What are the pros and cons of mounting an optic on a quad rail? Folks who use them mount IR lasers there so there must be some stability. Does this depend mainly on the quality of the rail?
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Senior Member
What are the pros and cons of mounting an optic on a quad rail? Folks who use them mount IR lasers there so there must be some stability. Does this depend mainly on the quality of the rail?
"The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts." Justice Robert Jackson, WV St. Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943)
"I don’t care how many pull ups and sit ups you can do. I care that you can move yourself across the ground with a fighting load and engage the enemy." Max Velocity
Moderator
that's out of necessity - there's no where else to mount a laser if you've got an optic on the flat top.Originally Posted by Submariner
personally, if there's room on the receiver to mount the optic, i see more cons than pros to mounting it on the rail. more weight up front, etc. i find a dot easier to acquire if the optic is a bit closer, rather than farther.
stability shouldn't be an issue if it's solidly mounted rail - it's more of a practical 'why would you want to?' question. just my .02.
Member
MM is correct.
Sad, that it takes someone else to tell you your life is worth protecting and that you are the one ultimately responsible for it.
Senior Member
Perhaps an DD off set mount/T-1 forward of an ACOG or with an A1 upper? From the KISS thread:
Last edited by Submariner; 08-27-09 at 13:23. Reason: add T-1
"The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts." Justice Robert Jackson, WV St. Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943)
"I don’t care how many pull ups and sit ups you can do. I care that you can move yourself across the ground with a fighting load and engage the enemy." Max Velocity
Banned
the same guys who say you shouldnt ever mount optics on the handguard will often run front BUIS on the handguard, so a strong arguement has never been made, in my opinion.
as mentioned, A1s often benefit from handguard mounted optics. plus, it's nice to have an RDS as far forward as possible.
on the flip side, i personally don't trust handguards for crap- having broken or bent 3 "top quality" handguards. but if you will put a BUIS on the guard, i don't see why you won't put an RDS on, which is closer to the reciever, therefore wil shift POA less than the BUIS.
just my musings, for what theyre worth.
eta.. in fact, since i zero my RDSs to my fixed FSBs, i'd probably trust an RDS to the handguard with a fixed FSB just fine, with an absolute co-witness. makes it really easy to tell if you somehow lose RDS zero. the dot wont be splitting the TDC of the FSP anymore.
Last edited by bkb0000; 08-27-09 at 13:59.
Senior Member
Why do you say this? The optimum position for the RDS according to many is at the forward edge of the flat top upper receiver.
Last edited by Submariner; 08-27-09 at 14:02. Reason: grammar
"The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts." Justice Robert Jackson, WV St. Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943)
"I don’t care how many pull ups and sit ups you can do. I care that you can move yourself across the ground with a fighting load and engage the enemy." Max Velocity
Banned
thats because thats as far as you can get it without getting onto the handguard, which is an M4 faux pas. a lot of guys with MRPs or VISs will mount the RDS a few inches out on the rail for that very reason. "diminishing returns" kicks in a few inches from the reciever, as the apeture starts to shrink. personally, i'd say 2" onto the guard is basically perfect- if you have a monorail.
Last edited by bkb0000; 08-27-09 at 14:07.
Moderator
ah yes - in that context, sure. i've done that before - mounted a mini-red dot on an angle mount in front of an ACOG. as a primary optic, i'd still put it on the flat top given the choice.
as long as it's a quality handguard that's locked on tight, freefloat or not, i don't have a concern about it retaining zero and stability. as for an POI shifts from putting pressure on the handguard etc, i don't shoot accurately offhand enough to notice the difference, at the distances i normally shoot at.
Industry Professional/Moderator
Plus, while an MFAL device (laser) mounted to a forward rail is placed there and zeroed, the intended employment of that device is NOT to hit a 1"x1" pasty @ 100m. The beam divergence alone.....
I'd have to look it up, but I don't even think that MFALs are designed to hold 1.5MOA, much less sub-MOA, so there's "slop" spec'd into the device on top of what may exist in a forend, whether free-float or not.
Therefore, a primary optic certainly shouldn't go on a forearm, but I don't think a secondary would suffer from that mounting.
Contractor scum, AAV
Senior Member
For the same reasons you cited before? Any others?
"The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts." Justice Robert Jackson, WV St. Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943)
"I don’t care how many pull ups and sit ups you can do. I care that you can move yourself across the ground with a fighting load and engage the enemy." Max Velocity
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