So then, Rings sorted and on hand (another matter I assure you).

Nit Pick these three rails, please. No guessing just the facts, PLEASE For a few bases, the cost not much of a factor but noted any way. I glass bed bases. Might just commit and epoxy bases to guns. Availability just now is good on all three.

(1) Leupold Back Country ............I have this on several rifles on my guns, fit is very close .I cannot get a sheet of paper under rear of base when front screws snug. No need to glass bed. (unusual in my experience) (medium $$)
(2) Weaver Tactical .....................No experience however the design includes a recoil boss that sounds like a good idea.Probably uses "Weaver" pan head screws, they work OK (east $)
(3 )DNZ ......................................Excellent one piece ring/mounts not much room for improvement. DNZ uses full size cap screws, (more surface area in the base recess,) Overall a more secure feeling than small head torx used by Leupold . (most $$$)

For use in Alaska, so steel bases not considered. Going on Weatherby Stainless Rifles

Weaver Tactical rail is an extremely good value for the money spent, and allows the user to maximize ring spacing. Screws are Torx head cap screws, IIRC.

Seems to have an under lug that makes contact with the forward receiver ring to transfer recoil off of the screws.

If it all mates up right. It seems like with production tolerances the lug on the rail would need to be "file to fit" to get the right contact.

Got them all on order will decide what I consider the best. Might even share what I discover, maybe not !

Have you ever checked out a Recknagle?

Can you find a picture of the "recoil boss" or "under lug" on the Weaver? I think what you're seeing is just the extension on the front of the rail where it thins out from the contoured part of the rail that mates with the receiver. But maybe not. I've got them on Ruger Americans and 700 SA and don't see anything that would halt movement fore or aft on the rail itself. I'd rather they weren't extended but a hacksaw makes quick work of that. As Jordan said they come with Torx head screws. They function fine. As do the Leupold Backcountry rails.

You should take a look at Murphy Precision. Stainless Steel or Titanium scope bases. And yes, he makes them for Weatherby's.

https://www.murphyprecision.com/

Exactly, the chances of an underlug contacting the front face of the rear receiver ring precisely enough to mitigate some of the recoil is slim to none.

I believe we want contact at the rear face of the front receiver ring.

Found a You Tube how to showing the installer push the rail forward until the lug is contacting the receiver ring. Then he checks that the screws are lined up and proceeds to tighten the base screws....
Maybe someone knows a 12 year old who can do the link thing..
For such a cheap rail, it is the only one lugged for recoil. I ordered some so we shall soon know. Also ordered the DNZ because of the full size cap screws. Just installed one of their Tactical base ring one piece mount. DNZ uses big long ring screws, in fact, eight of them ! The DNZ ring sides are milled flat if you put a square to the ring base, the top leg of the square will provide a reference to turn the scope ...when the square lines up with the scope cap you are level to the base.

Ken Farrell rails & rings & don't look back.

op,
400 series magnetic stainless will rust/corrode,since it has basically more chrome that chrome moly 4130 steels.

300 series non-magnetic stainless will NOT rust/corrode,but is NOT heat treatable & basically has more nickel added.

Stuck on aluminum. Some of my stainless guns have had areas of rust. Death and Taxes...or Rust, Death and Taxes?

I've used EGW, Nightforce, and Weaver. I don't like that the EGW and Weaver were longer than the receiver, but I cut them. All performed the same and appeared to be a true 20 moa.

I just mounted a Badger Ordnance rail to a M700 and the recoil lug engages the front face of the receiver like a glove. Perhaps I just got lucky.

I wanted to purchase a KF rail, but couldn't get anyone to answer the phone or return an email, so Badger sold me a rail.

I believe that rails with recoil lug have slotted holes, so you slide the rail forward to make contact with the receiver.

That is the case with Seekins rails that I have owned but I have known people to bed the lug on other makes/models.

I don't know what you mean by "full size cap screws", but are you thinking that the fastener head surface area that engages the counterbore of the base? With aluminum or steel, I don't see this being an issue unless the thru hole is oversized or the base material is compromised.

And bigger diameter fasteners are not always "better" due to insufficient bolt stretch.

I have used several of the Weaver rails and like them a lot. I did have one rail that I had to mill off just a hair of the lug in order to get the screws to line up. That was the only one I have had an issue with. I bed all my rails don't care who makes them. This is not to say the rails are not prefect but it is more about the receivers. Everything that is made has a tolerance on it, receivers, and rails included, I will not gamble that my stars will align perfect and my receiver and rail will be a perfect fit.
That said I went to several stores in the past few weeks looking around and could not find a Weaver tact. 700 L/A 20 MOA rail in stock but did find a Leupold so I bought it as it did look to be a nice quality looking rail. I have not mounted it yet but hope to in the next few weeks.
Never used or owned the DNZ mount.

One more note on the Weaver mount that I had to mill, I am not saying the mount was wrong, the holes could have been shifted a hair or the receiver off a hair. I don't know why it did not line up (could have been the tolerance thing I was talking about) but the mount was the easiest to modify.

What model number of the Weaver rail has a lug and what does it fit? I'd like to try one.

The Badgers screw holes are slightly elongated to allow some 'wiggle room' to contact the receiver. At least that's the way the Badger was I put on my 700.

for the long action Mfg# 99502
for the short action Mfg # 99503

The pictures on Weaver's website don't show a recoil lug. Am I missing something or did they change the design?

I've owned a Farrell, it sits up too high compared to others...

That's what I'm trying to figure out too. The 99503 I bought a couple months ago doesn't have any kind of recoil lug.

