one or two piece base for rifle

J

Josh

New member
I was wondering what the general thoughts are
about a one or two piece scope base for a rifle. Which is better and why, or isn't there a whole lot of difference in them. I am told that the one piece is stronger and then I hear that if you were to use the one piece and you had a jam that it would be very difficult to clear. Pros and cons of each?
 
When an action is made the scope mounting holes are drilled prior to heat treating the action. All actions warp to some degree during heat treat which means the holes which were true when drilled are not when you mount the scope . A one piece mount will more or less seek a medium and be more true than two piece mounts but can spring the scope tube when you clamp the scope down. This is the cause of 90 percent of scope trouble. That is why knowledgeable smiths lap the rings in after the rings have been installed. I prefer two piece mounts that have been lapped in
 
Interesting point, Gale. I have been leaning toward one-pc bases on my target rifles, and was about to go with the one pc Warne set-up on my M70 Featherweight. Now you've got me thinking...How easy is it for the hobby gunsmith to lap our own rings? And my next question: Is a one piece base superior to a two-piece if the rings are not lapped?
 
No problem at all. If you are mounting a 1 inch scope use a 1 inch round bar of Aluminum 18 inches long. Mount the lower half of the rings and tighten them as they are to remain on the gun . Put some 240 grit lapping compound available in any automotive store in the saddles and put the 1 inch rod in the saddles like it was a scope. With the palm of your hand push the bar back and forth while rotating it at the same time keeping a down pressure on it at the same time. After a few strokes remove the bar and wipe clean so you can see where it is cutting. Its easy to see because the bluing will be gone where it contacts the bar. Put more compound on and continue till the saddle is free of finish and you can tell it is straight. Wipe the compound out of the saddles but don't worry if it feels rough as that will keep the scope from slipping in the rings. As I said in my earlier post when you tighten a scope down in a mal aligned mount the rear ring is over the pivot point of the erector cell and any binding will cause a change of point of impact and erratic adjustment.
 
Gale, thanks an awful lot for the advice. One question: should I worry about rust on the bottom half of the rings, since I sanded the protective bluing off? I'm definately going to do this to all my scoped weapons.
Paul
 
Gale gives good advice (and what else would you expect from a rifle builder?).

While I prefer one piece bases, I generally go with two because I can't get one piece left handed bases for the rings I envision using.



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