My Leupold Ruger Rings Story

frumious · April 7, 2012, 11:37 AM

So I bought a Ruger No 1 in 22-250. I mounted a Nikon 6-18x40 scope on it and found out what (apparently) many No 1 owners know...the scope mounts pretty far forward. So I ordered an offset rear ring from Ruger. But when it came in I saw that I could not move the scope back far enough to take advantage of the full offset. The bottom of the scope turret housing contacted the offset portion of the ring, like this:

(The above image was borrowed from forum member jrhilde, but it illustrates what I ran into.)

So I ordered some Leupold medium height offset rings from Midway. It looked like they had more clearance, and sure enough they did. But the install was a giant pain in the neck because of two other problems.

First, the rear base on my rifle is about .015 narrower than the front base. Neither Leupold ring would clamp onto this base. Even when fully tightened, they rattled around. So I had to file on the clamping part of the ring so it would clamp tighter. This part right here:

Then the second problem appeared. I mounted the bases, placed the scope, placed the top halves of the rings, then started the screws. As I was tightening the screws they became way too hard to turn, way too quickly. So I backed them out and had a closer look. This is what I found:

So I had to take a Dremel and relieve the sides of the ring so the screws would go in straight.

After all this I touched up everything with a flat black paint pen so it wouldn't look like total crap, put it all together, and went on about my evening. Total time to mount a damn scope: about 2 hours.

You may wonder why I didn't just send the rings back. The reason is basic impatience. I wanted to be DONE with this and get back to shooting the rifle. I do intend to contact Leupold, however, and ask what's up.

I own several sets of "normal" Weaver-style Leupold Rifleman (aluminum) rings and they have been 100% great. Maybe there is a problem with the Leupold Ruger rings of late? Anyone else have a similar issue with Leupold Ruger rings?

-cls

Rifleman1776 · April 7, 2012, 05:33 PM

I puzzled for a while over what happened. Then I realized these are Leupod made rings. Not Ruger made. Still, a dissapointment that Leupold didn't make them properly. Not them, of course, but whoever they outsourced.
I just got a set of high rings for my Ruger Redhawk so I could mount a scope. They are made by N C Star, a Chinese company. I bought them off an Ebay seller who sells a lot of gun accessories by N C Star and others. They are a highly satisfactory product and less than half the price of Ruger, or other brands.

April 7, 2012, 11:37 AM	#1
frumious Senior Member Join Date: May 13, 2009 Location: Carrollton TX Posts: 521	My Leupold Ruger Rings Story So I bought a Ruger No 1 in 22-250. I mounted a Nikon 6-18x40 scope on it and found out what (apparently) many No 1 owners know...the scope mounts pretty far forward. So I ordered an offset rear ring from Ruger. But when it came in I saw that I could not move the scope back far enough to take advantage of the full offset. The bottom of the scope turret housing contacted the offset portion of the ring, like this: (The above image was borrowed from forum member jrhilde, but it illustrates what I ran into.) So I ordered some Leupold medium height offset rings from Midway. It looked like they had more clearance, and sure enough they did. But the install was a giant pain in the neck because of two other problems. First, the rear base on my rifle is about .015 narrower than the front base. Neither Leupold ring would clamp onto this base. Even when fully tightened, they rattled around. So I had to file on the clamping part of the ring so it would clamp tighter. This part right here: Then the second problem appeared. I mounted the bases, placed the scope, placed the top halves of the rings, then started the screws. As I was tightening the screws they became way too hard to turn, way too quickly. So I backed them out and had a closer look. This is what I found: So I had to take a Dremel and relieve the sides of the ring so the screws would go in straight. After all this I touched up everything with a flat black paint pen so it wouldn't look like total crap, put it all together, and went on about my evening. Total time to mount a damn scope: about 2 hours. You may wonder why I didn't just send the rings back. The reason is basic impatience. I wanted to be DONE with this and get back to shooting the rifle. I do intend to contact Leupold, however, and ask what's up. I own several sets of "normal" Weaver-style Leupold Rifleman (aluminum) rings and they have been 100% great. Maybe there is a problem with the Leupold Ruger rings of late? Anyone else have a similar issue with Leupold Ruger rings? -cls

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April 7, 2012, 05:33 PM	#2
Rifleman1776 Senior Member Join Date: April 25, 2010 Location: Arkansas Posts: 3,309	I puzzled for a while over what happened. Then I realized these are Leupod made rings. Not Ruger made. Still, a dissapointment that Leupold didn't make them properly. Not them, of course, but whoever they outsourced. I just got a set of high rings for my Ruger Redhawk so I could mount a scope. They are made by N C Star, a Chinese company. I bought them off an Ebay seller who sells a lot of gun accessories by N C Star and others. They are a highly satisfactory product and less than half the price of Ruger, or other brands.