AR15 One Piece 30mm/1" Quick Release Extended Riflescope Mount QD Flat-top Platforms

On paper it looks like a good design, but it neither holds zero nor returns to zero. After taking it off and putting it back on a few times I noticed that the portion of the levers that is against the clamp when the levers are closed is visibly mashed and distorted, just from opening and closing the levers with my fingers.. I would have thought the levers and clamps would be steel, but apparently not. I was hoping whatever kind of metal this is would work-harden eventually and stop squishing further and further, loosening further and further every time the levers are opened and closed, but no joy so far. The design looks decent. Unlike some mounts, here there is lots of area under the clamps, important if you're putting it on a rifle with a polymer upper receiver and a polymer rail (S&W MP15-22, for example) but it does NOT return to zero when removed and reattached. It can't, because the clamping pressure is never uniform. It can be nearly 1 mrad off vertically and up to 1.5 mrad off horizontally, random directions and distances each time. Yes, I hand tightened all the top cap screws in an "X" pattern evenly all the way around. Yes, I used threadlocker. Yes, I always put it back in the same slots on the upper. Yes, I have cleaned the slots and the crossbolts. Yes, I always press it forward and down, hard, with uniform pressure, as I close the latches. It may or may not be related that when I mounted the scope the first group was barely on the bottom edge of a big paper silhouette target at 25 yards. I had to dial in nine mrad of elevation to make it shoot more or less to point of aim, but maybe the manufacturer shipped the scope with its elevation for whatever reason cranked almost all the way down to its lower limit. I have to start every shooting session by zeroing it again. Every time I take the optic and mount off the rifle to put them in a separate padded case for transport (don't you? optical sights are extremely fragile), then put them back on, it shoots somewhere else and I have to zero it again, which only lasts until the end of the day's shooting session. Hardened steel levers instead of whatever soft mystery metal they're made from would probably fix this. As things stand, it is better than affixing the scope to the rifle with duct tape, but only just. I'm disappointed. I really wanted to like the mount. Unlike so many others it's got enough forward offset for me to shoot nose-to-charging-handle. But if it won't stay zeroed, what can I do? I guess I will have to keep using it. At this price point the only alternatives are mounts that bolt on permanently, and that is ABSOLUTELY out of the question.

Great product at a Great price!