Two piece or single piece scope rails

[3Crows]

I just a few days ago got a nice Remington 700 ADL 7mm Remington Magnum with scope for $99 NIB at Walmart clearance . It came with fairly nice (and very low) two piece mounts, a generic (but decent) scope and some pretty junky rings. I had a spare set of Warne medium steel rings and I went and bought a Leupold single piece base. And then decided the $49.94 rail, exceeding nearly 50% of the rifle cost, was not needed and actually set the scope a bit too high for my tastes, meaning I would need Warne low rings, yet another expense now equalling nearly 100% of the cost of the rifle. I do not plan to hunt elk beyond 600 yards with this bad boy so I do not need a 20MOA rail. But, I have always preferred single piece rails for their self alignment and stability, exceptions being the Talley integrated rings or the similar Ruger specific rings. What are your preferences and why if you might?

 

[troy fairweather]

for an Adl two peace is a must.

 

[3Crows]

for an Adl two peace is a must.

Yes, after setting a Leupold rail on the rifle I can see how a single piece system would interfere with loading and unloading.

 

[troy fairweather]

Yes, after setting a Leupold rail on the rifle I can see how a single piece system would interfere with loading and unloading.

And makes problems when ejecting rounds, they bounce off the one peace and go back in the action.

 

[LoonWulf]

I run two piece, or preferably Talley rings. Ive got an EGW rail on my new 700, but its more because....well because....than any real reason.

 

[sparkyv]

Awesome deal! I sometimes can make junky rings work with a little attention. If the rifle came with decent mounts, I would use them and splurge a bit on the rings.

 

[cdb1]

My 700 ADL that I’ve had for 48 years has a two piece set up. I’ve had the scope for a while, a Bushnell Elite 4200. About five years ago whenever I’d buy a new scope or rifle I started buying Warne or EGW one piece picatinny bases. If and when I buy a new scope for my ADL I’ll do the same. I prefer the looks of two piece bases big time on a bolt action rifle but they quite often limit the scopes you can use. I have had zero issues when ejecting empties. A thought just occurred to me while typing this missive that there might be an issue with budget rifles like the Axis II and RAR because of their tiny ejection ports but I don’t have any and refuse to own a rifle with a tiny ejection port.

 

[3Crows]

My 700 ADL that I’ve had for 48 years has a two piece set up. I’ve had the scope for a while, a Bushnell Elite 4200. About five years ago whenever I’d buy a new scope or rifle I started buying Warne or EGW one piece picatinny bases. If and when I buy a new scope for my ADL I’ll do the same. I prefer the looks of two piece bases big time on a bolt action rifle but they quite often limit the scopes you can use. I have had zero issues when ejecting empties. A thought just occurred to me while typing this missive that there might be an issue with budget rifles like the Axis II and RAR because of their tiny ejection ports but I don’t have any and refuse to own a rifle with a tiny ejection port.

So, just to understand, I see single piece rails on Remington 700s at the range frequently and there seems to be no issue with ejection? Has one of you folks had that as an issue? I could see how a single piece rail could make loading and unloading the ADL somewhat more challenging. I have decided to stay with the the two piece set up for my 700. Why not, it is paid for and free . I did take advantage of Leupolds scope trade in deal and do an upgrade and traded off the generic package scope for a nice Leupold. But I am keeping the supplied mounts, they look nicely machined and fit the rifle perfectly.

I did not ask this question in regards an Axis but let's talk about any bolt action rifle then, because it seems single piece rails are very common nowadays. Still interested in preferences for any rifle?

But regarding the Axis and a "tiny ejection port" not sure the port is tiny and regardless, the Axis is a simple tube receiver and the single piece rail in no way occludes the port at all:

 

[cdb1]

I have had no issues with one piece mounts on my Weathereby Vanguards and not heard of any on M70’s and Model 700’s I’ve mounted for people, and I’ve mounted a whole bunch.

Compare the ejection port of a Model 70, any Weatherby, Model 700 to an Axis and to me the Axis is tiny.

the Axis is a simple tube receiver and the single piece rail in no way occludes the port at all:

I didn’t think it through, my bad, and you are absolutely correct.

