First, if I have this in the wrong place I apologize. Second, I am mounting a set of Warne QD rings on my Ruger 375 and I have no idea if the QD levers should be on the left or right side of my right handed rifle or if the QD levers should be vertical (pointed up or down) or horizontal (pointed left or right)or if it is all simply a matter of preference. I would welcome your experience and input. Thank you!

huntstat:

Okay if you have the Warne rings for Ruger M77, then you won't have any choice as to which side the levers will be on because the rings will only fit one way (unlike Warne rings for cross slot bases).

I think where the levers point is a matter of preference, some guys like them both up or facing toward one another, etc. The way the levers are designed you can get them pretty much at the same angle.

Thanks for the reply. If I use QD rings on another rifle with cross slot bases is there a right vs wrong or preferable side to mount the levers on?

Well I mount mine (and have normally seen) the levers on the left side of a right hand action. I think that way they are less likely to get in the way of a reload. And I like my levers both at about the 2 o'clock position.

Oh and on your Ruger M77, remember when you install the rings on the scope, the rings aren't the same height...the rear ring is the taller.

Good advice... thanks very much.

I am right handed, and I always mount mine on the right side of the action with the levers at one o'clock.

BTW, I use Talleys exclusively.

I don't want sharp little levers near my hands when trying to reload the magazine in a potentially high stress situation. When I have a choice, the levers go on the left side.

quote:

Originally posted by lee440:
I don't want sharp little levers near my hands when trying to reload the magazine in a potentially high stress situation. When I have a choice, the levers go on the left side.

I agree and both my rifles that have QD's (one Talley ane Warne) are mounted on the left side of my right handed rifle.

Thanks everyone for the help.

I put the levers on the same side as the bolt handle. That way when carrying the rifle (with a sling) there is one 'flat' side and the other side with everything sticking out on it.

I put the levers at 90 deg to the bore and have no problems.

Agree that when possible the levers on a righthand rifle should be on the left side of the rifle, when possible.
This avoids interference with the loading and ejection port and avoids interference with hand and bolt when action is operated,
whatever position the levers are in.

However:
If the levers are on the right side of the action, they should be pointing upward, of the bore axis.
This will prevent any recoil moment of the levers from loosening them if they tighten clockwise.
Indeed, recoil will act to keep the levers tight if they are pointed upward on the right side.

If the levers are are on the left side of the action, they should point downward below the bore line, to keep tight with recoil.

Levers may converge toward each other or diverge away from each other, as long as they are up on right and down on left side of action.

Of course positioning the levers parallel to bore axis should be neutral regarding recoil.
But it is near impossible to assure they are perfectly parallel to bore.
So just go down on left side of action, and up on right side of action.

Two 500 Mbogo rifles, both CZ, different rings.
Old Warne rings require right side levers.
Homemade QD-CZ rings allow left side levers:

Like so for right side levers:
(Of course both levers could point forward or rearward, or converge or diverge, whatever tickles the fancy, as long as they both point above the bore axis when on the right side)


Like so for left side levers:
(Levers point rearward or forward, converge or diverge, as long as they point below the bore axis when located on the left side of the action.)



A .458 B&M with Leupold QRW rings on cross-slot bases that allow levers to be placed on either right or left side.
Chose left side on a right hand bolt action whenever possible:

Folks- RIP has given you a pearl with his pictures. Note the scope, note the rings, note the cross bolts. Just do what he did on your gun and no broken scopes, no broken rings and no broken stocks. Thanks RIP that's the way a big bore needs to be set up. -Rob

RIP,

Great stuff, but your scopes seem rather far forward to me. Do you set them at Max power - 5x with these Leupolds - before tightening them down? Everyone has a different length neck and spot-weld, but the same scope on all my DG rifles gets mounted further back to reduce the black "ghosting" that reduces the field of view when dialed up to 5x. I have a 14.5" LOP.

While they are carried at 1.5x and most DG shots on Ele are taken at that setting, sometimes I do turn them up to 5x on Buff if the shot will be at 50-60 yards. Just curious as to how they work for you in this forward position.

BTW, I just did the same mount on my .458B&M.

Mine are set up at max power ( when I use a variable ) and back as far as possible to avoid clamping near the front lens. Get too close and you'll fracture the front lens. Usually its a 5 minute job to figure out the optimum position.-Rob

Everyone should be able to mount their own scopes to adjust for their personal LOP and spot-weld, but I was recently surprised to hear from some who were having problems with their scope adjustments after mounting their scopes.

After looking into it a bit I discovered that they really weren't paying attention. They did not realize that most 2 piece mounts have one mount slightly higher than the other - this higher mount is to be put in the rear position - and that cross-slot (Weaver style) mounts may have the slots located in different positions rather than centered. Figuring out how much rear movement at highest power setting, and the scope body length, will determine how to place the mounts for correct mounting.

Having someone else mount your scope on your rifle will never provide optimum performance. Like Rob said, it's not a big deal and doesn't take long. It is always a good idea to read the instructions that come with your scope and mounts & rings.

I always put the scopes as far forward as possible, on a heavy kicker.
With the 2.5X Leupold that means the ocular edge lines up close to the backside of the trigger guard.
With the variables, having longer ocular bells, like the 1.5-5x Leupold, they cannot have so much eye relief, but still have the scopes as far forward as possible.
I do not complain about a little loss of field of view, with farthest forward positioning of scope.
It surely beats a scout scope for field of view.
And it surely prevents a scope bite.
I bet I am in the 99th percentile for total rounds fired of big bore, of all shooters on the planet.
I have never had blood drawn by a scope.

I also do not complain about being able to see the front iron sight in the scope, on low power setting like 1X or 1.5X.
I ignore it and look over the top of it at cross hairs, when using the scope.
If I have the scope off, then I pay attention to the iron sights.

While discussing the original post perhaps someone could provide an answer as to the purpose of lever QD rings as opposed to the QD ring with a knurled nut?
Obviously the lever set up can be detached quicker without the aid of any tool but in reality a quick flick with a knife starts the undo of the knurled nut type ring and the scope detaches the same. No-one is likely to be attempting to detach a scope when actually facing a charge.

I can't see any difference in the operation or design of either lever or nut clamped rings that would have any bearing on returning a scope to zero when detached and re-attached from the bases.

Although having plenty of experience in fitting bases and scopes I have never used the lever type rings, they were not around when I did a lot of firearms work. The 2x Leupold on my .404J sits in original Weaver knurled nut clamped rings and I have often thought of changing to lever type rings but have never had issues with return to zero and I haven't seen any lever type as low as my Weavers.

What am I missing?

Well, you are from New Zealand. That probably explains a lot.

quote:

Originally posted by LionHunter:
Well, you are from New Zealand. That probably explains a lot.

Ah yes but living in the land of the kiwi has advantages such as almost unlimited free game to to fill that scope picture with, and that's why we need to ensure we can return our scope to zero when we remove them often to let our barrels cool down.