Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles What rings and bases are on your sheep rifle?

I love that!! Thanks for the laugh ..All this talk about mounting sheep and I think rubber boots and velcroe gloves baby!!

I agree. I bought 6 sets of these Weaver Sure Grip rings. I like the screws on both sides as opposed to the hook on one and screws on the other.



http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/8015154/Weaver_Sure_Grip_Rings


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What he said. I carried a spare scope in QD rings on ONE sheep hunt. My first one 20 years ago. I learned. Never again.

Re rings I use Talley LWs, although I do intuitively have more faith in DDs and sometimes use those instead.

In my mind guys who talk up carrying extra gear like that don't backpack hunt for sheep.

Well, I gotta disagree, Dave, no offence intended, but, I consider a spare scope/mounts, (Leupy 4x-Talley or Leupy QR rings) at just under one lb. to be anything BUT "fluff".

It is not so much the potentially cracked Talley UL that concerns me, it is, a whack to the ocular of even a very tough Leupold 4x, that makes the rifle shoot over a foot "off" at about 100 yds.

But, whatever, I consider packing a light "video cam" and/or an "Ipod" with "tunes" to be fluff, some others don't. I would NEVER pack booze into the bush, hardly ever touch it, anyway, but, many hunters I have encountered, all over BC, even in Stone's country 2+ days ride from the Alcan Highway, seem to pack as much of this as my spare scope weighs.

So, each to his own and those here interested now have varying points of view to consider while making their choices.

I would be interested if anyone could post the actual weights, from a scale, of the Talley ULs, Talley QDs, Leupy DDs, QRs and QRWs.

I currently have all of these plus some other mount systems, EAWs, etc,etc, on the 29 functional big game rifles I still own as I have been trying to sell most of my guns since 2011 and have managed to sell about ten so far.

I WONDER, just HOW MUCH actual difference in weight exists between all of these and also am curious as to the other acoutrements of the given rifles that the ULs are mounted on....are, there other methods of losing what the owner(s) may consider "excess" rifle weight?

I know that my full custom, light .280Rem., built by some of BC's finest smiths, had Weaver GS/Burris Zees, on it, but, then lapped Talley ULs, were installed. It is an HVA "steel BM", Bansner stock, fully GunKoted and with a VERY nice Fwt. .284" Kreiger, which I bought a few years ago and saved for such a project. The tube is .565" at 23" and the piece handles superbly.

I currently have one of my Leupy 1.75x6s on it, but, my eventual goal is to install a Swaro Z3 and a spare Leupy 4x...I MAY well just go with TWO 4xs, to "save" that weight.

I cannot tell ANY difference in "feel" between the rifle with the two-piece steel and the ULs on it, same scope and so I tend to prefer the steel QDs. Is there 2,3,4 or how many ozs more with the QDS, if anyone knows?

Talley 1" lows are 2 1/4 ounce.

I don't have a two piece base to weigh, but a one piece s/a and 1" medium QR rings weigh 6 ounces. So most likely 3 ounces difference at best.

EDIT:

I found my notes...two piece base and medium rings are 5 1/4 oz.

I used Talley lwt's on my Dall sheep hunt in August, and I would never consider a spare scope as going light as possible is paramount.

I prefer S&K Kontours on my backcountry sheep & elk rifles. Great balance of strength and weight, IMO. They kinda look nice too, which doesn't hurt, again IMO.

Never bring an extra scope when backpacking either. Hasn't bit us yet. Even when a friend came off his horse in a 'rodeo', and landed basically on top of his slung Kimber with a VXIII. It was 1 inch low... 2 rounds and we were back hunting. That's as bad as it's ever gotten for us. Three plus years banging around in a scabbard, carried in the mountains or on a pack and my current rifle has never moved. It ain't a safe queen either...

I have had a scope get knocked off zero when it hit a rock on a caribou hunt. We were camped near a lake, not backpacking, so I had a spare rifle. If I hadn't had that spare rifle or a spare sighted-in scope, I would have had to shoot it some more to re-zero it. Didn't want to do that right there where we expected our quarry to show up. Not sure that would have mattered though since I've seen game animals ignore one or two rifle shots. Maybe they think it's thunder. Not sure if sheep would notice a few shots nearby. But they might. So I can see both sides of this argument. A light spare scope in light mounts should weigh less than a pound. Like Kutenay said, leave the video camera and the booze behind and maybe take the scope.

