Mounting Scopes On Ar's

[Og]

Hey Guys,

When you are mounting a traditional scope on an Ar-15 I see a lot of guys clamping both rings behind the center of the scope when they are mounting the smaller scopes for instance the Leupold VX2 1X4. I am calling the center of the scope where the adjustment knobs are located. I have to mount mine like this because I hold nose to charging handle and this gives me enough eye releif to shoot from just about any postion.

I want to mount a Leupold VX3 2.5X8 on a JP upper that I have and I was thinking about using the A.R.M.S. quick release mount but my question is Can I mount this longer scope with both rings behind the center of the scope and not damage it or do I just need to get one of the extended bases and mount the scope properly?

[Chriss Grube]

You should have plenty of room to mount that scope the right way with out having to resort to an extended base.

[Zak Smith]

It really depends on how you position your head relative to the upper receiver and the eye relief of the scope.

If you shoot nose-to-charging-handle, there will be about 1.5" between your eye's lens and the rear end of the flat-top. So if you had a scope with 1.5" of eye relief, it would be set up correctly if its rear lens was even with the rear of the flat-top. The TA01 and TA31 ACOGs happen to have this eye relief.

If you have a scope with 2.5" of eye relief, the rear lens of the scope will have to be 1" in front of the rear end of the flat-top. That's how my TA11 with about 2.4" of eye relief is set up.

When I had a Leupold with about 3.4 - 4.6" of eye relief (VXIII 1.5-5X), I had to mount it about 2 - 2.5" forward of the rear of the flat-top for proper eye relief. I used an ARMS #36S-EX (Super-Extended) with Leupold "medium" height rings for this config. You might be able to get by with putting two super-high rings (like the Leu MK4) behind the scope turrets.

If you shoot with your head further back on the stock, you can move everything further back too.

-z