Talley Lightweights or stay away?

[cowboy300]

I have switched to DNZ over Talleys on my last 2 Tikkas. The DNZ seem more robust to me and weigh about the same. DNZ also makes 2 piece mounts if you dont like a 1 piece mount.

 

[GKPrice]

I have them on two rifles. No issues. A lot of people over tighten them and I have a feeling this is where the issues comes from. Aluminum does not like to bend.

+1 - they are aluminum ALLOY which likes to bend less usually

 

[GKPrice]

I find it interesting that so many find the leupold dovetails reliable. I have a whole drawer full of them that had been slipping on various rifles. I don't even waste my time or effort with them anymore and have gone to an aluminum 1 piece rail with tactical style rings. No issues since. I would imagine the same thoughts also apply to your talleys. Rifles, even if babied, have a rough life. Strapped to packs, ride in trucks on rough roads, bumped on trees, and even fall when bipods tip over. Use the setup that lets you sleep at night.


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you have had the "dual dovetails" slip ?? I too prefer alloy rails and there are myriad rings that work will - As a side note I've been using Leupold Rifleman rings quite a bit, cheap, simple, lightweight and I have not had issue ONE with them in around 10 installs - Are "we" becoming "ring snobs" ? (I might add that I have and do make a lot of "whiskey money" fixing rings and bases that have been installed wrong, mostly broken or stripped screws but I have never seen a broken ring from a "quality" manufacturer)

 

[4ester]

you have had the "dual dovetails" slip ?? I too prefer alloy rails and there are myriad rings that work will - As a side note I've been using Leupold Rifleman rings quite a bit, cheap, simple, lightweight and I have not had issue ONE with them in around 10 installs - Are "we" becoming "ring snobs" ? (I might add that I have and do make a lot of "whiskey money" fixing rings and bases that have been installed wrong, mostly broken or stripped screws but I have never seen a broken ring from a "quality" manufacturer)

I don't think I am a snob. After multiple failures I have come to the conclusion that they are junk. You don't stick the penny back in the outlet to see if it will shock you again do you?

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[chuckeglenn]

I've had talleys on my Kimber MA for about a year now. It's taken some pretty good bumps this whitetail and elk season. They have held my scope on zero with no problems. No complaints from me.

 

[GKPrice]

I don't think I am a snob. After multiple failures I have come to the conclusion that they are junk. You don't stick the penny back in the outlet to see if it will shock you again do you?

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I see Leupold "standard" mounts there (quit using those things 15 years ago) but no dual dovetails in that mix - I also quit using pennies about the same time, if I'm gonna get "shocked" I want to get ZAPPED - I'd venture a guess that every Talley ring you see that is cracked was installed incorrectly as Dave Talley products are top notch (a good example is that Melvin Forbes uses, has used Talley mounts from day one and he is the benchmark to match in all things custom and accurate) I also like DNZ products, all but the carbon screws that rust bad - On Tikkas I now prefer the Mountain Tactical Tikka Performance alloy picatinney rail and whatever ring the user wants to choose, my favorite is Leupold PRW, being steel they're an oz or 2 heavier but good stuff, as stated I've used a ton of Rifleman rings and not had anyone cuss me or complain one time, I let the rifle's owner decide - There are IMO cooler looking rings like Seekins and the like but way out of my spending comfort zone - Nowadays Tikka's are in the discussion a lot and why a person would insist on installing any base or ring/base on a Tikka that was lacking the recoil lug is BEYOND me ..... there are 2 things necessary to install a scope properly, others help immensely but patience and a inch lb torque wrench are most important IMO

 

[realunlucky]

Of course your the expert GK but I have a inch pounds torque wrench I used when I installed those rings. Maybe I should bring you some whiskey money and get a lesson

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[realunlucky]

I'll also add Talley said not to lap the ul rings so other than torque it's pretty straight forward install

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[duchntr]

Talleys are what use, I don't use heavy scopes but still have never had an issue. The setup has taken a lot of falls and drops with no breakage or loss of zero.

 

[mtwarden]

I'll also add Talley said not to lap the ul rings so other than torque it's pretty straight forward install

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that is good tidbit to know- thanks!

