You got a great 30mm rifle scope, now you're looking for the best 30mm size scope rings to mount on your rifle, and this buyer's guide is for you.
Some people like to use an one piece scope mount while other prefer using two separate scope rings.
Different scope sizes use different rings, so please make sure your is 30mm before purchase anything through our links. If it's 34mm or 35mm please go here.
Generally speaking scope rings are old school ways people mount optics on rifles, which requires alignment and scope lapping. They're still popular for rifles that don't have a continuous rail on top, usually bolt guns.
Popular precision rings are M10, Sphur, MDT and many more, but they're super expensive.
What you want is something precision machined, lightweight, minimal lapping required and strong, so here are some of the best 30mm scope rings for the money on the market today:
- Badger Ordnance 30mm Rings
- Warne Scope
- Vortex Precision Matched
Before mounting, please follow this Scope Ring Torque Spec Reference Guide
Best 30mm Scope Rings
While the one-inch scopes` body (25.4mm) used to be standard, today, the 30mm scope tubes have become the most common.
Rings for the 30mm scope tubes are available in different sizes so that you may find 15mm wide for elegant hunting rifles, but there are much wider (up to 32mm) and robust rings built for tactical rifles.
Leupold QRW2 Scope Rings
As one of the optic industry leaders, Leupold is producing several scopes mount lines for different rifle platforms and purposes. Though the Leupold mounts take their share of the pie in AR platforms and long-range tactical rifle, still hunting rings remain the most important market.
Along with their standard rings, Leupold offers Dual Dovetail (DD) system, Quick Release mounting systems, and a QRW2 riflescope rings, an updated industrial design with a more significant contact area with the base for a precision fit.
The Leupold QRW2 rings feature spring-loaded quick-release levers to lock the rings securely into the QRW/PRW bases and other cross-slot bases.
The QRW2 rings are crafted from durable steel to ensure rock-solid repeatable accuracy within 1/2" of original point-of-impact.
- Ring Diameter (mm) - 30
- Height: High (Optical Centerline) - 1.07"
- Weight (oz) - 6.6
Badger mounts and Maximized series of scope rings are precision-made from a single steel or aluminum bar stock utilizing the highest tolerances in the industry.
The rings are machined in pairs and marked with the same serial number, making unnecessary and lapping or fine honing.
Badger Ordnance 30mm steel rings are one inch wide to cradle your optic with considerably more holding power than other two-piece counterparts.
Moreover, the rings are secured with six 8-40 Torx screws, which also evenly distribute the load and minimize the chance of damaging the scope.
Designed with claw clamps, the Badger model 30613 MAX-50 comes with high rings purpose-built to fit a scope with a 50mm objective lens on the Picatinny rail.
Due to their robustness, this tactical style, hefty rings are the best accessory for the bench rest/long-range target shooters and less suitable for a hunting rifle.
- Ring Diameter (mm) - 30
- Height: High (Optical Centerline) - 1.125"
- Weight (oz) - 15.2
Seekins Precision 30mm, 4-Cap Scope Rings - High Height
The Seekins Precision scope rings for 30mm tube size are made of high strength 7075-T6 aluminum billet and designed for a precise fit with M1913 Picatinny rails.
These high-quality 4-Cap Scope Rings come as serialized pairs to ensure the highest precision available. That said, the Seekins riflescope rings never need to be lapped or modified.
The 0.8" wide rings provide a very large clamping surface and an integrated lug machined directly into the bottom of the ring.
Using Grade 8 T-25 Torx fasteners, you can tighten the rings and secure your optic against even the harshest recoil.
- Ring Diameter (mm) - 30
- Height: High (Optical Centerline) - 1.83"
- Weight (oz) - 2.35
Warne mounts, bases and rings are among the most widely used scope installing accessories that can be found on rifles throughout the globe.
Warne quick detachable scope rings are designed to fit two-piece Warne bases on classic bolt action hunting rifles.
Additionally, Warne quick-release two-piece rings are equally at home installed on Weaver mount (cross-slot base) and Mil-Spec Picatinny style rails.
The Warne highly versatile Maxima line features vertical split steel rings with a unique indexable lever system. When paired with Warne Maxima bases, this system enables incredible precision and almost non-existent accuracy deviations, despite removing and reattaching the riflescopes.
The next feature of the Maxima Quick Detach Rings is a specific recoil lug, a rectangular stainless-steel recoil control key purpose-built to provide a maximum bearing surface and prevent any peening or swaging of rings.
Each ring is secured with a 4 Torx-style T-15 socket head cap screws.
- Ring Diameter (mm) - 30
- Height: High (measured from the top of base to inside bottom of ring) -.525"
- Weight (oz) – 6.2
Along with famous riflescopes, the Vortex Optics have in their inventory high-quality scope rings and bases that can withstand extreme recoil.
