One piece vs. two piece mounts

[Jarlath]

Can anyone tell me the pro's and con's of both? I would think that a one piece mount would be preferable than a 2 piece, or am I juts completely wrong?

Looking at basically outfitting a rifle (.223) for short-medium range (100-300 yds and maybe even setup later for a long range rifle (400+yds).

 

[TPS_Phil]

In a nutshell....
Two Piece
Set up right it is more true....
Easier Loading
Con...
Not as secure as a one piece.
One piece
Super secure and harder to knock off zero.
Con...
Alittle harder to load. I have had both and loading seems pretty much the same to me.
Harder to make it as true as two piece as Rifle Mfg's aren't always on with there holes.

 

[todbartell]

2 piece - pro's = solid

1 piece - cons = ugly

 

[i6s1]

If you've got to load the gun through the top, ie no DM, then get the 2 piece. That's what I have on my .223. I put a one piece base on my 30-06, and and if I would have used a two piece base, I would have never noticed that the rear would have sat 20 thou lower then the front. This would have applied a small amount of torque to the scope.

I bought the one-piece mount for my -06 because I bought the logic on this page:

http://www.charm.net/~kmarsh/mounts.html

Scroll down to the pictures.

For my .223, I went with 2 piece because it would have made it more difficult to load the gun, and scope I put on was worth about half as much. (Used VXII vs new Ziess Conquest)

 

[P of PDent]

The majority of scope mounts we install (especially Leupold) are two piece mainly because they use all four screws holes (instead of three for the one piece...most leupolds). Also there is no left or right hand mounts required in two piece so keeping inventory is easier. We like the two piece also for the ease of loading from the top. The one piece may make the mount and receiver slightly more rigid by bridging across the ejection port but with most modern actions I don't think this is a big deal. We have some customers however that swear by the one piece so that's what we supply. Phil.

 

[lejarretnoir]

Another advantage I've found with the 2 piece is the ability to get the 30mm scope extra low if you need or like it. On a 1 piece I found my Leupold 30mm bottomed out in the middle at the turret section and wouldn't seat into the rings.

http://i12.tinypic.com/6frqqon.jpg

The other advantage with the 1 piece is the ease of shimming up the rear for long range shooting, thus centering the scope in elevation. Tapered 2 piece could also accomplish this, but not rear shimmed only [standard 2 piece] as you would bend the scope in the milddle. Not good.