I am cutting a set of German claws into the bottom of a pair of Leupold extra high rings to fit the bases on my combination gun. Should I harden / temper them once they are fitted?the Leupold steel seems pretty tough, they are of dovetail type and these were not hardened.

Yes it is a moveable component, but it's not going on and off all the time, so can I leave them as is, once cut and fitted?

quote:

Originally posted by Heym SR20:
I am cutting a set of German claws into the bottom of a pair of Leupold extra high rings to fit the bases on my combination gun. Should I harden / temper them once they are fitted?the Leupold steel seems pretty tough, they are of dovetail type and these were not hardened.

Yes it is a moveable component, but it's not going on and off all the time, so can I leave them as is, once cut and fitted?

Because of the claw design the recoil forces will tend to drive the scope forward and the claws deeper into battery. If too soft there maybe some compression of the claw metal, a bit like lug set back that can be experienced with some bolt actions that have not been hardened correctly.

I have seen may examples of claw mounts when in Germany and some showed signs of wear, possibly through taking the scopes on and off, but also some seemed to show signs of softness.

All I have ever had and worked on were soft.

Thanks Gents. I will just leave them as is. Will post results, but don't expect anytime soon - it's taken a good six months to rough out the front claw - only actually taken a couple of hours, but just life getting in the way.