 

[GKPrice]

Of course your the expert GK but I have a inch pounds torque wrench I used when I installed those rings. Maybe I should bring you some whiskey money and get a lesson

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there are very few "things" I am an expert in and this topic is not one of those - I don't have a clue how you do it nor do I really care, you have my "expert" permission to choose whatever product you wish and then install it as you prefer - I just happen to have become, by no intent of my own, the "go to" guy for a bunch of people (maybe I'm just one of the PIA know it alls and I don't realize it !) It is not a vocation nor what I consider a "job" as these people are life long friends or friends of friends (some are kids of friends) - There are new products emerging every day, there are things to happen to well thought of companies that cause their product quality to fall off for good or temporarily and THEN there are the times that a piece of machinery or a technician who feels ill or had a fight with his wife or any number of other reasons who just wasn't operating at 100% on a given day and F##ked up - I have always maintained that "most" are not but some are 100% every day because what I did as a career meant that if I wasn't, someone could die but in reality none of us are ever that 100% EACH day, it would suck if that product failure takes place at the moment you or I have Mr Big in the sights, but here's the reality, it does happen and it will happen now and then - For you to get sarcastic with me just causes me to not want to pay attention to what you say

 

[realunlucky]

I actually just checked and they recommend that you don't lapp but since ul are a split ring you can but that it voids there warranty.

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[realunlucky]

I'd venture a guess that every Talley ring you see that is cracked was installed incorrectly as Dave Talley products are top notch (a good example is that Melvin Forbes uses, has used Talley mounts from day one and he is the benchmark to match in all things custom and accurate)

Oh I thought you were calling out my work I must have been mistaken. I apologize GK

Edited to add I shouldn't have taken GK remarks so personal. After the ring cracked I also thought it might have been a install issue and talked to Talley CS about their thoughts on it when they sent a replacement. I thought my Remington 700 action might be sightly tweaked but a straight edge didn't confirm this theory. I also thought of bedding the new rings but after many test fittings with grease didn't think it merits the effort. Of course there are many more experienced guys out there and Im always still learning.Guess time will tell

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[GKPrice]

and here's another topic that is germaine to this thread "maybe sometimes" - these dramatic pictures lack a key component, when did this failure happen ?? During the installation process is quite different than under recoil or as you are retrieving your rifle from the rocks you just dropped it on - I read thread after thread after thread about the "great new optics line" that "experts" are shouting the virtues of - Most are quite heavy - I've stated this before but apparently it bears repeating ...." the heavier the optic is the more kinetic force it will exert on the mounts under recoil" Lightweight scopes were pioneered by Leupold and Redfield pre me shooting CF rifles and this is because Leupold was a German name and for many years if you got the tour at Leupold's factory you heard a lot of "European" accents if you were listening, I was - I think it might be difficult to criticize a scope manufacturer of LIGHTWEIGHT mounts if you had a 26 oz scope sitting on your UL rifle - Just my opinion as a NON-EXPERT - and this does not even begin to discuss the "guy" who is screwing his ring caps down with uneven gaps on either side

 

[dotman]

Realunlucky sounds like you were really unlucky with the Talleys. Question, did you just have one ring fail or multiple? I had a jetboil somehow catch fire and melt all the plastic around the burner but I don't now say jetboil is crap. Every product has failures but overall Talley failures are not rampant and yes you'll see the few post their failures but what % is that failure compared to how many have been sold over the years. I bet the % is tiny when compared to how many have been produced.

I would bet someone is taking a bigger risk with getting a bad product from Kimber, kuiu etc then the talley lightweight rings failing.

Lapping may void the warranty but I'd rather void the warranty of a $50 ring set then a very expensive scope. The thing with lapping is not over doing it for 100% perfection.

