Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Leupold base windage screw torque ratings ....

I am not a Leupold basher as many are on this forum, more than half the scopes on my rifles are Leupold and work flawlessly.
On this topic however I think Big Stick understated it !!!!!!!!!
to me worst mounting system ever, got rid of all of mine more than a decade ago.

Not crazy about them, but never had one fail either. Lots of old bolt rifles only have three holes drilled, just for the one-piece apparently, so need another one added for different bases. Last time I had that done, it was four months before I got my rifle back. Never needed the windage to save the day for me due to something being crooked, but it does save clicks, and having the scope’s windage relatively close to center is probably a plus.

My Heym 98 .308 is one of the three-holers, also with the clip-loading slot. Took it in for a fourth hole and the smith found that the bridge contour behind the rear hole didn’t match current bases, so it was a choice between the one-piece standard base and a bunch of $100 an hour smithery. Guess which one I chose.

The adjustable windage mounts are junk

IIRC, Leupold used to call for 60 inch lbs of torque. 40-60 inch lbs ensures destruction of the screws.

45 is too much

The other issue I've run into with the Leupold Redfield style base and rings is that any Leupold rear ring I've tried in recent years tends to rotate some when tightening down the windage screws so that the ring ends up slightly canted. Lapping is a must, IMO. I have no idea why, if this is a quality control issue, or what. So I tried the Leupold bases and Burris Signature rings with the nylon inserts. These rotated some too when tightening down the windage screws, but the rings' nylon inserts allows some play so that the front and rear nylon insert walls are in alignment. I like the Burris rings better, but I never had a Burris front ring that didn't nearly require a cheater bar to turn on the base.

Another vote against STD, Redfield, JR and/or any other mount system with rear windage screws that only catch a small nub to hold the rear base in place. Do yourself a service and switch to something better.

If the base screw holes on your rig are misaligned, necessitating such mounting contrivances, find a different rifle to work with.

Tighten till you see smoke or a spark, then another quarter turn.