M14s Scope Mount Saga

JRW (QOR)

JRW (QOR)

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I've given up on the $50 aluminum scope mounts. The metal is too soft, the verticle lug gets deformed after only a few rounds and the mount is impossible to keep from loosening:mad:.

So I did a search for the best mount. I decided to try the McCann Industries one piece mount seen on my rifle below:
img_00723.jpg


It's steel and fits snuggly.

The main problem with a single piece mount is getting it to align with the barrel. The clip guide part of this mount has two alan screews to keep it tight. I left them loose with the mount in place, put a scope on the mount and zeroed in the rifle by first adjusting the alignment of the mount. Took it all apart and tightened the alan screws.

This mount has two problems. First, it's too low to use the iron sights. Bummer. Second, the mount came with two small rails instead of one long one (an additional $80). This prevented me from placing some of my scopes and red dot on the mount (DUMB!!)

So I took one of the useless aluminum mounts, cut off the vertical wing, ground down the bottom of the rail until flat. Drilled the four holes to match the McCann mount, and put it all together and repainted it.

I tested it with my red dot at the EESA range, 60 rounds. Perfect!! The mount did not come loose. Next test will be the scope in the photo, then on to the ORA Service Rifle shoot on Sat.

This is not the end of the story nor my search. The problem with the many single piece mounts is aligning with the barrel. Leatherwood has a two piece mount, with the rail bridging the two secure locations:
http://leatherwoodoptics.com/images/instructions/new%20m14mt%20installation.pdf

This makes aligning with the barrel much easier. I ordered one from Wolverine, but with the strike who knows when it will arrive. The best part of the Leatherwood mount is you can still use the iron sights, and it's cheaper than the McCann! $120.

As a side note, I also have this coming:
http://sadlak.com/si_hd_front_rail.html
 
New mount arrived

The McCann Industries mount worked perfectly on Sat at the ORA Service Rifle Match, even though my performance leaved much to be desired. Need a bit more practice... The mount did not become loose, stayed nice and tight even with the battering it took from 175 rounds and moving about. So far this one get's an A+

Anyway, in April I ordered the AIM mount, supposedly the best. I had given up hope it was ever going to arrive, but it did on Friday.

Here it is mounted:
aimmount.jpg


This is a perminent mount, not designed to be removable, at least not easily. I havn't tested it yet, will do this week. But already there is a problem.

The rail is very short. Too short for my Hi-Lux scope to fit on it. Hmmm... That's not good. Only my smaller, inferior, scopes fit, and of course the red dot. Pictured is my CQB 1.5-6x scope.
 
The McCann Industries mount is back on. The Arms (not Aims), has too many problems and dislikes. The rail is too short for one, but more important, the rail does not go back far enough. The scope in the above photo is too far forward for a comfortable view. The McCann is more than an inch further back almost at the iron site.

The Arms also has the problem of removal. To take the entire assembly off, you have to remove the scope off the rail to get at the rear alan screw. With the McCann you can take it off completely, scope and all, without taking the scope off the rail giving the potental for more than one mount with different optics.

Arms mount gets an F.

I called Wolverine and the Leatherwood scope mount won't come before Sept. Bummer.
 
JRW (QOR) said:
The McCann Industries mount worked perfectly on Sat at the ORA Service Rifle Match, even though my performance leaved much to be desired. Need a bit more practice... The mount did not become loose, stayed nice and tight even with the battering it took from 175 rounds and moving about. So far this one get's an A+

Anyway, in April I ordered the AIM mount, supposedly the best. I had given up hope it was ever going to arrive, but it did on Friday.

Here it is mounted:
aimmount.jpg


This is a perminent mount, not designed to be removable, at least not easily. I havn't tested it yet, will do this week. But already there is a problem.

The rail is very short. Too short for my Hi-Lux scope to fit on it. Hmmm... That's not good. Only my smaller, inferior, scopes fit, and of course the red dot. Pictured is my CQB 1.5-6x scope.
Click to expand...
What do you mean by too short? I've had a mark4 M3 on my ARMS18.
 
carbonrod said:
What do you mean by too short? I've had a mark4 M3 on my ARMS18.
Click to expand...

If you look at the top photo with the HiLux scope you will see the distance between the rings is large. Can't go smaller. That scope does not fit on the Arms rail. The rail is too short for that scope. As for the CQB pictured in your quote, holding the rifle in the normal postion, the scope is too far forward by about an inch. To get the image properly in your eye, the postion is uncomfortable and unnatural. With the McCann mount it's back just over an inch, and my HiLux fits nicely. My red dot is a back to a more comfortable location with the McCann, for me that is.

As I have noted before, I prefer the scope as far back as possible.

