Is it worth spending money on scope mounts???

[Byronic]

...full on, pickin' up what you're layin' down, Byron. There, however, does come a point, at either end of the scale, where stuff makes darn little sense, to save a couple p...
One need ask this, as a simple primer : How comfortable are you, ( regardless of rifle value) picking your shootin' iron up by the scope ? Do you trust £ 10 mounts ? Yes, I've no problem at all picking up my rifles - any, to include RF & CF, by the scope ... I trust the mounts & paid accordingly.

I am a simple chap, Chris.

No problem picking up any of my rifles by the scope - though I usually do not.

None of my rifles are very valuable, only a few over £500.

My attitude is usually to fit a scope with whatever mounts come with it - new or used - and zero the set up.
If it seems to align OK and works consistently then that is fine by me, job done.

If there is a problem on a cheap set up then I will shim a little if needed - never damaged the scope by doing so AFAIK.
Not with one of my more "serious" rifles - BKL mounts are cheap enough.

If the mounts are way off then changing them is usually not a big deal - except my Webley Rebel with the weird, domed dovetail rail area.

I am not disputing at all that expensive mounts are better made etc or that there is a satisfaction in owning the best kit, to our own eyes.

What seems sensible to me might seem unreasonable to others - and vice versa.

We had a guy on here a while ago with a £1500 scope on a £500 rifle.
Seems downright daft to me but each to his own tastes.

Often we get what we pay for.
Sometimes the difference in prices is much greater than the difference in quality or performance.

My attitude is that we all have our own preferences - and that is a large part of the fun of shooting.

 

[crissdee]

You need ask yourself this... Cost of rifle = ?
Cost of optics = ? Now, does it make sense to park a £ 300 - 400 + odd optic atop a £ 1500 - £ 2500+ rifle, using £30 mounts ?

Yes. £30 worth of mounts are as good as most people will ever need on an air rifle. Having said that, it's a free country as far as scope mounts go. Have them custom CNC milled from solid titanium if you can afford it, it's your money....

 

[crissdee]

How comfortable are you, ( regardless of rifle value) picking your shootin' iron up by the scope ?

Not at all! It's a scope, not a carrying handle. Apart from anything else, few if any of my scopes are mounted high enough off the gun for me to get my gorilla-like fingers round the scope!

 

[chouchin66]

I am a simple chap, Chris.

No problem picking up any of my rifles by the scope - though I usually do not.

None of my rifles are very valuable, only a few over £500.

My attitude is usually to fit a scope with whatever mounts come with it - new or used - and zero the set up.
If it seems to align OK and works consistently then that is fine by me, job done.

If there is a problem on a cheap set up then I will shim a little if needed - never damaged the scope by doing so AFAIK.
Not with one of my more "serious" rifles - BKL mounts are cheap enough.

If the mounts are way off then changing them is usually not a big deal - except my Webley Rebel with the weird, domed dovetail rail area.

I am not disputing at all that expensive mounts are better made etc or that there is a satisfaction in owning the best kit, to our own eyes.

What seems sensible to me might seem unreasonable to others - and vice versa.

We had a guy on here a while ago with a £1500 scope of a £500 rifle.
Seems downright daft to me but each to his own tastes.

Often we get what we pay for.
Sometimes the difference in prices is much greater than the difference in quality or performance.

My attitude is that we all have our own preferences - and that is a large part of the fun of shooting.

I've a few sets of Sportsmatch stuff, don't get me wrong... If it requires though, putting a lapping bar through a set of rings ( any rings) with a bit of lapping compound, to get the saddles co - planer , so be it. The same goes for truing up clamp surfaces, to mate properly....a " gunsmith thing". If not worth the effort - no effort expended, then. If one can ,( & does) a bit of finessing/ fettling , then one can get a decent end result. My ultimate contention though, is...why start at " the bottom of the well" with cheap arse mounts & go through all the silly/ stupid/ time consuming/ ulcer inducing/ hair pulling - "why am I out of turret"/ "my gun won't zero" malarky ?

 

[Redboat01]

We had a guy on here a while ago with a £1500 scope of a £500 rifle.
Seems downright daft to me but each to his own tastes.

