help with scope mounts

[jcwehking]

I'm putting together a varmint rifle and don't know what I need for scope mounts on a flat top receiver. Planning to go with a standard rifle scope 4x-16x. I see there are normal rings like used on bolt guns, high rise one-piece (like RRA) and forward or extended one-piece. What do I need for good eye alignment?

[Mega]

If you already have your optic, look here for quality mounts.

http://stores.homestead.com/Laruetactical/Categories.bok?category=Optic+Mounts

[Amicus]

This is not the kind of problem you can solve with a single phone call, or posting. The design of the AR (I assume you are using an AR) places the head higher than with most bolt actions. You are probably going to want to add about 1" of height above the rail to whatever scope you wish to use.

Both American Defense and LaRue Tactical have good quality offerings for mounting a scope on an AR rail. I would look into both. LaRue also has a good customer service department that will give you good advice (don't know about American Defense).

A good place to start is to assume your shooting position (prone, I assume) and have a friend measure where your eye is in relation to the rail (both in height and for eye relief). You may then take your scope eye relief specs into account when trying to determine how far forward you want the scope to be. Be careful when you have a variable power scope because the eye relief will vary with your power setting.

Another approach to gaining height is to buy "extra high" rings, usually about 1" or higher, and attach them directly to the rail.

For myself, I prefer the modular approach. I use 1/2" risers on the rail and then use low or medium height rings to get to the (approximately) 1" of height mark. I can then move the scope forward or backward on the riser to get my desired eye relief. Some scopes demand a lot of eye relief (e.g., Trijicon Accupoints) and then you will want an extended or "scout" rail.

Hope this gets you started.

[Mega]

When I ordered my latest scope mount from LaRue (3 days ago), the tech I spoke with asked a lot of questions to determine if the mount I had selected was the best one for my build.

It was... and I'm happy to have the extra help and validation to my research. ;)

[Blankwaffe]

Of the mounts Ive tried I liked the features of the ADM Recon,particularly the locking lever design.
My preference for mount position on the AR is the scope foward with the eye piece just foward of the rear of the receiver.The cantilever design of the ADM Recon allows this to be accomplished rather easy when the front of the mount is set flush with the front of the receiver.
This also does away for the need of a TAC latch as the CH is clear of overhead obstruction,which in turn helps to keep the weapon snag free and gets the weight of the optic and mount in more of a center mass.My balance point with a 20" medium contour barrel and LMT Defender SOPMOD lower is right at the delta ring...perfect IMHO.
With the scope mounted foward it also helps keep my natural shooting position with the BUIS....nose at the charging handle for repeatable cheek weld without thought or deviation from set techniques.
That said the scopes I use/prefer are the Burris Tac 3x9x40.Main purpose for the 3x9 I found that its more than adequate for distance appropriate for the 5.56(most of my shooting is well below 400 meters) and yet when set at 3x close in shots of under 50 meters is not an issue.I started with a straight 10x mil dot and it hindered me on close in performance.
Thats my preferences,maybe it will help a bit.

[jsharp]

I found this a while back. It's a good summary of the 1 piece mounts available for the AR -

http://www.maxicon.com/guns/optics/one_piece/ar15_onepiece_mounts.htm

The standard irons are about 1.4" above the rail but it seems to be hard to find a mount that matches that. Most of them are too high IMO and often too far forward.