Is Bridging Flat top AR receiver and Railed Forend with Optics a Definite No-No?

Mister Donut

Mister Donut

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I‘ve done my due diligence and tried to search this topic in the black rifles forum as well as this one but my search produced zero results on the topic. Apologies it’s already been brought up 10 million times already.

I’ve read arguments for and against bridging/straddling the flat top receiver of an AR and a railed forend with optic mounts, and I can completely understand if you are mounting a scope with two separate rings, but what about single mount optics like an Elcan, Eotech, Trijicon or Aimpoint?

I used to have a cheap Deal Extreme Fakepoint on my AR (with an equally fake Larue Tactical LT660) and I had it mounted straddling the flat top receiver with the S&J Hardware railed forend and it didn’t give me any problems for the two years (and 3000+ rounds) I had it on there.

http://3.bp.########.com/-rah_aBrU4z4/UhTornCYTHI/AAAAAAAASQo/AbarSVImRX8/s1600/P8190061.JPG

Anyway, the Fakepoint finally crapped out on me (the fake Larue mount remained stable surprisingly) so I picked up the Aimpoint Pro and threw it on the same position:

http://3.bp.########.com/-G51oK0hM2qE/UhTpB6bWeuI/AAAAAAAASRA/P1eY8fBJrKU/s1600/P8190070.JPG

I didn’t seem to have any issues in regards of maintain a steady zero, in fact, my S&C Hardware railed forend was a bit loose and straddling the mount across the receiver and forend tightened it up and now it doesn’t move at all. I know, I should take it down and sort that out right away, making sure the forend is secured properly. I’ll take care of that before my next trip to the range.

But I picked up a real Aimpoint Micro a few months back, and I just ordered a real Larue Tactical LT660 so I was wondering if this mount will be strong enough to hold a zero if straddled across the receiver and forend (exact same position as I had the Fakepoint and Aimpoint Pro)? I only recently read that straddling/bridging is a no-no because of different manufacturing specs of the metal, because of flex, etc, but I’ve gotten used to where the optic sits on my rifle and I was hoping you more experienced guys/gals can tell me from personal experience if this will hold up or eventually fail?

Thanks.
 
I don't see why you'd have an issue with a FF rail, as it is (usually, but not in your case!) mounted securely to the upper. With drop in rails the delta ring doesn't hold them tightly enough to prevent some movement, thus allowing some zero shift.
 
Cavs42 said:
I don't see why you'd have an issue with a FF rail, as it is (usually, but not in your case!) mounted securely to the upper. With drop in rails the delta ring doesn't hold them tightly enough to prevent some movement, thus allowing some zero shift.
Click to expand...

Oh, maybe that's what their talking about....drop-in forends.

haha, yeah, I have to remove the S&H Hardware unit to have a look (I didn't install it, so I have no idea how it's mounted). I see there are supposed to be 4 set screws, 3 are securely fastened (they're on tight), one is missing. That's probably why it's not tight, but I want to see what's going on underneath anyway.
 
Larue and other mount manufacturers in general never recommends "bridging". there is chance it will ruin your mount, although it hard to see in the naked eye, there will be a slight movement on your forearm when firing your rifle. The alternatives for that is to use a extended or cantilever mount.
 
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