If the rifle is being carefully taken out of a bag/case at a well lit indoor target range shooting air at 0-50 yards, then yes that sounds like an unbalanced setup, but then it's the owners choice/money...

However, it can be more of a requirement if its a thermal scope for night pest control. Or if its being put on a £500 full bore powder burner and being used for target shooting at 1000 yards, or outdoors in marginal light conditions.

 

[Byronic]

I've a few sets of Sportsmatch stuff, don't get me wrong... If it requires though, putting a lapping bar through a set of rings ( any rings) with a bit of lapping compound, to get the saddles co - planer , so be it. The same goes for truing up clamp surfaces, to mate properly....a " gunsmith thing". If not worth the effort - no effort expended, then. If one can ,( & does) a bit of finessing/ fettling , then one can get a decent end result. My ultimate contention though, is...why start at " the bottom of the well" with cheap arse mounts & go through all the silly/ stupid/ time consuming/ ulcer inducing/ hair pulling - "why am I out of turret"/ "my gun won't zero" malarky ?

My approach is simple and suits me.

If I run out of adjustment then it is not a big deal to reverse the mounts but they only get that one "second chance."

Vertical shimming?
Maybe......

If the mounts need changing then it is not a big deal, quite often there are some in my cupboard anyway.

I have never used a lapping bar.
Quite possibly I should but so far my method works for me.

No disrespect intended at all, Chris - quite the opposite, you really know your onions - but I am a stubborn old git.

 

[Byronic]

If the rifle is being carefully taken out of a bag/case at a well lit indoor target range shooting air at 0-50 yards, then yes that sounds like an unbalanced setup, but then it's the owners choice/money...

However, it can be more of a requirement if its a thermal scope for night pest control. Or if its being put on a £500 full bore powder burner and being used for target shooting at 1000 yards, or outdoors in marginal light conditions.

This chap was a "newbie"

My suspicion is that he knew of this particular superb scope from his online gaming background - fair enough - judging from his phraseology.
But it was on an HW80 which he claimed was a "target rifle" - IIRC - and had a bit of an attitude.

AFAIK, he has not returned to show us the superb accuracy which he expected.

Good luck to him and everyone else doing it their own way, of course.

 

[PestWeForget]

Not used any other mounts than the cheap supplied ones with vector scopes and sportsmatch. In my opinion the sportsmatch ones are a lot better and hold zero even when removing scopes from a pic rail and putting them back in the same slots remembering to push them to the stop where some pic rails have slightly wider slots.

I find the cheap ones can have rough edges that wanted to chew into the coatings of the rail/scope, and I've had some that had to be re-zero'd aswell. I've always found a set of sportsmatch mounts that give me the configuration I need and are well machined.

 

[Steve636]

Yes get good mounts.
Silly to marry a £1-3G gun with a 1-3G scope using £20 mounts,

 

[chouchin66]

Not at all! It's a scope, not a carrying handle. Apart from anything else, few if any of my scopes are mounted high enough off the gun for me to get my gorilla-like fingers round the scope!

To each their own, still, my point is well illustrated...confidence in one's mounts. Nuff said.

 

[PestWeForget]

Yes get good mounts.
Silly to marry a £1-3G gun with a 1-3G scope using £20 mounts,

I would say any rifle and any scope. I've never bought an expensive scope and dont like cheap mounts. For Airgunning you only need to spend a few hundred max on a scope for all you'd ever need it for. If you can justify spending out on an expensive scope then great, but it won't make your shooting any better within airgun range, theres plenty other accessories that will

Benchrest = Vector Sentinal X Pro
General use = Arken epl4 4-16 x44
Nightime/recording = DNT Zulus

Add them together and you probably still couldn't buy a good Delta or the likes, and no way need one.

 

[chouchin66]

I would say any rifle and any scope. I've never bought an expensive scope and dont like cheap mounts. For Airgunning you only need to spend a few hundred max on a scope for all you'd ever need it for. If you can justify spending out on an expensive scope then great, but it won't make your shooting any better within airgun range, theres plenty other accessories that will

The best shooting @ " airgun ranges", or any ranges, comes , realistically comes from practice , not kit...though there are a good few hereabouts that, that fact is wasted on. Quality will , in any circumstance, trump quantity though. This said, a rifle/ optic combo will only perform @ it's best when the interface of the two is at it's best...