The Murphy is also tall so you just use low rings. .820 rings and the Murphy will clear upto a 44mm obj no problem with caps on it. Murphy is available in 17-4 SS and Titanium but they are also over $140 now. The Titanium is around $160 but they are excellent rails. 17-4 is stronger and more corrosion resistant that 416.

They may have changed them but the tactical rails I have, has the recoil lug. After seeing this thread I goggled weaver L/A tactical rail and found on on ebay for $20 something dollars so I bought it. I may be in for a let down when it gets here.

I don't see a lug on my Weaver,,, but not sure why its needed. I've never had a base shear off...

If you call Cameron Murphy, he will machine your rail to a lower height than what he lists. RJ

If it is not the Tactical model, it will not have the lug.
I never have had one shear off either but I started using them several years ago, they worked well and were cheap compared to other rails so I kept on using them.

According to what was posted earlier, the tactical rail may not have it anymore either.

99502 is the SKU for a Weaver 20 moa tactical rail...with LUG.

In profile you cannot see under the rail. The lug is hidden by the side view of the radius.

I have 3 or 4 Weaver Tacticals for Rem short actions. All have the recoil lug. The screw holes are slightly elongated to allow abutment of the lug when slight variations of distance is encountered.

I don't know if they advertise the type of aluminum used, but it's not dead sounding or soft. I suspect 7075, which is wonderful stuff in my book. If 6061, that's OK too.

A friend didn't like the screw holes when we first looked them over, but I felt the screw head holds & if the part was dependent on the screw shank to counteract recoil them something was loose or going wrong anyway. Then when I noticed the recoil lug & the reason for the elongated holes I was really OK with them.

I don't have plans for many more needs of tactical type 700 bases, but at about 32 bucks, it would be another Weaver. Heck of a bargain IMO, & one of the lower in height ones available as well.

Back when all high powered air guns had a heavy internal spring...all sorts of scopes and mounts failed...yup from an airgun. Any way, better scopes and mounts were designed using...a lug. Usually just a large 6MM pin built into the underside of the rail, that fit into a hole on the receiver top. I have twice as many rails as guns to put them on and have ordered more...keeps me out of the bars...I guess. It would take very little to add a lug to the standard rails. Even a half disk of JB after the rail is fitted and fastened could not hurt anything.

Nary a lug on a 99503 purchased within the last couple months from SWFA.



I don't doubt they had a lug at one time as the instructions say to push forward on the rail before tightening screws, which would make sense with a lug. Bu I'd be surprised if any new production has them.

We wait....( orders have been shipped, should arrive Friday)

It is easy enough to drill and tap the underside of a rail and install a #10-32 allen head cap screw on the underside of the rail in a position that it abutts against the front receiver ring when the rail is installed. RJ

rj...Exactly but grind the screw cap a little flat on the contact area...good timing you could call it. If I were back in the shop I would cut a dove tail cross slot and fit a Stellite recoil lug. 'Hold against even the stoutest .222 recoil !

Ive talked to him. No need to do that though since .820" tall 30mm rings are not uncommon. Ive got 2 in rings this size with 44mm obj. The fit is very good on the Murphy rail. If you went with a 40mm obj you may want to do that but you can get rings well under .820" tall in 1inch. They probably will be Weaver spec rings though. I just dont care for Weaver rings on a picatinny rail. They normally work but if you are spending the coin on a top shelf rail then buy the good rings too. Seekins makes a short 1" ring but im pretty sure the cross bar is Weaver spec.

I found a catalog from 2013 where it mentions them having a recoil lug. The part numbers are different than what are on the current website. Obviously the part number changes could be for a variety of reasons, but I wonder if it's because they quit making them with the recoil lugs.

It's very possible that they did quit making them with the recoil lug because of complaints of fitting issues due to loading/ejection port varying tolerances. RJ

Any meaningful differences between 6061 and 7075 aluminum in scope mounts?

I would rather have 7075 than 6061. If both are a T6 hardness, the 7075 will be tougher and stronger

In goggling the numbers from above (99486, 99485) everywhere I looked showed either "out of stock" or "this product is no longer in production".
Weaver is still making the Tactical rail but may very well have changed the design. The one I ordered the other day should be here today or tomorrow, I will report back.

EGW 6061 is also extruded. Their 7075 is machined from bar stock. They are also machined differently. The cross slots are not center cut on the 7075 HD rails.

No comparison in terms of strength.

Cheap 6061
https://www.egwguns.com/remington-7...ra-b14-short-action-picatinny-rail-0-moa

Reasonably priced 7075
https://www.egwguns.com/hunter-seri...ra-b14-short-action-picatinny-rail-0-moa

I've had a few. By far the best one is by Hanks Precision Gun Parts. Either 7075 or 416, dead nuts flat. He has a video on youtube.

Any clue how tall the rails are? I'm sure they vary and if you don't know, I'll contact him.

Well I just got my Weaver Tactical 99502 20 MOA rail in, and indeed Weaver has changed and dropped the recoil lug from the rail. Also, the holes are now round and not slotted as before.
Well I guess if you want one with the recoil lug you will have to beat the bushes for new old stock.
They also changed the packaging as well.

Got my rails yesterday.
WEAVER no lug fit and finish...well...Weaver like RETURNING THEM.
Leupold best dead on fit to Winchester. Good enough for a 30'06.
DNZ the winner. Tallest (thickest) Largest cutout cartridge loading port. Full size grade 8 cap screws that fit precisely into screw countersinks. Easiest to fit lugs to. Twice the price of Weavers. 10X better than the Weavers.. Installing them on the Weatherbys.