I picked up a rifle that has the subject base/rings. I am struggling getting the little levers to turn. It appears I need to tap them with a punch but I do not know which direction I need to move them. Up or down? The levers are on the left side of the rifle and are pointing forward. Thanks.

Forward to lock , rearward to unlock. That is based on them being on the left side of the gun.

Thanks. Do I turn them clockwise (up) or counter (down)?

You only need to turn them 90-degrees with the unlocked position being straight up or straight down and the locked position being straight forward or straight backward. Be careful about using too much force on the paddles as they are quite fragile and easier to snap off then you would expect. I like the design, but wish that the paddles were more robust. Leupold sells repair/replacement parts if you break them, but it would certainly suck if you broke them off when you were far afield. The fragile paddles have prompted me to swap out most of my Leupold QRs for Warne or Leupold QRW styles.

To unloose them you would turn them clockwise. Just use a nylon hammer(not sure how strong they are).

If I am reading this right they(levers) are on a horizontal plane facing forward?

I am not using these and you are welcome to them if something bad happens.

Got it. I'll likely go with Talleys as I have a set modified bases.. Thanks again.

The Leupold QR bases are machined so close you sometimes have to take a couple very light strokes with a round file like a chainsaw file to get them to fit. The set I have I had a problem with getting the levers to turn and I got this advice from someone on this site and it worked perfectly. You have to be VERY light handed with the file...

When it comes to those little levers on the base/rings of your rifle, the general rule of thumb is to move them up to loosen and down to tighten. It's like a secret handshake with your rifle! But remember, different designs can have their own quirks.

I’ve got a bunch of them and I like them a lot. Levers should be on the left side of the rifle and the orientation of the locked levers won’t necessarily be horizontal or matched front and rear; the levers can be horizontal or vertical or anywhere in between. CCW tightens and CW loosens.