Hmmm. For some reason my Impact 737r laughed at the comment about a LaRue mount scratching the rail. I have at least 15 on/off cycles in several different slots while mounting several different optics in my LaRue mounts and fitting them to my action. An oiled rag, and l can’t see a mark. I’m still trying to iron out the right hunting optic to swap in, rather than taking the Hubble (and it’s heft) to the woods.
Aluminum vs hardened steel.
I can say with absolute certainty that they return to zero. Are they Spuhr? Nope. Are they good QD mounts that allow the ready use of several different optics across as many rifles? For sure.
Are we shooting rifles or playing with crystal?
In my mind, and from my experience, while not the best competition mounts, they perform exactly as LaRue says they do. And they allow versatility that no more permanent mount designs can touch.
Now, do they scratch an M4 or similar flat top? Only if you swap them onto a dirty rail. Regardless, aluminum guns parts and receivers are cheap. What’s the resale on a used $50 dollar AR upper?
Back to the topic von-da thread.
OP, Spuhr are the absolute strongest mounts available. ARC rings might be the strongest rings, but I don’t know if anyone has ever done any testing to prove that. The question would be why? Of the thousands of guys competing with Seekins, Badger, Steiner, Burris, Leupold; I don’t know of any that ever missed a target because any of these decent ring sets broke in the field. I’ve been looking for examples of negative reviews, and from what I’ve seen, to a man, every negative review was more than likely the result of someone that didn’t mount them correctly, and then blamed the rings for not holding up. Whatever you decide on, make sure you either have the tools and knowledge to mount the optics correctly, or go ask someone who does to do it for you.
Your mount has one job: secure the sight to the rifle. Any quality set of rings should do this well. I recommend ARC rings. As others have mentioned, they make the mounting process easy, and are very well made. Unless the targets arm themselves and start shooting back, in which case get the Spuhr and pray for victory.