 

[GKPrice]

Oh I thought you were calling out my work I must have been mistaken. I apologize GK

Edited to add I shouldn't have taken GK remarks so personal. After the ring cracked I also thought it might have been a install issue and talked to Talley CS about their thoughts on it when they sent a replacement. I thought my Remington 700 action might be sightly tweaked but a straight edge didn't confirm this theory. I also thought of bedding the new rings but after many test fittings with grease didn't think it merits the effort. Of course there are many more experienced guys out there and Im always still learning.Guess time will tell

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no need to apologize my friend - I haven't worked with a Rem 700 for a long time but that action "was" notorious for the action holes being misaligned between the front and rear holes relationship - The first time it happened to me I was harranging a technician at Leupold because I'd run out of windage adjustment and wasn't even close to being in line yet - ended up with some of that yellow egg yoke stuff on my face

 

[realunlucky]

Realunlucky sounds like you were really unlucky with the Talleys. Question, did you just have one ring fail or multiple? I had a netbook somehow catch fire and melt all the plastic around the burner but I don't now say jet oil is crap. Every product has failures but overall Talley failures are not rampant and yes you'll see the few post their failures but what % is that failure compared to how many have been sold over the years. I bet the % is tiny when compared to how many have been produced.

I would bet someone is taking a bigger risk with getting a bad product from Kimber, kuiu etc then the talley lightweight rings failing.

Lapping may void the warranty but I'd rather void the warranty of a $50 ring set then a very expensive scope. The thing with lapping is not over doing it for 100% perfection.

Only one failure but may have cost me the biggest antelope I've seen in person(left a sour taste for sure). I could have just wiffed 4 shells being excited but afterwards the gun wouldn't group. Was going to pull the scope thinking that's the problem when I saw the crack. Scope is a 12oz minox. I only have a single hunting rifle and it had hundreds of rounds out of my setup with no issues. I don't remember anything that could of caused that ring failure.

Some of the most respected guys I know swear by the UL Talley's and have had zero problems. Like I said I currently have the UL back on my rifle (scope too). It is something I now check for when it is uncased but agree just unlucky with that set of rings

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[dotman]

Yeah I think you just had a defective ring.

I wanted to try Hawkins Precision rings but he doesn't make them for 1" scopes anymore which is a bummer as they are only 3oz. Guess I'll stick with talley UL rings.

 

[belly-deep]

I see Leupold "standard" mounts there (quit using those things 15 years ago) but no dual dovetails in that mix - I also quit using pennies about the same time, if I'm gonna get "shocked" I want to get ZAPPED

The windage-adjustable bases and the DD's use the same ring design save for how they attach to the rear base, so on the topic of a scope slipping in the rings, it should make no difference. If you've mounted both, it is pretty easy to see the similarities. The windage-adjustable bases have problems of their own, but how the rings grip the scope are identical.

I'd venture a guess that every Talley ring you see that is cracked was installed incorrectly as Dave Talley products are top notch (a good example is that Melvin Forbes uses, has used Talley mounts from day one and he is the benchmark to match in all things custom and accurate)

No. Talley does make a defective ring evey now and then. I received one. Talley CS was excellent and sent me a replacement free of charge.

Melvin has used them "since day one" because they are his design and he sold it to Talley. That said, when I had my problem with a set of them, I called Melvin and he suspected Talley had goofed (it was a Forbes rifle and I called Melvin, thinking that the base holes in the action were misaligned - he told me that was nearly impossible with the manufacturing tools used on the rifle and to replace the rings) so even Melvin recognizes that Talley will have a defective ring leave the factory every now and then.

 

[dotman]

The windage-adjustable bases and the DD's use the same ring design save for how they attach to the rear base, so on the topic of a scope slipping in the rings, it should make no difference. If you've mounted both, it is pretty easy to see the similarities. The windage-adjustable bases have problems of their own, but how the rings grip the scope are identical.



No. Talley does make a defective ring evey now and then. I received one. Talley CS was excellent and sent me a replacement free of charge.

Melvin has used them "since day one" because they are his design and he sold it to Talley. That said, when I had my problem with a set of them, I called Melvin and he suspected Talley had goofed (it was a Forbes rifle and I called Melvin, thinking that the base holes in the action were misaligned - he told me that was nearly impossible with the manufacturing tools used on the rifle and to replace the rings) so even Melvin recognizes that Talley will have a defective ring leave the factory every now and then.

Yup it'll happen, no company is perfect but it's all in how they handle their products problems.