Why Lower 1/3?

[b2dap1]

For me its consistency and I always run fixed iron sights with red dot. With the 1/3 you can go red dot only or cowitness through the irons. Im actually thinking of getting the KRAM for the my ACOG rifle so that it is closer to the same cheek weld I am used to with the Aimpoint.

[Uprange41]

I guess what I'm getting at is, in this day and age where most rifles are trending towards folding sights, do we still need to deal with the height of the lower 1/3 mount and the extra height over bore. I know it's personal and that the cool thing about it. I'm just seeing what people think and wondering about walking the road less travelled on this one.

Another thought I had was cheeking the gun and what might prevent me from getting low enough on the gun; plate carrier, ear pro, helmet or any piece of kit. I don't run these all the things me but they all matter.

Good points!

You say it's not a fixed vs. flip ups discussion, but realistically, that is what tends to drive mounting choice. And, in your own context of the thread, you essentially centered it around a person running flip-ups.

Either way, if you completely ignored irons, and focused only on the differences between an absolute and 1/3 mount, it really is all about feel. We're talking millimeters in the difference in height over bore, which is irrelevant in both close quarters, and in your MBPR zero. Some find the cheek weld for absolute too tight for shooting in odd positions, and prefer the "heads-up" feel of shooting with lower-1/3. Others want as tight a cheek weld as they can get, and find themselves "fishing" for a 1/3 dot.

Personally, I prefer the 1/3 because when I shoot, I stay fairly square to the target, and to get down to an absolute mount (and irons) feels just that much less neutral to me. If I transition to irons, I tend to blade myself just a little more to get my nose to the charging handle, and get my head down without having to "reach".

edit - that first part sounds way more aggressive than I meant it to sound lol

[joshrunkle35]

Absolute cowitness for me.

[Sparky5019]

You say it's not a fixed vs. flip ups discussion, but realistically, that is what tends to drive mounting choice. And, in your own context of the thread, you essentially centered it around a person running flip-ups.

Either way, if you completely ignored irons, and focused only on the differences between an absolute and 1/3 mount, it really is all about feel. We're talking millimeters in the difference in height over bore, which is irrelevant in both close quarters, and in your MBPR zero. Some find the cheek weld for absolute too tight for shooting in odd positions, and prefer the "heads-up" feel of shooting with lower-1/3. Others want as tight a cheek weld as they can get, and find themselves "fishing" for a 1/3 dot.

Personally, I prefer the 1/3 because when I shoot, I stay fairly square to the target, and to get down to an absolute mount (and irons) feels just that much less neutral to me. If I transition to irons, I tend to blade myself just a little more to get my nose to the charging handle, and get my head down without having to "reach".

edit - that first part sounds way more aggressive than I meant it to sound lol

Dude you're cool. I guess what I meant originally was I get the reason for 1/3 when you have tha fixed FSB so I pulled that part out for simplicity. I too feel more neutral (good way to put it) with a 1/3. I tend to notice that when I'm wearing any kit that it is easier to get comfortably behind the gun. The difference is minuscule in height over bore but I've seen those small differences magnify effectiveness if one can run the gun that much better due to a small change. I'm hadn't seen this type of discussion in a while and I was thinking about the change in setups across the board do I thought I'd put it out to everyone.

It's interesting to get perspective on things.

[voiceofreason]

personal preference, but I prefer lower 1/3 by far with a "always up" front & rear sight (folding rear provides more options for adding magnified optics)

cleaner sight picture and EASY to transition to irons with no additional movement necessary

I really like the slightly more "heads up" ergonomics when using a red dot as I don't need to be lined up perfectly my optic like a scope w/ a strong cheek weld. Faster transitions and splits for me inside of 50 yards (don't know about past 50).

[Mrgunsngear]

Have both. Much prefer lower 1/3 on rifles with fixed front and folding rear or fixed rear. Simply less clutter in the sight picture. I use the front sight as a way to index the dot so my shots are very consistent at long range. The lower 1/3 means less of the target is obscured. Then I bought an absolute co-witness and when shooting beyond 150 yds, its amazing how much the dot/fsb seems to cover. The picture seems crowded. At cqb distances it doesn't seem to matter. Will only buy lower 1/3 now. Though I do prefer the better cheek weld of the absolute.

Not a whole lot I can disagree with here but I think most folks who use their ARs for HD won't notice a difference. I have both and actually use an absolute mount on my HD rifle with a fixed FSB but for an all around rifle I'd go 1/3