Leupold Mark 4 rings "clone?"

[Capita159]

I bought a set of Leupold Mark 4 30mm aluminum rings on ebay, yes, on ebay. I got them shipped for 76bucks. Not bad in my opinion, if it's genuine. The guy listed it as medium so I figure it would be perfect for my 4.5-14X50mm VX3Tactical on my Remington 700. But the listing was wrong, and they turned out to be a set of high rings. I currently have a set of high steel Mark 4 rings mounted and thought I can go about 1/4 inch lower.

Anyways, when I compared the two, they seem to be identical. However, my original rings has a 1/2" bolt to lock the rings onto the base. The aluminum ones has a 12mm bolt and the threads are coarse threads instead of fine threads. There were no original packaging from the auction and was listed as used.

Are there clone Leupold Mark4 30mm rings?
Did I get stiffed?
Does anyone here own a pair of aluminum Mark4 rings and can you tell me if your locking bolts are 1/2" or 12mm?

Gee, I freaking hate these stupid companies that manufacturers clones.

[NoExpert]

Your best bet is to e-mail Leupold directly, they have excellent customer service. My bet is clones since every quality American ring manufacturer I've dealt with uses SAE, not metric. Also every set of Leupold mk4's I've seen has 1/2" nuts to be compatible with the US military issued wrench.

I'd be asking for a refund solely based on them being the wrong height, false advertising is wrong whether or not you know you're doing it in my opinion.

[Capita159]

Agreed, the ebay member has issued a full refund. Thanks for the second opinion. Besides, I carry only standard tools in my tool box at the ranges. Having one 12mm socket in the box would drive me insane, lol.

[shadowofnight]

This is how high the steel mediums look on a rail ( Just a YHM AR rail ) , I never noticed the color difference until seeing them in a picture...both my Mark 4 scope and the rings are the same color

[Capita159]

Thanks shadowofnight for the pictures. The clone aluminum rings were literally identical to my steel Mark4 rings. But there was a color difference. The clones has a nice matte black and my Mark4 were dark gray. I'd probably kept the clones if it weren't for the smaller locker nut at 12mm metric instead of 1/2 SAE.

Here is the completed listing to the auction:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Used-Leupold-Mark-4-Scope-Rings-30mm-Medium-Height-/190441244391?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c572ec6e7