"Gunnertrones"Welcome Ted!
I have a parallel thread going on here, regarding a 40 mm tube scope.
In short: 2-piece 40mm ADJUSTABLE rings for the IOR Crusader.
So far, none of the bigger (or smaller for that matter) companies have come up with a solution. Therefore my question if they exist in the headline.
I would say this is a high end scope, just in your league, and I am prepared for ending up with a high end solution so to say.
Any suggestions?
Hi Gunner! Thanks for the welcome!
I went to your other thread and read about your specific application. First, the Crusader is a helluva scope! I've not used that particular scope before, but I have an IOR 4-14X50 with MP8 reticle, and I love it overall, even though the turrets could use some improvement. Joe, you've had trigger time behind the IOR as well if you recall. It's the scope I have on my .204 Sako 75 Varmint that I took on that last prairie dog shooting trip you and I took several years ago.
I've used a couple other IORs on friends rifles. They have excellent optics throughout, but their excellence is kinda model-specific IMO; I don't particularly like everything they offer. From all I can tell the Crusader appears to be a fantastic instrument, as it should be given the price.
On to your mount problem...
Unfortunately, I don't think you're going to find either an elegant or strong solution to your dilemma short of having something custom made. I get why you need 2 pc bases, given the FX Royal's magazine. You could try splitting the adjustable 11mm - pic adapter base you mentioned, and it might work, but I wouldn't feel confident that it will stay put, especially with such a heavy scope aboard. I don't particularly like the design of most adjustable mounts, and especially not that one. That's just my opinion, though; you might get it to work just fine. I still believe it will be ugly as sin, though. Regardless, it seems to me that's a mighty big risk to take after purchasing a $3500 scope and Tier 1 rings! I'd liken that to buiding a $3 million home on top of a fault line. My first question (and being fairly inexperienced with airguns this might be a dumb question, so please excuse my ignorance) is...are you sure you really need an adjustable mount? I would think with a high end PCP you wouldn't have barrel droop issues, and that particular scope has a lot of adjustment range. But again, being pretty new to airguns, maybe I'm missing something.
One thing is for certain: unless someone offers a custom solution I'm not aware of, you're going to have to use an 11mm dovetail to picatinny adapter to be able to use a 2-piece system with 40mm rings. I see no way around that. You could buy a picatinny blank from one of several suppliers and have your own bases machined to fit your rifle. It wouldn't be that difficult for a competent machine shop to duplicate the dovetail mounting profile of the BKL mounts. Unless you just need the ability to adjust your base angle frequently, you can have the dovetail clamps machined with the top of the base fixtured at an angle (say with 30 MOA or so inclination), then split the base into 2 pieces once the clamp profile is machined...but that would require maintaining a precise base spacing to keep the inclination angle plane correctly aligned. Again, several suppliers provide machinable picatinny blanks out of steel and aluminum.
You're obviously willing to pay a high price to get a good mount system that works, so another option is you can always try contacting NECG and see if they can come up with a solution for you. It's a bit of a long shot, but they deal in very esoteric, specialized scope mounts and might have some tricks up their sleeves.
https://www.newenglandcustomgun.com/index.asp A third option is to machine the top of your FX Royale receiver to accept 2 piece canted pic bases. I haven't seen the receiver, so I don't know if there is enough material thickness on the top of the receiver to enable this. In order for that to work, you will run into the same problem with spacing to keep the inclination plane aligned.
I realize you really want the IOR Crusader, but unless you just have your heart set on that beast and really want 40X top end, the March 3-24X42 and 3-24X52 scopes have outstanding optics and mechanics at least equal to IOR, with a 30mm main tube. Or, if you really need 40X or more and you don't really need the lower end of the zoom range, March also offers its excellent fixed power 48X52 High Master and 40-60X52 High Master EP Zoom benchrest scopes. These are dedicated benchrest scopes, so don't have a ranging reticle, if that's a need for you. All of the above scopes will parallax focus down to 10 yds.
Regardless, if you can go with a 30mm tube, that opens up the option of going with 2 pc 11mm to pic adapter bases along with the Burris Signature rings. Then you can use offset ring inserts to give you the scope inclination you need. This is the approach Joe uses. Or, you can use the FX No Limits adjustable 2 pc rings in 30mm.
I wish high end airgun manufacturers would dispense with that stupid 11mm dovetail and get with the 21st century! The 11mm dovetail is the flimsiest, least secure mounting method I can imagine! It seems the manufacturers think all airgun shooters plan to only use cheap mounts and cheap optics. Obviously they don't see enough of a market demand to warrant a change. At the MSRP of some of the high end airguns, it wouldn't be that difficult or that much more expensive to machine a picatinny interface onto the tops of the receivers, enabling customers to have a near endless choice of rings. Or, at minimum, why not just use a threaded hole mount pattern just like the centerfire rifle manufacturers do, and put a locking notch or hole to prevent base movement on springers?
Let us know what route you eventually choose to go. I'm really curious what solution you're able to come up with, and I know many others are as well.
