Review for Weaver One Piece Pistol Base, Smith & Wesson X-Frame, Nickel Plated 48496

Author: oldpink from Farmland, Indiana on Nov 28, 2010
Pros:  Strength, ease of installation, availability of rings that fit
Cons:  Only two transverse slots
Would recommend:  yes

oldpink wrote:

I bought this for my Ruger Blackhawk .45 Colt to mount a Leapers red dot sight for deer hunting. I was very pleased with how easy it was to install. I simply completely unscrewed the elevation screw for the rear sight, then carefully pushed out the horizontal pin (you will need a 1/32" punch to do it) at the hinge point, taking extra care not to lose the spring that forces the sight up. I then followed the very cleary written (not translated from a foreign language, I am happy to report) instructions to attach the barrel yoke and the base itself. One thing I would highly recommend for those mounting this would be to use the removable blue Loc-Tite on both screws for this base itself and on the clamp screws for the rings to prevent backout under heavy recoil. The only quibble, minor at that, is that this base has only two slots, somewhat limiting your ring mounting options. This was not a problem for me, though, since only the forward clamp on my red dot sight engaged the forward slot, leaving the rear clamp open. Anyone needing more slots could easily grind one if needed, but the slot spacing is probably just fine for 99% of the shooters out there. I did more than just mount this and the dot sight, sending over thirty rounds of very stout 800-850 foot pound (260 grain Barnes XPB at 1200fps) handloads I assembled specifically for this revolver downrange in the process of sighting in, then evaluating my accuracy potential of my new sight. I am happy to report that both sight and mount held up perfectly to the very heavy recoil of these stiff hunting loads, with not a sign of mount movement. I was easily able to consistently keep my groups within one inch at 25 yards with this setup. There are also two recoil lugs to ensure that it stays put on the revolver. This mount is outstanding, and probably the finest and most rugged that can mounted on the Ruger Blackhawk revolvers with ordinary hand tools.