I tend to base my actions/opinions on these issues on my personal experiences and much, probably most of that was being alone. I have done a LOT of solo, longterm, longrange backpacking and I will NOT carry ANYTHING I do not consider a necessity.

So, when and IF, hunting with others, I will not bother with a spare scope in my pack, as I can always use a partner's rifle if mine goes TU. But, with the 4xLeupy or even a spare 2.5xCompact in Talley QDs, I prefer the "screwlocks" the total extra weight I am packing is less than a pound.

I also carry a Leatherman Charge Ti and a larger than most emerg. and firstaid kit on any backpack and always have. The TOTAL "extra" weight of ALL of my "fluff" is perhaps 3 lbs, and it is well worth carrying, for me, alone in the BC bush.

So, different circumstances, personality types, early life experiences-training, all will influence whatever one chooses in this as in so many aspects of our lives.

MY real issue NOW, is IF the "docs" can fix my spinal issues, could not hunt properly last season and 2012 was VERY painful when climbing my "home" mountains in the West Kootenays where I started so long ago. I MIGHT, yet, have a couple more sheep/goat tries left in my battered old bod, hope so, got enough gear and guns for several centuries!

This is my idea of an ungulate mountain rifle...Kimber MT 308 Win, 6x36LR Leupold in Talley Lwt Low Mounts. Uncle Mikes Mountain Sling, 4 rounds down (165's at 2,750), 6lbs 5oz's:

To each their own I suppose..... I tend to base opinions off of using things myself, or from the experience of guys who have used it personally who's opinions I trust.
Pretty easy to seperate the wheat from the chaff, and listen to the guys who actually use equipment.

That said, to the OP, coming from a guy who actually spends a lot of time in the mountains, who actually uses the specific gear you asked about, who talks to other guys who use said gear as well; the likelyhood of having a talley failure while you are out there is low. If you need to have a spare scope in your pack so that you can sleep at night, by all means carry one. If it's a Once In A Lifetime opportunity, and this is the only chance you've got,give'r. But if you are asking if you'll be ridiculed by your guide for only showing up with a proven rifle? Nope.

Trust what you use, and use what you trust. Simple mantra, be it boots, knives, or guns.

Weaver 1 inch, all aluminum "Quad Loc" 2.7 oz for pair. High.
Talley 1 inch, "screw lock" detachable, medium, 3 oz for the pair.
Leupold 4X in standard Weaver high (these rings have steel tops and aluminum bottoms) scope in rings weighs 12 oz.
Leupold 2.5X by 20 in standard Weaver high rings weighs 9.4 oz
Leupold 2X-7X in standard Weaver high rings weighs 13.1 oz.

12 oz doesn't seem too heavy to backpack. And 4X was good enough for Jack O'Connor to use for sheep. Where else can you save weight? Also, probably you'll fly in and set up a base camp tent then hike up into the sheep canyons. I guess you could leave the extra scope back at the base camp. Would have to hike back down to get it.

Don't forget that some slings weigh quite a bit. I like the Uncle Mike's (or whoever makes that one now)Mountain sling. Nylon 1 inch wide with non-slip rubber patch where it contacts your shoulder. Remove all the extra buckles and cut it to length and sew it back together. Also use the plastic sling swivels not the metal ones.

Butler Creek...

Exactly--leave the extra equipment at the last easier place to get to. If things go that badly you can go back down to get what's needed.

That'll do...

Mine; until I'm buried likely. It weighs a 'smidge' more than yours, but will have to do for this southpaw.

Wrongside, your 30-06 is one of my absolute favorite "campfire rifles"... absolutely top drawer, and the fact you cobbled it together makes it all the better.

Kimber has the CAD done for lefty 84's... they just haven't released them yet. Maybe never.

Yeah, it's painful knowledge to have. I'd have one just like yours if they ever did...

Ah, I just suddenly realized something, here.

Wrongside, would you happen to have an "Ace-in-the Hole" from me?