One other aspect I forgot to add. May have been a fluke. But one shot and a casing got jambed between the Arm and breach preventing a reload. The opening is smaller with the Arm than the McCann.
 
Leatherwood's scope mount arrived today.

First photo shows the many parts

lwmount1.jpg


Here are the main attachment points in place.

lwmount2.jpg


lwmount3.jpg


As you can see the two attachment points are separate and the rail bridges them.
lwmount4.jpg


And with my CQB scope mounted.
lwmount5.jpg


Next step is to zero it.

With two separate attachment points means that the attachment at the back is adjustable with two opposing alan screws that moves a floating nut for the rail. One can easily move the back left and right by slight adjustments of those alan screws. With the CQB scope at 1.5x, I can see the front iron sight, and was able to align the crosshairs with that, to get me in the ball park.

The front attachment is held in place with one bolt, but has two large alan screws, one on top, and one on the side, which secures the attachment to the front of the reviever.

The claim is that the rail is low enough to look down the iron sights. Not true, it's completely obscured by the rail. No big deal for me with these bad eyes.

This will be tested at the next ORA CQB shoot on the 14th.

No, I will not be selling the McCann mount. My son wants an M14, so it will go on his.
 
While I stand by my tried and true ARMS 18, and have not had a single issue with mounting my choice of hunting optics. You do raise some excellent points in this thread that will be valuable to those seeking the right mount for their needs.
The ARMS was designed to utilize throw lever rings, allowing the optic to be removed for clear use of irons. As a hunter, this is critical for my personal needs. Mounting an arms 18 and other mounts and having brass catch between mount and oprod is an issue with the ejector and extractor springs on chinese rifles. Trimming or replacing with GI spec springs solves this issue.
Some would be interested in seeing the video I have of the Smith Enterprise mount doing the exact same thing.

Looking forward to hearing more on the leatherwood. Thanx for taking the time ;)
 
The scope is temporary. Once I get my restricted, will be getting an Ar15, with that scope on it. My plan is to get the Leatherwood M1000 scope for the M14 next year. Ar15 for CQB, M14 for Service. Rem 700/Tac21 for Precision.
 
Picked up an aluminum Springfield Armory gen 4 scope mount. Put two hundred MFS .308 through it no problems so far. I also should point out I did not use any loctite, but followed the manufacturers instructions that had me tighten, tap with mallet, tighten, tap until tight.
 
M14Doctor said:
...I stand by my tried and true ARMS 18, and have not had a single issue with mounting my choice of hunting optics.... Mounting an arms 18 and other mounts and having brass catch between mount and oprod is an issue with the ejector and extractor springs on chinese rifles. Trimming or replacing with GI spec springs solves this issue.....
Click to expand...

Not to hijack but my Norc M14 (not my newly recieved shorty :D) has the Brownells USGI spring kit (made by wolff?) installed but it STILL jams the brass between the ARMS18 mount and the bolt/oprod. I am using TPS rings if that makes a difference. The rifle worked a-ok with regards to function etc but the brass jam issue led me to install the new spring kit to resolve the issue.. unfortunately it has not.

Regards,
 
Boomer686 said:
Not to hijack but my Norc M14 (not my newly recieved shorty :D) has the Brownells USGI spring kit (made by wolff?) installed but it STILL jams the brass between the ARMS18 mount and the bolt/oprod. I am using TPS rings if that makes a difference. The rifle worked a-ok with regards to function etc but the brass jam issue led me to install the new spring kit to resolve the issue.. unfortunately it has not.

Regards,
Click to expand...

The Leatherwood is lower than the McCann but not as low as the ARMS. I'm hoping no jambing. If there is, it's history.
 
I’ve never had a jam with my Sadlak Airborne mount and you can still use the iron sights with the scope and rings attached by looking through the u-shaped channel machined down the picatinny rail for just that purpose.
 
JRW (QOR) said:
The Leatherwood is lower than the McCann but not as low as the ARMS. I'm hoping no jambing. If there is, it's history.
Click to expand...

As stated by the M14 doctor if you have this problem it is probably your extractor spring. I have the promag arms 18 knock off and have had 0 issues
 
First thing I did with my norc was buy and mount an arms18. didn't want to mess around with cheap sh*t. The stickys were right, you should pay a good amount the cost of your rifle for the mount. (1/3 or 1/4 the $)
my only complaint is trying to true it up the the barrel, towards the front, mine sits way left...

never had any problems with jams or brass rattling around in there, even with how low it sits. ( norc is stock 2007 m14s)
I agree that the arms is short, eye relief on the scope is paramount.
 
The McCann mount dates back to the early 1990s............it is the fore runner of many of todays better quality mounts.

I have tried most of the mounts on the market and the best one I had was the Smith Enterprise mount.
 
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