Leupold vs. Warne 1-piece Mounts

[MaineMan2]

I had assumed that 1-piece scope mounts would always be in alignment and not need lapping. In the process of moving a scope from one rifle to another, I thought “I’ll check this nice Warne mount just to be sure.”  I hadn’t checked it when I out it on the first rifle. To my surprise, my Sinclair alignment gauge showed an error with the Warne mount. So I pulled out a Leupold mount that I had bought for another purpose but hadn’t installed yet. The rings on the Leupold 1-piece mount lined up perfectly. 
 

 

 

The comparisons between the two are interesting, especially considering that the Leupold Mark AR mount (top) cost almost $40 less than the Warne Gen 2 Skelontized MSR mount (bottom). 

The Leupold weighs 0.6 ounces less according to my scale. No big deal. However, unless you really need to push that optic forward over the handguard, the Leupold has much more solid attachment to the rail. The clamping surface is twice as long and 5 screws are better than 2 IMHO. Those 3 lugs on the underside of the Leupold lock into a Picatinny rail.  The cross bolts on the Warne are narrower than the rail slots and allow significant fore and aft movement. The Leupold looks industrial while the Warne looks much more elegant to my eye. 

Please note that this is a sample size of 1 per mount.  The biggest “aha!” for me was the need to check ALL scope rings for alignment. 

[MtnMike]

I've had 3 of the Leupold Mark one-piece mounts.  Still using two of them.  Only reason I'm not still using the 3rd is because it was a 1" and I replaced it with another Mark 30mm when I upgraded the scope.  All of them have been rock solid with perfect alignment and no need for lapping.  No experience with the Warne one-piece mounts.  I do know that all one-piece mounts are not perfectly aligned. I got a Durasight one-piece for my CVA muzzleloader.  Pretty sure it was made in the same shop that makes muffler mounts for Midas or else the alignment was set up by some one who was cross-eyed.

Edited December 23, 2023 by MtnMike