The Best Scope Rings For Long Range Shooting

You certainly want to be set up right when preparing for any long-range shooting. You need a good long-range rifle and a scope that will stand up to what you need of it. There’s a lot of choices and research that goes into these two items alone, but there is another important piece of equipment that needs to be considered for successful long-range shooting, and that’s the scope rings.

When compared to which rifle and scope you will use, choosing scope rings may seem a bit trivial and may even be the last thing on your mind. Do remember that these little low-tech fellas hold your scope in place, and while you need a good tough scope that can stand up to heavy recoil, the scope rings should also be able to take significant abuse, lest your awesome scope go flying off of your rifle during your hunt or competition. It’s a good thing you’re here to check out our top five best scope rings for long range shooting.

The Best Scope Rings For Long Range Shooting

Burris Signature 1” Zee Rings

For the shooter who demands the best performance from his equipment and is a practical thinker, the Burris Signature rings claim to be the most significant technological advancement in scope mounting history. This revolutionary design sports many great benefits such as consistent accuracy, tremendous gripping power, scratch-free, and stress-free mounting and scope value preservation.

These rings have been designed with a synthetic pivoting insert within a steel outer ring which allows your scope-to-ring surface area contact to become practically 100%. Burris rings and bases are well known and have been a favorite choice for custom gun makers, due to their strength, beauty, and fit. Each ring is made from a solid piece of steel in which the top and bottom parts of the ring comes together in perfect unison. These Weaver style rings boast to be the best fitting and have the most positive grip, especially when they have no moving parts.

Customers of these rings are very impressed by them. They like that with the Pros-align rings, you can rotate the ring insert to make corrections to the scope’s direction so that you don’t end up maxing out your windage and elevation adjustments or having to shim your scope. Customers also love how they are very solid and easy to install.

Some customers have complained that there is an issue with the rings not physically tightening enough. There still seems to be too much play in the scope, while if you keep tightening the screws, they break the bits. Some people have tried bending them into a tighter fit, only to realized that the rings are too hard to bend with a clamp.

Positives Recap for This Product

• strong gripping power
• scratch-free
• easy mounting
• hard steel
• synthetic pivoting insert

Negatives Recap for This Product

• may not be a tight enough closing
• breaks bits

Seekins Precision Medium 4 Cap Screw Scope Ring

The Seekins Precision scope rings are a horizontally split 4 screw type scope ring set, which are said to be the best available through superior design, precision machining and obsessive attention to detail. They certainly are a beautifully designed ring! The 7075-T6 aluminum construction is built to the 1913 Picatinny specifications.

These rings are versatile and come in 30mm and range from low to AR high in height. They can accommodate most rifle and optic combinations this way, and with that Picatinny rail fitting, you should expect a nice, sturdy mount and great performance.

Customers of this ring set seem to be on one end of the spectrum or the other, they either love them or they hate them. Most people love the incredibly snug fit and performance delivered, and that they are precise when tightened, fitting perfectly with one another. Because they are aluminum, they are incredibly lightweight compared to steel rings but rival the strength and performance.

Complaints about these rings tend to be more about the packaging than the rings themselves, with customer complaints that the package was missing screws, but didn’t really have much of an issue with the rings at all. They also tend to be a little more on the expensive side than some of the other scope rings you’ll find out there.

Positives Recap for This Product

• horizontally split with screws
• beautifully designed with great detail
• precision machining
• lightweight, 7075-T6 aluminum construction
• Picatinny rail fitting

Negatives Recap for This Product

• possibly missing screws in package
• a bit on the expensive side

EGW 1” Practical Aluminum Rings 750”

The EGW 1in practical aluminum .750 scope rings are vertical split type rings made from precision machined aluminum and anodized for a nice, matte black finish. They come in a 1” or 30mm diameter.

Customers of these rings claim that they are some of the best with a rock-solid mount and extreme ease of leveling the scope. Also, they are gentle and don’t do damage to the scope tube when tightened down.

No real customer negatives were noted, and the rings appear to come with their own bit to tighten them down right.

Positives Recap for This Product

• machined aluminum design
• anodized for a matte black finish
• vertical split type
• rock solid, yet do not do damage to the scope
• bit appears to be included

Negatives Recap for This Product

• no real product negatives noted

TPS TSR Low Sporting Optic Rings

The TPS TSR Low Sporting Optic Rings are incredibly precise, with a ring bore diameter circularity within 2/10000 of a thousandth, and ring bore parallelism and perpendicularity to ring base less than 1/10000 of a thousandth. These are manufactured in the United States by U.S. Veterans and are a direct supplier for the Canadian Defense Ministry for the C14 Timberwolf .338 Lapua. In other words, these rings are both skillfully and knowledgeably crafted and tactically proven.

The TPS TSR scope rings are designed from 7075-T651 aluminum alloy in a hard anodized finish, in attractive matte black. With as precisely as they are machined, they provide for maximum scope to ring contact and hold your scope securely against recoil. They are done in the popular 4 screw cap design that allows for reticle alignment, then left and right side tightening without rotating the scope out of alignment. The edges and corners are radiused for, not only snag prevention, but also a clean, sharp appearance. Finally, these attach to a Picatinny base via a large, clamp-nut which lets you torque the rings down tightly.

Customers of these rings love how incredibly solid they are, while at the same time being lightweight and well-priced. To top it, they say they are super easy to install. They have no real customer complaints or gripes noted.

