CZ 75 BD
Member
I have won a rifle in a drawing. It will come with Weaver bases and Picatinny rings. Are the rings compatible with the bases?
Picatinny rings and Weaver bases
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wiscoaster
Member
Hoo boy. Rings versus bases has been the bane of my rifle scope experiences. I think in the end getting one type to work with the other all boils down to how the rings fasten and how they resist recoil - there are so many options: through bolts, half bolts, one or more partial lugs, full lugs, lug spacing, fixed clamps, in-out sliding clamps, etc etc etc. There's no one ring fits all bases. You just have to try, and throw them in the spare parts bin to save for another rifle if they don't work. But...there's other members here know a whole lot more and maybe have a better answer. I would hope that since you're getting rifle, base and rings as a package they would have already picked a base and rings that work with each other.
BigBlue 94
Member
Weaver rail and picatinny rail are the same nominal width, with the same dovetail. Weaver gust generally has a front and rear slot, vs the picatinny having one every half inch.
I have fit crossbolt pic rings on a weaver base before. Of course as noted, YMMV
I have fit crossbolt pic rings on a weaver base before. Of course as noted, YMMV
OP
OP
CZ 75 BD
Member
My thoughts as well, thanks for the reply.
OP
OP
CZ 75 BD
Member
Thank you, that makes sense.
wild willy
Member
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Might work might not.True Picatinny rings will have a wider cross bar the specs. for the slots on Picatinny are .206 for Weaver .180 .The ctc on Picatinny is .394.In my experience if they are well made Picatinny rings they won't fit but some rings listed as Picatinny rings fit both.
cdb1
Member
Are you sure you don’t have them mixed up? Much more likely to be a picatinny base and weaver/weaver style rings.
AlexanderA
Member
Weaver bases originally had rounded cross slots and Weaver rings had round cross bolts. Picatinny bases have square profile slots and Picatinny rings have squarish cross bolts. So, in theory, Weaver rings will work in Picatinny bases, but Picatinny rings will not necessarily work in Weaver bases.
In reality, there has been a lot of fudging of the standards. Most bases -- whether "Weaver" or "Picatinny" -- now have square slots, and most rings have round cross bolts. The main difference seems to be that Picatinny bases have regularly-spaced cross slots while Weaver bases have randomly-spaced cross slots. The process of fitting the rings to the bases is trial-and-error, but with a 90% chance of it working the first time.
Pic slots and bolt/recoil keys also tend to be wider (and sometimes deeper/taller). I've had relatively poor luck fitting pic rings to Weaver bases, but they are fine the other way around. That said they do sometimes work, so I'd try them before buying new stuff.
rbernie
Contributing Member
This is the key - the actual slot dimension (width) is different. The MIL-STD-1913/Picatinny slots are wider, which normally means that (spec compliant) Weaver attachments will mate/fit on a Picatinny rail (albeit with slop in the slot) but Picatinny attachments won't fit on a Weaver rail.
But sometimes, a manufacturer will use Weaver and call it Picatinny for marketing purposes, and sometimes a manufacturer just flat out fudges on their design and isn't really spec compliant. The net/net of all of this is that you won't know until you try, but expect that proper Picatinny rings are not supposed to fit on a Weaver base (but that proper Weaver rings will fit on a Picatinny base). .
rbernie
Contributing Member
Done, courtesy of a bag of Savage short action bits, the top of my dryer, and three flashlights.
In this photograph, the Weaver base is in the front and the Weaver rings are on the right, and the Picatinny base is in the rear and the Picatinny ring is on the left.You can see how the slot dimensions are different, with the Picatinny rail spec using a wider cross slot, even as the other dimensions/specs are complimentary. This is why you can use a Weaver ring on a Picatinny base, because there’s just excess room in the slot. (Just be sure to slide it forward in the slot before you tighten!) Conversely, you cannot jam a Picatinny ring into a Weaver slot because the slot is simply not wide enough.
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wiscoaster
Member
"One picture is worth a thousand words". Thanks!! 
Toric makes rings with interchangeable cross bolts
.000
+.0035
-.0035
+/- from Picatinny specs iirc
Not that I think a tight fit is needed, it needs to be square and mounted as far forward in the slot as it can go
.000
+.0035
-.0035
+/- from Picatinny specs iirc
Not that I think a tight fit is needed, it needs to be square and mounted as far forward in the slot as it can go
OP
OP
CZ 75 BD
Member
All I have to go on is the promoter's description. Rifle is T/C Compass II; spec from T/C says Weaver bases. Scope is Crimson Trace, rings are unknown provenance, but described as Picatinny.
rbernie
Contributing Member
If that proves all true, I'd just pop for a set of the Warne Weaver-style rings.
I am a huge fan of Warne products and have them on almost all of my rifles now.
Their CS is topnotch too.
cdb1
Member
I’ve dealt with Warne CS a couple of times and it was excellent.
aaronu
Member
As soon as it shows up, you will know.
FWIW I have a picatinny scope mount and it will not fit on a Weaver base for the reasons mentioned. Cross bar is too thick for the narrower Weaver slots.
FWIW I have a picatinny scope mount and it will not fit on a Weaver base for the reasons mentioned. Cross bar is too thick for the narrower Weaver slots.
CraigC
Sixgun Nut
I've never found picatinny rings to fit any Weaver bases I've used. Unless it's AR-specific, I usually try to buy Weaver style Warne rings to ensure compatibility with both types of bases.
OP
OP
CZ 75 BD
Member
Thanks again everyone. The rings are in fact Wheeler for Picatinny. So it's either buy Weaver rings or replace base with Picatinny rail.
Some Weaver bases have slots that are outside edge only (like the comparison pic upstream in thread).
Some have a full slot across.
If the base is deep enough (if needed ) one could open the slot w a file and aluminum black it.
Have added slots to other full groove type Weaver bases, and cleaned up some crappy ones on Aimtech mounts.
I like Burris Zee rings. They say they are for Pic rails. You sometimes have to carefully pry them open to slide onto a Weaver rail.
The crossbolt is part of the clamping system and is round and not of massive size, so it fits on Weaver or Pic rails.
Some have a full slot across.
If the base is deep enough (if needed ) one could open the slot w a file and aluminum black it.
Have added slots to other full groove type Weaver bases, and cleaned up some crappy ones on Aimtech mounts.
I like Burris Zee rings. They say they are for Pic rails. You sometimes have to carefully pry them open to slide onto a Weaver rail.
The crossbolt is part of the clamping system and is round and not of massive size, so it fits on Weaver or Pic rails.
CraigC
Sixgun Nut
I would wait until I had it in hand. I have a hard time believing they're going to give away incompatible components.
cdb1
Member
Good point.
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