I have rails on a few, but also tried one on my Fieldcraft and it was too high, futzing up what had been a very solid cheek-weld, so back to Talleys. One of my Howa Minis has Wayne York’s floorplate, and that’s tricky enough to load with two-piece bases, so no rail for it either. The other Mini has the crappy plastic mag setup replaced with an aluminum guard that takes CZ 527 mags, so it has a rail, and it’s still easy to drop rounds in the top for single loading. As a couple mentioned above, rails make running the optics rodeo easier, and if they’re precisely made, swapping between rifles without disturbing the rings is possible. While I like the inserts some Burris rings have, the Zee rings’ clamping slot may have to be pried open before you can get them off, not very convenient. For rings that will get swapped on and off, I like ones with 1/2” nuts, like Mountain Tech and the Chinese ones SWFA gives away during their sales.
My 10/22 CSC has a 30moa rail machined into the receiver, and I change optics on that about like I do my socks. Red dots, prisms, scopes, and lasers have all taken a ride on that one.
If your rifle has irons, you probably need a mount with a channel down the middle so you can see the sights. Weaver bases have that and some EGW rails too.
