Apel or alternatives

[gazzar15]

I have a Blaser LRS2 which I have owned for a good while now and at various stages in time I have also owned several match barrels to suit.I have been shooting a 223 barrel for sometime and decided to add a 6mm BR barrel to the stable.Always without fail I have been able to take the saddle mount from any given barrel with scope fitted to it and attach it to another barrel, obviously zeros need to be altered but the mount always fitted perfectly. The 6mm BR barrel however is different and if the saddlemount is fitted to either of the 2 barrels it then requires adjustment before fitting to the other barrel.This can take far too long to make the excercise fall within the definition ''quickchange''. So I then looked at a second mount and fitting a spare scope. Given that the cheapest Blaser saddlemount I could find new and not being able to source a used item was £350 I am looking to a cheaper alternative if I can.I have been informed that APEL do detachable bases for the Blaser plus the option of either a weaver base or conventional rings. I can't seem to find either a price or a retailer who sells them ,can anybody assist please????

[fizzbangwhallop]

Gazzar,

I've got a pair of Apel 34mm Blaser mounts but they're not QR ones - just the single cap head screw.

 

They came off a S&B PM2 I bought via Guntrader but the mistake I made was not to take them off and look at the tube before I parted with my hard-earned.. yep the tube was kinked and S&B took over £450 to replace the tube.. so that's now sat unloved in the cupboard as well. Grrrrr.

 

So with the possibility of marking your precious 'scope I'd go for another Saddlemount .. at least by the time you come to sell them you'll get back what you paid. Open Season stock the Blaser mount spacers that raise the rings 4.5mm to clear the Zeiss turret housing or the 34mm tubed 6-24x72mm objective

 

Ok there are some that swear by Apels, but I'm not one of those.. more a case of 'at'

 

The rail and ring option means you might have spare Saddlemount going then? One of my Match barrels came fitted with the Pic rail and after buying a pair of pukka Brugger & Thomet mounts I discovered the barrel had the standard notches so on went on Saddlemount (fits over the extra stud too). Keeps the 'scope nice and low too.

 

As an alternative to Blaser, how about MAK http://www.kilic-feintechnik.de/en/click-here-for-the-startpage/catalog/ I recently read that Countryman of Derby are doing these, or Open Season. Probably nearly as expensive as Saddlemounts and not horizontally split rings last time I looked so you'd have the same risk as Apels.

 

That's me

 

atb

FBW

[brown dog]

They came off a S&B PM2 I bought via Guntrader but the mistake I made was not to take them off and look at the tube before I parted with my hard-earned.. yep the tube was kinked and S&B took over £450 to replace the tube.. so that's now sat unloved in the cupboard as well. Grrrrr.

 

So with the possibility of marking your precious 'scope I'd go for another Saddlemount ..

 

Ok there are some that swear by Apels, but I'm not one of those.. more a case of 'at'

 

 

I'd strongly echo the 'avoid apel' advice; had a set of their QDs on my first 202.

Horrible over-complicated design that, in my experience wouldn't have been far off perfect if you'd been intending to make something that couldn't be fitted to a scope without a high probability of marking or compressing it.

Even though the myriad moving parts of the QD were perfectly set-up; I was never able to trust my zero with them and eventually 'woke up' when I found myself taking check shots every morning in the Highlands (although, I'll admit, if I was a happy-with-2MOA-shooter [and there's nothing wrong with that, but that's not me] I wouldn't have noticed).

I think there's a good reason that the Apel designs aren't copied by anyone else

[Davy]

I run Apel rings on my S&L, not through choice though. They are incredibly expensive and in my eyes look quite flimsy, the alternative right now is fit S&L mounts and rings which are even worse.

[AitkenD]

Without wishing to offend, it seems that 'ham fisted' - you know the 'how now brown cow' torque chant fitting process would be the likely cause of most problems with Apels.

I have used them for 30+ years with only 1 failure of the recoil stop screw on one set of roll-offs (fitted on a '06) and it failed because the clamps had not been tightened

Never marked/crimped a scope tube.

Oh BTW I have seen many copies of Apel mounts rings....

Like most things if fitted correctly they will perform without fault.

 

If anyone has a set of Apel 34mm rings that they wish to move please feel free to PM me!

 

All the best

[AitkenD]

I have a badger 1 piece 34mm mount (made by Badger for S& would like to swap for Apel 34mm rings and weaver/picatinny roll off bases.

Any one interested bung me a PM!

[Alycidon]

I had a set of Apel swing offs, could not get the rear swing in to tighten up, result = poor accuaracy. I have also had a set of Apel fixed mounts maybe 25 years ago, they were excellent. So aviod swing off mounts in my book.

 

A

[AitkenD]

I had a set of Apel swing offs, could not get the rear swing in to tighten up, result = poor accuaracy. I have also had a set of Apel fixed mounts maybe 25 years ago, they were excellent. So aviod swing off mounts in my book.

 

A

After tip/roll off (for picatinny / weaver rail) not twist off thanks!