Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics 1 Scope & Picanny Rail vs. Mutlple Scopes

WGM, brings up some good point, but if you use a one piece rail base then none of the aforementioned problems will exist.

not true ... I've seen where actions have been slightly different, due to either overall tolerances, or due to screw hole tolerances differing just enough to put a CH of torque on the base, enough to just skew it every so slightly to where I noticed a slight binding ...

+1 on the Picatinny rail but at a slight weight increase but then again if your running nightforce scopes you aren't worried about weight.
Leupold and nightforce optics both excellent but if you are one of them guys that's rough on gear get the nightforce.
I also think that the nightforce may have an edge on holding value over the Leupold.
I have an old Leupold and 2 newer nightforce scopes.
I had the Leupold on my 378 for 20 years and not a hiccup, so don't believe any crap about them not as strong internally.
But if I had to use a scope as a hammer, I'd get the nightforce.
LOL...

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A one piece canot put a bind on the scope as a 2 piece base can. The one piece even if not perpindicular with the action is still one piece and if a high quality base such as Badger is used I donot see a problem.. Many actions are off and beding the bases is a good idea, to keep the base from shifting under recoil (BTDT)...

what if your front base screws are just off to the right of center, and the rear to the left of center ... when you tighten it down, it's going to torque the base... assume that your other rifle has perfectly centered screw holes ...

mount the scope on either base, then try moving it to the other one ... it's NOT going to align perfectly as it should ... one-piece base notwithstanding ...

Yes they will interchange just fine, I do it all the time. The screw holes in the rail base have enough side to side slop to account for this and the contour of the base is going to follow the top of the reciever...

well ... I'd love to show you in person, the rifles I'm talking about ...

either way, yah, if you wanna easily swap less scopes across more rifles, then the picatinny base thing is by far your best option ...

Man I just looked at Badger Ordinance prices. $150.00 a piece for bases & $175.00 for rings. x 5 rifles there goes the idea of savings = another rifle project. In for a little or in for a lot big boy?

Sig

buy used ... it's a LOT cheaper, and no loss of quality ...

The rings remain on the scope so only one set is purchased. The cost is also the reason I went to the Leupold QD. But remember if you use the larger scopes you require the high mounts.
One other + is you can change your scope to different rifle quickly in field without a toolbox.

But doesn't the Leupold QD have different spacing for the different rifles, Browning Bar, A-bolt, Weatherby, etc. Are all the bases spaced the same so you don't have to move the rings?

Where do you find & buy used the badger base & rings? I am just starting down this path. All help & comments have been greatly appreciated.

Sig

Keep an Eye out here in the classifieds

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/index.php

As well as Gunbroker

http://gunbroker.com/

Thats right the spacing is different. But if your scope is levelled and ringed, you work one ring at a time to maintain it so.
I transfer my scope from my 378 to my 338/378 and they are the same for the Mark V action.
When I put it on my 300 mag, I move my back ring about 1/2 inch and it shoots very close to zero usually always to the right 8 inch at 100 yards. I now don't even bother shooting it and just check it with my laser bore sighter. I don't know why but it's consistently like that.

A rail allows changing scopes on different actions without moving the rings...

Hey thanks jwp475 I signed up on the long range forum, should be new interesting things to see.

Sig

A big concern for me would be having to sight in the rifle every time you flip the scope to another rig.

spot

I still think once you know a base setting say on the 243. then 3 clicks right & 2 down (write it on a card) to switch to the .257 weahterby. It should get very close on paper. A couple of shots or 1 if Nightforce is as good as it is repeatedly reported & tested. Your on your way. If it is a big hunt you will be checking zero anyway, before deer season, elk hunt.

Sig

Does anyone know if there is picanny rail made for Tikka T3 which has the dovetail receiver?

Sig

You should also check these out if you truely want a high end scope to move from rifle to rifle. US Optics, best on the planet.

I have 1pc picatinny rails (Near Precision) on 4 rifles, and 2pc mounts (Ken Farrell) on 1 more - like you said, just write down the settings for each rifle. I like it b/c I can use a higher power scope to work up a load, then swap to whatever scope I want to hunt with. But they are heavier, and you can't mount scopes as low as is possible with other mounts.