I have kind of a retro deer rifle project in mind. A Pre-64 Winchester with a 1960's era scope with internal adjustments. I am thinking about a classic Redfield Jr. mount, the kind that the front ring dovetails in and twists until perpendicular with the base and the rear ring is held in place with two opposing screws. I understand that the opposing screws are to give a small amount of windage adjustment to the scope ?

My question or concern is if that rear ring is not centered on the base because I tried to use some of that windage adjustment, wouldn't that impart some torque to the scope tube since the front ring is centered and square with the base ? I would hate to damage an old scope which in many cases costs as much as some new ones.

In all the years I have used the Redfield Jr style mounts I have never found the need to use the windage adjustment in the rear base. I make sure it is centered and never had a problem.

Those mounts were designed in the late 1930s for scopes that either had no interanal adjustments at all (shim the base for elevation) or limtied adjustments that could not conpensate for the barrel or mount missalignments of the era

Any internally adjustable scope made from about 1960 onward (Weaver, Redfield ,Leupold, etc) ,should have plenty of adjustment in it.

One thing that CAN cause stress on the scope tube is
using the scope tube as the "wrench" to initially install the front windage ring in the mount base (use a dowel)

The second thing that can stress the scooe tube is an unevenly matched height on the two peice bases .
Many times, the rear base top is a smidge higher or lower that it needs to be to perfectly match the bottom of the rear ring

I only use those now on rifles, generally old Mausers, only have three holes drilled. Would much prefer Dual Dovetail mounts or regular Talleys. Even Talley LW mounts look fine on a pre-64, the scope is what will be noticed.

Get the dual dovetails if you want that kind of a mount.

The older Jr mounts look good on a pre-64 M70. There's better mounts, but on this .30-06 the Redfield set-up works well.
Bob

Good advice. I agree that it is important to center the rear ring and to insure that the rings are properly aligned/trued before installing the scope. I have several sets of Redfield bases installed on older rifles, mostly with European 26mm tube scopes, as 26mm Redfield rings seem to be the most common brand in the U.S.

I’ve used the JR mount on several rifles over the years. Rem 700, Mauser, pre64 Winchester’s.
I have the two piece mounts with the wind age adjustable rear on a Browning Low Wall and on two Kimbers.

They work very well and are perfectly suited to your purpose.

Turn the front ring in (or out) with a screw driver handle - never the scope, you can bend tubes that way. Center the rear windage screws and mount your scope. Then bore sight the scope to see where your at. If there’s substantial windage, use the windage screws to get you close. Then dial in the rest to zero. Tighten those windage screws tight.

I’ve never seen or heard of anyone damaging a scope with these mounts, but I have seen them fix sight in issues where the scope didn’t have enough adjustment or mounting hole were not perfectly aligned.

Make sure your reticle is optimally centered before mounting and adjusting. You’ll then have the full value of adjustment in your scope available to you.

CaptainSpaulding: I am NOT trying to sell you anything but I have 8 or 10 Redfield Jr. one piece bases for pre-64 Winchester Model 70's in my gun room - they are all new in the box. Sadly I am a bit low on the corresponding Redfield rings!
I have used these sturdy, reliable and good looking bases ever since I began Hunting with pre-64 Winchester Model 70's and that was in 1967.
I taught myself to precision align the rings on these bases before even putting the scope into them!
This is simple to do but difficult to describe/instruct.
It requires a large carpenters square, a spud type bore sighter and a 1" round dowel or heavy steel lapping tool.
You will not "bend" or damage in any way an expensive scope if care and forethought are used to pre-align the rings!
Good luck in your project.
It WILL look very good and perform very well once you get done!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy