Aluminum vs. Steel scope rings

I just bought these Remington scope mounts that are made out of Z2 alloy. I should have done more research. Because after I ordered them I was reading in the Ultimate Sniper book and it states " Soft alloys have a different hardness and density than a rifle receiver's steel, they'll expand and contract at different rate, leading to your scope ever so slightly twist away from zero.

Should I just send them back? Why do they even make them in anything other than steel?

I have aluminum and steel.

I'm an advocate for Talley light weight mounts. Aluminum but tough as nails, look good, and are ridiculously inexpensive.

Competition Benchrest shooters tend to explore every advantage, no matter how extreme to give themselves what they perceive as a slight advantage. This would include everything from scientific to occult obsessions    It's tough to argue with success, but I tend to take it all with a grain of salt. You will quickly learn in this hobby that 10 different experts will generate 7 different opinions on what is best. If you were putting 10,000 rounds a year down range, maybe it would make a difference. In the end it's the Indian; not the arrow that makes the shot. The guy that puts 10k rounds/year down range will beat you because he practices.

I use both aluminum and steel, and I think both work fine (IMHO).

Skytrash wrote: In the end it's the Indian; not the arrow that makes the shot.

GuitarDude wrote: I just bought these Remington scope mounts that are made out of Z2 alloy. I should have done more research. Because after I ordered them I was reading in the Ultimate Sniper book and it states " Soft alloys have a different hardness and density than a rifle receiver's steel, they'll expand and contract at different rate, leading to your scope ever so slightly twist away from zero. Should I just send them back? Why do they even make them in anything other than steel?

Unless you are making major climate swings the issue is mute anyway. The receiver simply isn't going to heat up like the barrel. I've seen M-249 barrels start to glow a dual cherry and the receiver wasn't near that hot. You don't need to be too concerned about a bolt action or semi-auto for that matter. The main thing whether aluminum or steel is the quality and attention to detail of the manufacturer. I've seen some low end aluminum bases be pretty far from spec (and some steel, just not as often). Be sure to use blue lock tight and proper torque on the rings and base screws and you should be fine. You can now find it a Lowe's if you don't have any.

Thanks everybody! that makes me feel better about it.

The design and how well the rings are made have much greater impact on their performance than materials do. The only exception to this is I have seen aluminum fail on big recoil rifles.

+1

Another thing I have seen is on "cheap" bases the screw holes can be much larger than the screws. This allows the manufacturer to be less precise with their alignment. But also allows the base to be seated off center and or move under heavy recoil. A quality set of bases will have fairly tight tolerances with their alignment and screw sets. Just something to consider when shoppin  ring and bases.

A belated Welcome to the OT!!

Also keep in mind that book is very dated.  The math still works, but the technology is 30 years old.  Look at the list of optics in the book, and compare that to the best of the best today.