 

[troy fairweather]

Key word is adl has to be loaded from the top and unloaded from the top. Not saying you can't used a one peace but it's much easier with a one peace on the adl's.

 

[Sniper66]

I've always avoided one-piece mounts because I was concerned about ejection issues and didn't like the way they look. I have several Remington 700s with 2-pice mounts on all of them, with never an alignment problem, even on my ADL .270. It's perfect; as the dead deer will attest or they would if.....you know......they weren't dead.

 

[Walkalong]

Done right, either can work extremely well.

 

[jbm]

I have one piece mounts on my Remingtons just because the actions aren't always perfect. My latest one has 0.020-0.030" off at the rear - the one piece when bolted on to the front of the action was not touching in the rear. I bedded the rail and it works fine. I'd hate to use good rings and transfer that misalignment to the scope tube.

 

[mgmorden]

I don't have a strong preference for either, though that vast majority of my guns are using 2 piece mounts. Particularly if the action is open then putting a rail across it can restrict space.

Occasionally you'll get some cases where the bases are too far apart for some scopes, but that's when I use extension bases:

 

[cdb1]

I don't have a strong preference for either, though that vast majority of my guns are using 2 piece mounts. Particularly if the action is open then putting a rail across it can restrict space.

Occasionally you'll get some cases where the bases are too far apart for some scopes, but that's when I use extension bases:

View attachment 939239

Even with extensions I ran into scopes that couldn’t be mounted when I was mounting 10 to 20 scopes a week.

 

[illinoisburt]

Even with extensions I ran into scopes that couldn’t be mounted when I was mounting 10 to 20 scopes a week.

Completely agree. Have found too many cases where scopes are not long enough to fit 2-piece bases or you are left with very little if any room to move forward or back to get proper eye relief. This is especially so gor long action guns. All of my bolt guns have one piece bases now.

 

[.38 Special]

Done right, either can work extremely well.

This has been my experience. I honestly don't care whether a rifle has one piece or two piece bases, as long as they are appropriate for the task.

 

[earlthegoat2]

First of all, your looking at your marginal costs very shortsightedly. You got a rifle that is worth significantly more at a fraction of the price.

I think you need to start looking at your percentages of the cost of the rifle in terms of what the rifle is actually worth.

As to alignment. Alignment starts with the holes drilled on the receiver and ends with the machining of the where the scope will lay in the rings. The base is just a middle man that will either bring back alignment ever so much or make it worse in the grand scheme of the scope mounting system.

Nothing that lapping can’t take care of. Some folks (and ring manufactures) don’t believe in it though. That is OK though since I have seen plenty of scopes work without lapping. Why risk it though when it is so easy to do?

 

[JFrank]

Key word is adl has to be loaded from the top and unloaded from the top. Not saying you can't used a one peace but it's much easier with a one peace on the adl's.

Especially when wearing gloves

 

[3Crows]

I took the two Walmart $99 Remington 700 ADL rifles I have gotten (.243 Winchester and 7mm Rem Mag) and removed the bases and scopes. The supplied bases are nice themselves and I saw no reason in the end to replace them. I cleaned the bases and the rifles and screws and threads and remounted the bases with 242 Loctite and torqued appropriately. The scopes, the 7mm RM got a new Nikon mounted with Warne vertical split rings and the .243 Win is in a holding pattern while I decide to keep the rather decent scope it has or buy something else.

 

[Hookeye]

I have run Weaver 1 and 2 pc bases for years. Only had ONE that was not machined right....part of a 2 pc 700 set. Holes were proper distance but not on center. Bought as a new packaged set. Checked w alignment rod before putting in scope.

Cost ne 5 bucks to get a single pc that was done right.

Must say, the 70 dollar aluminum Recknagle base for my Steyr was very well done. It ought to be for that money LOL.

Long action, reg 2 pc or Talley integrals flipped so ring portion closer together, bot enough.

Recknagle pic rail and Burris Zee rings.... no prob.

NECG carries the bases. iIRC Steyr has 4 action lengths....super short, short, med and long. My 30-06 which is a long on a Remington, is actually a medium for steyr Their magnums are the longs.

So terminology can throw ya. And not much info on the web for some stuff