Positives Recap for This Product

• 7075-T651 aluminum alloy constructed
• hard anodized matte black finish
• precisely machined, fit snugly and solidly
• manufactured by U.S. Veterans, supplied to Canadian Defense Ministry
• 4 screw cap
• radiused edges and corners
• Picatinny fittings, w/large clamp-nut for torque
• lightweight, well-priced

Negatives Recap for This Product

• no noted negatives

Vortex Optics Precision Matched Rings

The Vortex Optics Precision Matched rings are rugged, lightweight and anti-snag scope rings are aluminum built and finished with a Type III hard anodized coating. The aluminum body is machined of certified USA 7075-T6 billet aluminum and clamped incredibly tight with a precision CNC mill, to ensure a perfect fit between top and bottom rings. They are then serialized, vibratory tumbled and hand-bead blasted before being hard anodized.

These scope rings are very specific to Picatinny rails, and will not work with a Weaver style. They are quality made in the USA and come with their own Hex wrench included.

Customers of these rings really seem to love them a lot! They comment that the quality of these rings are very high and that they are nice and solid. The tops and bottom match  up perfectly for a superbly snug fit.

Some negative aspects of the rings are that there are so many size choices, it seems a lot of people end up with the wrong height and have to replace the rings. There seem to be many complaints of the rings arriving with missing screws. They seem to be on the higher end of the price spectrum too, but most people really don’t seem to mind that as the quality is so good.

Positives Recap for This Product

• high quality, rugged and lightweight
• snag resistant
• USA made 7075-T6 billet aluminum alloy
• Type III hard anodized coated
• fit Picatinny rails
• Hex wrench provided

Negatives Recap for This Product

• many sizes and people end up with the wrong height
• rings arrive with missing screws often

Scope Ring Considerations

There are some things you will want to keep in mind when choosing your scope rings. The type of material the rings are made of affects how sturdy they are, the kind of attachment or base rail, the type of rings in general, and the height or size. Of course, you have some other considerations as well, such as color, but this is rather a secondary concern if you’re just looking for the best and toughest ring there is for your situation.

Scope Ring Materials

For the most part, you’re going to see rings made of steel or aluminum. There are some other material types out there though, like zinc-alloy and sintered steel rings. Sintered steel is iron powder and graphite that has been heated and compressed until it forms a solid, single material. Both sintered steel and zinc-alloy rings must be cast first, then machined, while steel and aluminum are just cut and machined. Solid steel rings are the strongest and hold their form better.

Base Rail

You may already have a Picatinny or Weaver type mount on your rifle and just need to match the rings with that. Rings also come with attachments for dovetail mounts or quick release. Some manufacturers, like Ruger and Sako, have their own type of rings that attach directly to the rifle without needing corresponding mounts first. These are sort of a mount, ring combo. You also must decide if you want to use a two-piece or one-piece mount. One-piece mounts are the sturdier of the two.

Ring Type

Aside from looking at how the rings mount, you may consider the type in general. Quick release rings are convenient when needing to, possibly, remove your scope off and on for transport. These usually will be replaced in the same position every time, so that you don’t need to re-zero your scope every time. There are also one-piece rings that cantilever, that are the same every time, so you know your scope is not tweaked.

How the rings come together may be a consideration for you. Some rings split horizontally and others split vertically. Horizontal rings will attach to the base mount only by the bottom half of the ring, while vertical rings attach from both parts of the ring. Horizontal rings are the easier of the two to deal with. Rings come with either 2, 4 or 6 screws. The more screws you have to tighten down, the sturdier the mount will also be.

Ring Height

Ring height is certainly something you want to take into consideration. Aside from the diameter that you need, which will be determined by your scope, rings come in low, medium and high heights. Also keep in mind that if you prefer see-through rings, this will add quite a bit to the overall height as well. The larger the diameter of your objective lens, the higher ring height you want. This is to be sure you get proper clearance and have no contact between the rifle and scope.

Commonly Asked Questions

How do I know what scope ring height I need? – For the most part, you want the lowest mount you can get without touching the scope to the rifle. This will ensure you get a good cheek weld. Occasionally though, you would need to go a bit higher to make the scoping more comfortable. This is because different manufacturers actually have different measurements, so high rings with one brand may be different than high rings of another brand.

Find your scope height: objective diameter plus 2-4 mm for the scope body, then divide this number by 2. You now have the scope center, which must sit above the base mount. Now, choose the smallest ring height (when combined with the base) that is still larger than this number. Measure from the base of the ring to the center of the ring. This will give you your height.

Which is the best scope ring material? – This will depend on personal preference and need. Your main choices are between steel and aluminum. Steel is stronger and resists warping a bit better, but they are heavier. Aluminum rings are much lighter, but not quite so sturdy as steel. However, recently aluminum ring manufacturers have been making rings that rival steel ring in strength and durability without the weight.

Is a vertical or horizontal split ring better? – This is also personal preference. Both are good and sturdy. I, personally, prefer the horizontal split because you can mount the lower half, set your scope, then apply the upper half. With vertically split rings, both portions have to attach to the base, so you must try to hold everything firmly together while tightening down the rings. Gravity only works one direction.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this guide and highlight of our top five scope rings for long-range shooting has been helpful and insightful to you. Your scope is only good if you have nice, sturdy scope rings holding it securely. Otherwise, if you have faulty rings, your scope may move around on you or become damaged.

Improper ring height can cause a sight issue as far as you properly looking through your scope and following your target. And if your scope has been installed improperly in the rings, your reticle may be off or trailing too far up or down. You can see how, even such a small, inexpensive and inglorious piece of the picture can have such a tremendous impact on the overall performance outcome.

Now you know better what it is that you’re looking for and can find the perfect scope rings to complete your rifle and scope package and go out and kick butt with whatever kind of shooting you’re doing. Happy hunting to you!

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