Thread: Scope rings - Steel vs Aluminium

Originally Posted by MSL

You do not know of any rails made of steel?


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That is correct, I said I did not know, and I did not know.

Since this became a point of the discussion I looked up, I can see that EWG and Nightforce make them. I was not aware of Nightforce ones being made of steel. In hindsight I probably have seen the steel EWG ones when I looked at their site before but because of the price it probably never registered in my mind.

All the rails i have are aluminium.

I also looked at a similar thread on another forum (which did not quite answer the question I was asking). Someone accused EWG 6000 series aluminium rails (the cheaper ones) being too soft and that it bent when he tightened rings on it. That however, could have easily been caused by over-tightening. With enough force you can bend anything. EWG also makes a more expensive and harder version of rail, made of 7000 series aluminium which they brand as "HD". I always thought it was just riding on the "label everything HD marketing wave". Now come think of it, it may well just meant "HarDer"...

Originally Posted by Chilli_Dog

You dont have to agree, however steel has an elastic modulus of around 210GPa 7075 t6 is around 70 GPa, no where near as stiff. Your bike frame analogy is confusing section properties with material properties, in theory you could make a steel bike frame that was stiffer and lighter than an alloy one however wall thicknesses would be way to thin to be practical. Tyre force transmisson is limited by the tyre material

I stand correct re stiffness of steel vs aluminium. However, Quentin's explanation is sound. My understanding is that Young's modulus is calculated on size. while steel is 3 times still for the same size it is also 3 times heavier.

Another point of imprecision in this discussion is caused by me as the thread starter. Aluminium is a pure metal that in reality, for heavy duty and precision parts no one would use it. For scope rings it would have to be either 7000 or 6000 series aluminium alloy. I do not think they would have the same stiffness as pure aluminium.

Steel on the other hand is alloy. Many different types of steel exist and they would not all have the same stiffness. Spring steel, gun barrel steel and kitechenware stainless steel would not all have the same stiffness.

Originally Posted by Ultimitsu

Someone accused EWG 6000 series aluminium rails (the cheaper ones) being too soft and that it bent when he tightened rings on it.

That would indicate another problem altogether. When a scope is mounted there should be no possible inclination to bend anything. That would mean things are not lined up right in the first place.

Originally Posted by Ultimitsu

That is correct, I said I did not know, and I did not know.

Since this became a point of the discussion I looked up, I can see that EWG and Nightforce make them. I was not aware of Nightforce ones being made of steel. In hindsight I probably have seen the steel EWG ones when I looked at their site before but because of the price it probably never registered in my mind.

All the rails i have are aluminium.

I also looked at a similar thread on another forum (which did not quite answer the question I was asking). Someone accused EWG 6000 series aluminium rails (the cheaper ones) being too soft and that it bent when he tightened rings on it. That however, could have easily been caused by over-tightening. With enough force you can bend anything. EWG also makes a more expensive and harder version of rail, made of 7000 series aluminium which they brand as "HD". I always thought it was just riding on the "label everything HD marketing wave". Now come think of it, it may well just meant "HarDer"...

Youngs modulus is an intrinsic material property. You could find 100 types of 20mm 1m long steel bars and hang 10 kg off them and they would all deflact the same, to be clear that includes tool steel, knife blade steels, barrel steel #8 wire etc.

You are correct that no one would use pure al to something (well most things).

Also 7000 series alloys are not necessarily harder or stronger than 6000 series or 2000 series, depends on how it is aged and mechanical deformation

Well it's all very interesting and lot's of theory , scales and hardness values ............but there are other factors at play here .
At the end of the day who gives a fat Rats arse weather it's steel or Ali.............in the field no - one who is a play in the dirt , push through bush, bang the stock hunter cares.
If you have hiked in 1 km or 50 km you need to know despite the abuse the scope hasn't moved in the rings and your POI is the same.
It's a mechanical thing, and you don't and won't give a fuck if the rings do their part and the animal goes down.

Steel or Ali , Blond's or Brunette's, Ford or Holden, ..............coming from Viper if it's a Hemotoxin or Neurotoxin .....either way it works and dead is dead...

And you will give a bigger feck if it doesn’t and then you find it’s because of some bloody scope rings, well I’d be looking at this thread

Originally Posted by Chilli_Dog

Youngs modulus is an intrinsic material property. You could find 100 types of 20mm 1m long steel bars and hang 10 kg off them and they would all deflact the same, to be clear that includes tool steel, knife blade steels, barrel steel #8 wire etc.

You are correct that no one would use pure al to something (well most things).

Also 7000 series alloys are not necessarily harder or stronger than 6000 series or 2000 series, depends on how it is aged and mechanical deformation

People will happily pay a higher price for T6 over T5, even though the latter will become the former over time


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