Thread: optic mounting options for an ar

in the process of figuring out some optic sights for the ar tried a red dot on it i had in the parts draw but as i thought the dots to big to be able to get any consistant accuracy so took that off and put a 3x9 nikko stirling i had in the parts draw accuracy improved ten fold the only thing now is the eye bell of the scope sits over the top of the charging handle ive seen the canter lever mounts but do they make you crane your neck forward to far for comfortable shooting the red dot was good in that it didnt cover the charging handle so an acog style sight would work but getting pretty pricey or is there a charging handle that suits a normal scope mounting set up cheers nd

i used a quick release riser for mine. it also has a 45 degree picatinny rail on it . works fine and lets me swap from a normal sight to a night scope in seconds

I have used std rings however I have a full length rail to use.

A cantileaver mount such as the aero one should let you place the scope wherever works best for you. If the optic is mounted so that the reticule is at the same height as std ar open sights then you should have plenty of clearance to get at the charging handle-some people still like a extended latch on there charging handle to make it even easier

Have read many times that bridging the receiver to handguard with scope is bad for accuracy, for what it's worth.

Get a cantilever mount as mentioned above, lots of brands fro Aero Precision, Warne, Burris, ADM, LaRue.... the list is endless, all comes down to $$$...
Here is one of mine with an ADM mount.

Originally Posted by AzumitH

Have read many times that bridging the receiver to handguard with scope is bad for accuracy, for what it's worth.

It looked like a recepie for a lot of problems when I was looking at my options

Bushnell - AR Optics good and cheap for the budget minded I don't own a ar but ive had plenty of semi auto rifles and they are much tougher on scopes than a bolt action the bolt cycling is quite violent on scopes
https://www.guncity.com/bushnell-ar-...reticle-304956

You might have read that but first hand experience says that's not true. Rabbit kills past 500m and constant 3/4moa accuracy with several of my hand loads does not back up that " I've read" theory. I'm not putting you down the cantilever mounts work great I just couldn't make them work for me. The original poster asked for real world experience and this is mine. Have fun getting your rig going they are great fun.

Bridging gives another potential problem but with modern freefloat tubes installed properly the problem rate is very low. I have wondered if it's bad rap comes from the days of clamshell quad rails. It's considered std to fit open sights to a freefloat tube remember.
That said I personally use cantilevered mounts to avoid the issue completely

Many FF rails don't line up square to the rail on the upper receiver, shouldn't need to explain why this is bad. If you have one that lines up nicely, all power to you.

Just be aware that the cantilever mounts come in sometimes different cants , ie zero , 20, 30 moa etc to suit certain scopes , 7 also the actual amount of cantilever as well , go look at say Aero website , and see the SPR version which has much more cantilever than the STD Aero cantilever mount .
Depends on the scope you want to mount & the eye relief it has & the position you want the scope on the rail etc .

I mounted my scope so that it was in the most comfortable position for shooting. The downside was that the charging handle was harder to use than with open sights.
For range and hunting use, this was not an issue, as I was not needing to yank on the charging handle all of the time.
This allowed me to get away with using standard rings mounted on the receiver, at a height that meant I did not need a raised cheek piece on the stock.
Given the choice to change this setup, I would keep this configuration over higher rings, or a scope mounted further forward.

Originally Posted by Dermastor

You might have read that but first hand experience says that's not true. Rabbit kills past 500m and constant 3/4moa accuracy with several of my hand loads does not back up that " I've read" theory. I'm not putting you down the cantilever mounts work great I just couldn't make them work for me. The original poster asked for real world experience and this is mine. Have fun getting your rig going they are great fun.

I just thought it worth mentioning since it has the potential to cause problems, especially with regards to the handguard rail not lining up or being parallel with the receiver rail. If it works for you then that's great, but it's not a setup I would recommend to someone.

Another solution for the OP could be as easy as a dirty great fuck off tactical charging handle.