I was checking those out as well. I share your concern about stripping the aluminum. I've done that too many times and ruined too many parts. I think I'll stick with steel for scope mounting.

BHS and other guys, DONT fear the alloy on the new Talley's. Its 7000 series (VERY tough) and besides Talley thought ahead and put a different thread on the rings screws. They look almost like sheetmetal screws as the thread is so course. The bearing surface (thread to groove) is larger so you can seat them tight without really getting down on them and worrying about stripping them out. I'll tell you how tough they are, the heads of the screws use the TORX system instead of the standard Allen heads. Thats ALOT of torque potential, but of the dozens I sold last fall, not a single one failed. In fact I replaced several mounts on my own personal guns with the new one pieces from Talley.

TC offers (or at least used to, I believe we might have one or two lying around somewhere) a steel one piece base/ring mount for the Encore/Omega but the space between the ring is very small which limits eye relief and scope positioning. Besides that they are MUCH heavier than the Talley setup. Likewise I would take the Talley over that mount/ring.

The one piece for the Omega/Encore is THE way to go IMHO!!!
RA