sacrifice the traditional look and style of the rings for them. YMMV.

There is the price to consider ... for most of us anyway. For a gigantic $$$ savings I think I can put up with the extra half hour needed to mount a scope to your perfection. Probably less time to meet my standards. Also, I may be wrong but most of the integrated European setups I've seen posted appear to me somewhat high. I'm not convinced the rings contacting the scope is a "point of failure" of any significance. Certainly not to the degree that it would offset the increased cost. I agree that mounting on a rail or 1-piece base does decrease the possibility of misalignment. If the rings are same manufacture and same height, they will by necessity line up perfectly both horizontally and vertically on the base/rail. Should be no need for lapping the the rings or shimming the bases.* A second scope, if properly zeroed, should attach and be ready to go automatically ... IF it is mounted on the base/rail in the same place every time. And therein lies the kicker. The Warne QD rings on my 03A3 Springfield have square crossbraces that are narrower than the typical pic rail slots. Warne also makes bases and I'd be curious to know if their rings fit tight in their base's slots. Unfortunately, I didn't find that they made a rail for Springfield. Warne's instructions are to ensure the scope is always pushed forward in the base slots before tightening the claws. I think a more sensible solution is to mount the forward ring so it bottoms against the forward face of its slot and mount the rear ring so that it bottoms against the rear of its slot. That way the scope MUST be placed in the same spot on the rail/base(s) every time. That's what I've done with the CCOP USA 1-piece semi-rail on my Springfield. My Czech Mauser 404J also has a 1-piece base (requisite because it was already tapped for it = only three screws). It's an old discontinued model made by Weaver. The base is very low (which was very desirable for the thicker 30mm scope) but only two slots and a somewhat short loading cutout (curious because my standard length receiver has not been modified and the base was supposedly designed for standard Mauser 98). The Warne rings initially would not fit tight onto this base because the slots were rounded to accept Weaver rings round crossbraces (actually long threaded screws). I used a Dremel tool with grinding wheel to carefully round the square edges of Warne crossbraces until the rings seated tightly against the base. The scope now locks down EXACTLY in the same spot on the base every time. It really is impossible for it to lose zero. I think I will make a similar modification to the Warne QD locking crossbraces on the Springfield. I will round very slightly the forward edge of forward ring and rear edge of rear ring crossbrace. That should make the rings fit very tight on that base in the same spot every time the scope is reattached.

* I still had to shim the front of the 1-piece base on my 03A3. During the war many noncritical shortcuts were utilized in machining to increase production (e.g. two land barrels). The rear sight dovetail, which accepts the rear of one-piece base, was not very precisely machined (didn't need to be because military rear iron sights are adjustable). So aftermarket scope bases don't fit every 03A3 the same way. My rear dovetail was too high for the base (ran out of adjustment on my scope) so I shimmed the front of base. I should have filed down the top of rear sight dovetail. Duh!