Are Weaver Type scope mounts sturdy enough for airline travel? I have a pair on a Winchester 70 Featherweight and I have never readjusted sights since I have settled on a particular load. Am I just lucky or am I right in thinking that Weaver mounts are fairly tough.

quote:

Originally posted by Texasnimrod1960:
Are Weaver Type scope mounts sturdy enough for airline travel? I have a pair on a Winchester 70 Featherweight and I have never readjusted sights since I have settled on a particular load. Am I just lucky or am I right in thinking that Weaver mounts are fairly tough.

If you're rifle is packed in a well padded hard case, it should withstand a normal take off and landing. Some "Weaver style" rings and bases are nearly indestructible. There are others that aren't. While I'm a fan of the design, I'm not particularly a fan of the standard "Weaver" brand rings.

I have used regular weaver rings on a bunch of different rifles with ZERO problems-and i dont think they look that bad either.

Funny thing about this Weaver mount thing... I am going back in that direction after 40 years of the high dollar pretty finish sets. I love their sturdy nature and return to zero is excellent when taken off and on frequently. Learned this when out west Pdoggin. Took the scopes off when cooling and cleaning and then right back in action.

Weaver mounts are very sturdy. The only thing wrong with them is that they are ugly, in my opinion anyway.

A thing that is right with Weaver mounts is that the scope can easily be detached from the bases by loosening the transverse screws -- there is one on each mount, front and rear, for a total of two per gun -- and lifting the scope off. You can then return the scope and tighten the screws, and the scope will retain its zero setting just as it had it before you removed it.

__________

Like 308Sako, I'm slowly drifting back to them. My only "beef" is when tightening the rings, the scope can be "torqued" towards the side the screws are being done up on. Anyone know an easy way to get around that?
Cheers...
Con

I have worked on airplane equiptment that is tested with vibration.

It will make a big difference if you are mounted to the frame close to the 20mm cannons of a fighter, or in a foam rubber padded case in an airliner.

There are a couple of Weaver products that will get you away form the sideways tourque when tightening the rings. One is called the "suregrip" ring which is pretty similar to regular Weaver rings except they are split and use 2 screws on each side . The other is the so'called "quadlock" which is somewhat the same as the suregrip , but they are built extremely heavy and use 4 allen screws per ring .

Twenty plus years ago wrote a letter to Weaver concerning the strength of their scope base/ring system. Mentioned in the letter that several gunshops had told me that the Weaver system was unreliable and broke frequently. Asked the Weaver folks what their field failure rate was.

A few weeks later on a Saturday morning was woke up early by the phone ringing. A person introduced himself as the president of Weaver. Wanted to know if I had personally experienced a Weaver scope mounting system breaking. Told him "no". Wanted to know if anyone else that I was talking to had personally experienced a Weaver system breaking. From their conversations all the failures were hearsay with no personal experience. Once again, "no".

He asked me to find anyone who had personal experience with a failure of the Weaver system to contact him directly. He said he heard these rumors from time to time but had never been able to track down a specific example to investigate.


In a Handloader magazine article, remember Bob Hagel specifically using the Weaver system on a 458 Win Mag rifle that he was testing. Article had pictures of Hagel shooting the rifle while it was in full recoil. Remember Hagel talking about how strong the Weaver system was.

Have used many systems. Have never had a failure with Weaver. Have had failure with some others.

Hammer

Like many things in life if a story gets told often enough, loud enough, and with enough authority in ones voice, it can take on an aura of truth that many times has very little to do with actual events...or the truth!

Weaver type rings are used on scopes mounted on M2 Browning machine guns, Barrett .50 cals, and all US military sniper rifles. If they were not strong, or were prone to breakage I think there would have been at least a few instances on record in the military, and I certainly have heard of any.

If I made my living by installing bases and rings that cost several times what a Weaver set-up does, I'd want everyone to believe that the Weaver set-up was a POS. But it ain't so.

Had one gunsmith tell me that Weaver's only mistake was in pricing and promotion. He said that Weavers should have been promoted as lightweight high-tech and priced at over $100.

Hammer

While my first rifles had Beuhler mounts as they were the upscale item in the 50's when we were sporterizing military rifles I started using Weavers in the mid 60's and they have been perfect since then.

Someone stated that the Weaver will not hold zero and slip etc. and I reminded them that one of my 99f's in 358 Win has had the same Weaver rings and aluminum bases since 1966 and the rifle is as reliable as can be.

However the Weaver rings are ugly so I tried many others including Leupolds, Sako, Redfield, German claw, Talley, G&H, Brno, Conetrol, Lyman, Warne, Ruger, Millet and Burris along with a number of one off's. For a while I was hot on the Burris Signatures and in certain applications I still use them and am not changing.

When I got a new Kimber lightweight I used Signature Zee's at first and because the scope was too low for me I found a high set of old Weavers in one of the dresser drawers I have full of mounts. The Weavers are staying on there as I know they are good.

As to them turning when tightening the rings you can only turn them off and let them turn to vertical as they get tight as far as I know. I would listen to advice on that.

One gunsmith told me that you cannot lap Weaver rings.

Another said you didn't need to, that the rings were basically springs.

Hammer

There is absolutely no question that the Weaver rings can handle any job you ask out of them. They are also very light. I have used them on a couple of my silhouette match rifles where I had a max rifle weight of 10lb 2oz. The Weaver rings made the diference betwen making weight, or having to go with some pricier options to make weight.

But the problem is that they are just so darn UGLY!!! They are like ugly girls and mopeds, they are both fun to take for a ride, but who wants to be seen with them!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Con:

...when tightening the rings, the scope can be "torqued" towards the side the screws are being done up on. Anyone know an easy way to get around that?

Yes. You start with the scope cocked slightly in the opposite direction, so that when you tighten the screws, the scope is pulled into the position it should be in.

Do it a few times, and you'll learn just how much to offset it when you start so that you'll end up with it correctly positioned.

ugly weaver scope mounts? naaaaaaaa, i got them on all my ugly savage rifles. i think weaver is THE best scope mount on the market......

Weaver mounts and rings ...very old technology.....very good stuff.

Funny thing, the negative BS one hears about Weavers...makes one wonder if the tellers are ignorant, inexperienced, desperate to appear to be an "authority", or a status-driven sycophant. Whatever, they don't know what the Hell they are talking about in my opinion. Weavers are the very devil for stout. I used to make a bit of money (for about 15 years) accumulating used Weaver k-3 scopes (particularly those with post reticules). Then I'd sell them, with Weaver bases & rings, into Canada for use by fellas with all manner of big caliber rifles. They used those big rifles as their bear guns. Never had a single complaint about any of them. Must have done the job okay (either that or the bears ate all my customers).

I traveled to Colorado last year via airline. My M70 has Weaver mounts and rings and K4 scope. No problem when checking zero in CO or after returning home.

Jim

Finn Aargard swore by them on his .458 mag that he carried for years as an African PH. Years ago, Brownells sold some aftermarket "wingnuts" that replaced the regular thumbscrew on the rings and turned them into quick detachable style. I bought a pair and they worked and looked great! Wish I had bought several more sets while they carried them! I wonder if they are still available on the market somewhere?