Reccomendation on scope rings for 45-70. Leupold FX2

[maroonandwhite]

Morning guys. I was set on using open sights on my new 45-70 yesterday but have since decided to use my FXII 6x36 on this rifle. I mostly hunt over open fields so this scope should work great for me. I know it's a little on the high side of magnification for this caliber but I'm going to give it a shot.

My question is about the rings. I have a cheap set of Weaver Quad rings that are too low and causing the scope to hit the hammer. I have read on a few other forums that I might need to go with steel mounts. I don't want to break the bank but since this is such a nice scope and I love the gun I want to do it right. I'm sure someone else has asked this before but a quick search did not turn up anything. I never have been good at searching forums though. Any advice or tips are welcome. Thanks!

[Doc Fillem]

I've had good luck with the Weaver Quad mounts you mentioned. I like them because they are light. If you have your heart set on steel rings, Wally World carries the Weaver Grand Slam steel rings. I've used them in the past and they are nice.
I don't have any experience with them but a lot of people like the DNZ mounts. Optics Planet carries them http://www.opticsplanet.com/dnz-dednutz-h-r-high-1in-scope-mount.html

[maroonandwhite]

Well if WalMart has the steels I may try them. I am planning on going tonight and buying rather than ordering. I want to hunt with it this weekend. Do you think I really need steel? I don't have any prior experience with this round and don't know what to expect as far as recoil goes. I am shooting factory ammo now but may get into reloading hotter loads in the future. I

[gcrank1]

You may see they have the medium rings cheap enough to try, but you cant go wrong with steel (and you are trying to make a nice package anyway).
I put masking tape strips with pencil index marks on kickers to be able to see if things move in initial trials; its a nice quick reference.
BTW, I put a scope on one to 'work it out' figuring Id see what it could do, drop the scope and shoot irons; guess what......scopes still on  .

[maroonandwhite]

Yeah I think the ones I have are low. I may try the mediums or even the high's. Looks like they only go up by .1" each time so a high is only .2" higher than the low. I can imagine it would still be CLOSE to the hammer with a medium.

[gcrank1]

Depending on your cheekbone you dont want to be getting too high up off the stock comb to see through the scope.

[maroonandwhite]

True. For the price I may just buy both and see what works best. Can't wait to shoot it!

[rdlange]

Consider bobbing the top of the hammer and using a cocking spur extension.  Helps me get the scope extra low and use low rings even with a large scope objective.

[gcrank1]

On one of mine all I had to do was use the cylindrical stone in the Dremel to 'dish out' the inside top of the hammer to clear (thats where the hammer should first contact anyway if things a straight & true). I should also mention that the different scope rails have different installled heights where the rings seat, so it will affect your scope height. IIRC the H&R rail I have is the thickest. A combination of certain rings and rails can get you to the sweet spot. I quit with the hammer extension for my use, though I can see that with gloves on you might need one.

[maroonandwhite]

This one does have the hammer extension/spur or whatever it is called already installed. It looks like the High mount will give me an extra .25" over the low mount. The medium is only .089" taller than the low so while it would clear the hammer it would be right on it and I just don't like it that low. If it does end up being higher than comfortable I will have to make some sort of cheek pad.

[quickdtoo]

I've had good luck with the Weaver Quad mounts you mentioned. I like them because they are light. If you have your heart set on steel rings, Wally World carries the Weaver Grand Slam steel rings. I've used them in the past and they are nice.
I don't have any experience with them but a lot of people like the DNZ mounts. Optics Planet carries them http://www.opticsplanet.com/dnz-dednutz-h-r-high-1in-scope-mount.html

I won't recommend Weaver Grand Slam rings to anyone that values their scope unless they like lapping rings, I have two pairs of these chinese POS rings and had to lap for over an hour to get each set true enough to mount a scope in, and I certainly wouldn't recommend them without lapping. If you want good steel rings, get either Burris Signature Zees of their standard Zee ring, a far better ring.
 
As for the DNZ (Deadnutz Game Reaper) or H&R ring mount, only if you like extra high rings, might as well use a see-thru, they're about as high! 

Tim

[maroonandwhite]

Well here is a good morning laugh for you. I had the wife run to Walmart after work and pick up a set of the Weaver Quadlocks in "High". I just assumed the ones I had at home were the "low" models since the guy I bought the gun from asked me if I wanted high or low mounts with it. Turns out I already had the high mounts! I guess it's just a weird combination of base,scope,rings and hammer that make this scope not fit.

Anyways I made them work. They are at just the right level for a comfortable hold so I figured what the heck. I flipped the hammer extension over so the least amount of metal was sticking up and marked on the hammer what I needed to take off. I then fired up the trusty dremel and went to work.

After about 30 minutes of trying to get the scope parallel with the gun I was finished and proud of my work! I do need to do a little touch up and polish to the hammer but I think I am going to take it out to do all of that. Thanks for all the info!