Why the "swing-away" died?

[roysclockgun]

I recently bought another US Model 1903 Springfield cut-down rifle. Nothing rare or unusual. The military iron sights are still in place. An older style scope is mounted. The mounts are Weaver steel mounts, with 1"rings that swing out to the left side, allowing the iron sights to be used. When the scope is levered back into use, spring loaded clamps hold it in place.
When these swing-away mounts were popular, I never thought about getting one, as I figured that any messing with the position of a scope will throw off zero, if even a tiny bit. Am I correct? Was the zero of the scope affected, each time the scope was swung out of position? Or, did that style scope die out because of other issues.
The concept is good! "Still hunt" along, using iron sights for a quick, clear shot. Swing the scope into use when the game is spotted at a distance.
Unlike the "see-through" mounts that are uncomfortable to use, because they cause the scope to be too high above the bore, the "swing-away" can mount the scope very low over bore.
My ideal scope would be one that flipped instantly from 2X to 8X, with nothing in between. Stalk on 2X. Flip to 8X when game is spotted at a distance. On variable scopes, I cannot ever remember using the intermediate power.

 

[JD338]

I remember the swing away mounts. I started off with the see through mounts. After a few seasons, I went with solid 2 piece mounts mounted low and have never regretted it. Guess I have been lucky with my Leupold scopes, never had a problem. I always take two rifles on my hunts so I have a Plan B in place.

JD338

 

[.405]

I have an old 1952 Mannlicher Schnauer in 7X57mm.It has an old Pachmayer
swing over mount.It is not my favorite mount, but it seems to work and stay in zero so,I don't worry too much about it.The rifle will put five 140 grain BT's under an inch at 100.I use solid one piece low mounts on about everything else.I either use iron sights,peep sights ,or a scope.I never went in for the hybrid mounts.I do like the way you can snatch a scope off of a Ruger and use the iron sights if need be.I'll admit, I do like Leupolds quick detach mounts.Especially on a dangerous game rifle.I have a set on my Browning .375 H&H.

 

[reflex264]

I collect Weaver scopes and mounts. In particular I collect pivot mounts as they were called for Marlin leveractions. I love the system. All of them I have return to zero without any problems. They were then and still are practical mounts. I zero in the open sights then zero in the scope. Here are a few pics. reflex264

My 1962 J.C. Higgins 45 (Marlin 336) with a new 1956 Weaver K4 In new (from the 60's) pivots.

Here is the pivot on my 68 model .444 in both positions.

My 52 model 336A .35 Remington with a K3 in pivot mounts.

Do the old scopes and mounts on old guns work?

Yep.

 

[DrMike]

reflex264,

Those are some neat photos. Indeed, they are practical mounts. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Tiny]

Neat pics.

I used to use those rings myself,dont recall ever have accuracy issuie due to them unless one left the pivot screw too loose.

I think the biggest reason they have all but disappeared is that most hunters got away from open sights.

 

[HunterJim]

I remember someone of other doing a demo of firing a rifle with Pachmayr LoSwing mount operated between shots, still a pretty small group.

The makers are happy not to pay for iron sights, they certainly stopped any development of them when scopes got popular.

jim

 

[Charlie-NY]

Swing out mounts have (kind of) been replaced by much sturdier "swing off" mounts. Leupold , Warne and several other manufacturers make quick release rings/mounts that allow the scope to be quickly removed and more precisely returned if necessary. The newer system is quit solid, even though the older system seems to work adequately.

 

[barthowes]

I remember using the old weaver swing over mounts. They worked fine if you did your part and made sure they were latched. :wink:

I hunt thick woods in VT and must have bumped the scope in the brush. Missed the biggest buck that I've ever seen
mounts were not completely latched

last time I ever used those mounts.....

 

[SJB358]

My ideal scope would be one that flipped instantly from 2X to 8X, with nothing in between. Stalk on 2X. Flip to 8X when game is spotted at a distance. On variable scopes, I cannot ever remember using the intermediate power.

We use a similar optic on M4's sometimes, its called an ELCAN, it has a lever that can be switched between 1x and 4x with the flip of a lever. It also has numerous reticles inside the optic. Very rugged piece of gear. Would be really nice on a shotgun or something like a 45-70. EOTECH also has a flip over magnifier. The regular EOTEC has 1x and the flip over glass piece is 4x I believe. Not as robust as the ELCAN, but still works pretty decent. Scotty