Rings Terminology help

[wjhpc]

When I go shopping for various types rings for my vintage rifles with vintage optics (early Weaver, Lyman, etc.), I have been frustrated by the interchangeability of descriptions used for very different rings. For instance, traditional rings on a high powered rifle (the kind where at least the front ring must be twisted 90 degs into a rectangular hole in a base) are variously referred to as Standard, turn-in and dove tail. And then many folks refer to the clamp-on, grab-a-rail rings (tip-off?) typically used on rimfire guns as dove tail (whether clamping to a grooved received or an added on base). And then the variations on these clamp-on rings, such as the Weaver style (with transverse screw post cutting through a base groove) are also called dove tail. So what gives? Is the term dove tail now essentially meaningless in describing rings, as it is widely used to describe both Standard turn-in rings, and tip-off rings, which are about as far apart in design as can be?

Thanks,

Jim

 

[ronemus]

There is a dovetail in each of the examples you cite, it's just in a different place. You are correct that specifying the word dovetail alone doesn't produce a unique solution.