One of the best Vortex ring lines is dubbed Pro Series and all rings feature an integrated recoil lug compatible with both Picatinny and Weaver-style rails.
Vortex, Pro Series rings, are precision built from aircraft-grade 7075 T6 aluminum alloy, which makes them rugged and lightweight at the same time.
These Vortex Pro Series Rings are available in several scope ring heights, and our model PR30H is high ring suitable for 50-56mm objective.
The horizontal rings securely grip around the scope using a robust four hex (T-25) screws.
- Ring Diameter (mm) - 30
- Height: High (Base to Bottom of Tube) -.670"
- Weight (oz) – 3.6
Why Use Scope Rings Instead Of One-Piece Scope Mount?
Two separate scope rings are generally used on rifles that don't have a continuous long rail mounting platform such as most bolt action precision rifles.
If you can fit a one-piece scope mount I would highly recommend you to do so because they don't require scope lapping, which takes time and micro adjustment to make it alignment, and save money on buying any scope lapping tool.
Types of Scope Rings
Scope rings have two major types.
- Vertical Split
- Horizontal Split
To save your time, vertical split rings are stronger because each ring half engages the base, usually found on one-piece scope mount.
As far as alignment, the horizontal split rings clamps on the scope like a vise and when torque pressure is applied, it leaves gaps one on each side where the halves screw together.
The Vertical Split closes one of those gap and applies pressure onto the scope like a hose clamp.
Please check out Warne Scope for their detailed research article here.
What To Look For In A Scope Ring
When buying a pair of scope rings the first thing you want to look for is the overall durability. Usually you can tell by the quality of machining, finish, and mounting screw tolerance.
All of it is important because the two scope rings are responsible for holding the scope tight to retain zero and resist recoil.
Most rings are fixed system. Once mounted, they cannot be removed easily without tools.
Ring Diameter & Height Matter
Scope rings come in 1", 30mm, 34mm, which are the most common dimension on the market to accommodate different scope tube sizes. When picking a set of rings be sure to also check the double check the clearance for your particular scope.
In another word, pick the right mount height to give the objective lens more clearance on the rifle. As well as leaving room clearance between the scope and the action of the bolt on a bolt gun.
Durability
Scope rings takes lot of pressure from the recoil and movement of the rifle. Therefore, a scope ring must be durable enough to hold the optic safe and retain zero.
7075 T6 Aluminum are always the industry's highest standard to handle heavy recoil.
Avoid cheap low quality mounts simply by looking at the material and quality of machining.
Scope Ring Width
Do scope rings width matter?
Of course it does. Some scope rings have 4 bolts and some have 6, the ones with 6 bolts is thicker in length, and have much more contact surfaces to hold the rifle scope.
The more you it can grab on to the scope the better the alignment due to the cantilever beam effect, but you have to make sure your rifle have enough rail space to do so.
Size & Profile
Before you buy anything please be sure to look at the size of the ring for the size of your scope.
The mount height is generally around 0.3 inches and 0.410 inches tall. Depend on the rifle, you want to mount an optic as low as possible when it comes to precision shooting while you also have great cheek weld and sight picture.
Quite often people forget the size of the scope tube and buy the wrong size mount. To save you time and energy please know the size of the scope first before buying.
No-Slip Recoil Surface
The easiest way to find out is to pay attention to the interior contact surface inside the scope ring. Usually rough textures are there to provide no slip recoil engagement.
If not, you can use a 600 to 800 grit sandpaper to slightly rough up the surface for better scope bonding when everything is torqued down properly.
Bedding a rifle scope will be another article, but this is the key to hold the scope tight in place, preventing it from shifting or rotating when experiencing sharp recoil.
Note: Please remove sandpaper scuffing before mounting
Precision Machining
Precision machined mounts have tighter tolerance than cheap ones.
A high tolerance screw at Grade 8 gives you a little stiffness when tightening them. If the rings are serialized, usually, it means they're made together out of one aluminum block for matching tolerance and quality.
While the cheap rings and bases made of inadequate materials can allow the scope to move under recoil and seriously disrupt riffle accuracy, it doesn’t mean you have to spend $400 for precision matched rifle scope rings.
For the tight and secure connection with your rifle, scope rings must have few core features for precision:
- Scope rings are made of steel or aluminum to be durable and lightweight, allowing you to adjust the optics easily over your gun.
- A right scope ring must be machined with tight tolerance enabling you easy to mount and remove. Finally, a scope ring should have a low profile and must provide ample space for making adjustments.
Final Thoughts
Scope ring is an old school way for mounting a scope on a precision rifle that isn't compatible with an one-piece scope mount.
Scope rings takes time to align and without proper scope lapping tool you might screw up the mounting process.
Out of all the options we have recommended, we highly recommend the Badger Ordnance and Warne Scope 30mm Rings as they have the longest track record for making scope accessories and having the highest quality materials when they produce them in pairs for max accuracy.
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