Red dot mounting on precision rifle

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saitek11

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Greetings,
I have found myself curious about adding a small red dot to my precision rifle set up. This hunting season presented me with a few situations it would have been useful to have. I have a few surplus red dot sights I would be willing to use. I am looking for a mounting solution.
I considered rail mounted, however the sight lines and cant required makes it less then ideal.
I am looking for a 34mm ring mount that I can put the sight on and then have a few options as far as deciding location, I have lots of room on the scope tube. I have a vortex venom, rmr and T1 foot print sights and would be fine with any of them.
I am looking for a stocking Canadian dealer that would carry something like that.
I have a great 1 peice mount so I would prefer to not have to replace the whole mount.
Thanks!
 
Your probably looking at a Spuhr mount? and maybe a single ring that has a picatinny rail, something like a "Simrad" mount from Badger, however that might be too high and somewhat expensive.
 
I've been running a red dot on my PRS rig for 2 years now and its great.

Most guys mount the red dot on the top scope ring, but then you have to chicken neck it, but I think this is a better idea.

I bought a pic rail mount to fit my scope tube... not the scope base.

I added a 1/2" rail riser to that, then mounted a Vortex Red dot to that.

The trick is that since the mount attaches to the scope tube I can rotate it to a 9:30 position, this aligns it perfectly with my left eye.

When set up like this I can look through the red dot with my left eye while looking through the scope with my right, without moving my head position.

I can find a pop can at 50 yards at 20x magnification in less than a second. Just raise the rifle while looking at the pop can with my left eye and bring the red dot to it, then change focus to the right eye with the scope.
 
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Maple57 said:
I've been running a red dot on my PRS rig for 2 years now and its great.

Most guys mount the red dot on the top scope ring, but then you have to chicken neck it, but I think this is a better idea.

I bought a pic rail mount to fit my scope tube... not the scope base.

I added a 1/2" rail riser to that, then mounted a Vortex Red dot to that.

The trick is that since the mount attaches to the scope tube I can rotate it to a 9:30 position, this aligns it perfectly with my left eye.

When set up like this I can look through the red dot with my left eye while looking through the scope with my right, without moving my head position.

I can find a pop can at 50 yards at 20x magnification an less than a second. Just raise the rifle while looking at the pop can with my left eye and bring the red dot to it, then change focus to the right eye with the scope.
Click to expand...

Although that might work well for PRS, I don't think it's ideal for the OP's intended purpose. I also run red dots on my PRS rifles (mounted at 1:30 so as not to increase the "height" of the rifle and make it harder to fit through ports in barricades) but I zero the dot to the reticle of my scope at 600 yards with 600 yard dope dialled on. Perfect for getting on target from 200-1200+ but not ideal for taking close in shots (because of the offset). I think in this case mounting at 12:00 is ideal (which is how I have red dots mounted on my gas guns, zeroed at 50 yards).

OP, depending on what scope mount you have, you can often replace on of the ring caps with an "accessory cap" that allows you to mount a pic rail to it (or some have pic rail top caps as well). I use Leupold accessory caps (that allow you to either mount a pic rail or specific mounting plates on them) on my PRS rifles and have a Badger pic rail top cap on the unmount on my Stag-10 and an ARMS accessory cap on my M14S. I think Nightforce make them as well? What mount are you using?
 
I have a desert tech SRS A1. The mount is 40 moa desert tech mount. I was hoping to avoid replacing the mount, it works great and is rock solid, I would love to get a Sphur (had one on a past rifle and loved it) however I would like to not have to switch mounts and buy another $500 mount, which is why I was liking the idea of a "ring mount". Mounting the red dot on top makes it higher, and with scope being a Primier Reticles the turrets are fairly high to look over as is and mounting at the 12 oclock makes it even higher. I was thinking or mounting it the 1:30 or position to where I can see it fine between turrets. I never thought of using it with my left eye, but not having to move head position at all sounds intriguing as well. With the ring mount I would be able experiment with both of these and see which one I prefer. I was hoping that when I am using it my hunting scenario I would zero it to 50 yards, and hoping it would also help me get on target at higher magnifications, although in the case of PRS I would likely consider zeroing the RDS for longer range if I felt that would give me an edge.
 
Maple57 said:
I've been running a red dot on my PRS rig for 2 years now and its great.

Most guys mount the red dot on the top scope ring, but then you have to chicken neck it, but I think this is a better idea.

I bought a pic rail mount to fit my scope tube... not the scope base.

I added a 1/2" rail riser to that, then mounted a Vortex Red dot to that.

The trick is that since the mount attaches to the scope tube I can rotate it to a 9:30 position, this aligns it perfectly with my left eye.

When set up like this I can look through the red dot with my left eye while looking through the scope with my right, without moving my head position.

I can find a pop can at 50 yards at 20x magnification an less than a second. Just raise the rifle while looking at the pop can with my left eye and bring the red dot to it, then change focus to the right eye with the scope.
Click to expand...

Any chance you have a pic of this set up?
what ring mount did you use?
 
Here's the pic rail mount on ebay.ca

If I could find a real good one I'd buy it but even this cheap one works just fine.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/1-30mm-Ring-Picatinny-Rail-Barrel-Adapter-Scope-Mount-For-Red-Green-Dot-Laser/193158457111?hash=item2cf9242717:g:yuMAAOSwZA1afWwd

Here's an example of the 1/2" riser

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/3-Slot-Low-Base-Riser-Converter-Adapter-21mm-Picatinny-Weaver-Rail-Mount-Rail/323833248389?hash=item4b65f73a85:g:K-YAAOSw6VVdAgEp

Instead of the 1/2" riser I think stacking 3 of these in 1/8" thick would work better, (at least for my narrow eye spacing) but they are real hard to find in stock anywhere. Most people have wider eye spacing than I have though so 1/2" is probably fine for most people.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1048403-REG/burris_optics_410356_speedbead_1_4_mount_riser.html/c/product/1048403-REG

Here's a pic of it on my 22

85ajV1f.jpg


Here's the one on my 223

Yes it is clear of the Burris scope level.

I like the scope mounted high like this with the cheek and butt pad high to lower the recoil impulse and prevent muzzle rise.

930LUV8.jpg
 
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Maple57 said:
Here's the pic rail mount on ebay.ca

If I could find a real good one I'd buy it but even this cheap one works just fine.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/1-30mm-Ring-Picatinny-Rail-Barrel-Adapter-Scope-Mount-For-Red-Green-Dot-Laser/193158457111?hash=item2cf9242717:g:yuMAAOSwZA1afWwd

Here's an example of the 1/2" riser

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/3-Slot-Low-Base-Riser-Converter-Adapter-21mm-Picatinny-Weaver-Rail-Mount-Rail/323833248389?hash=item4b65f73a85:g:K-YAAOSw6VVdAgEp

Instead of the 1/2" riser I think stacking 3 of these in 1/8" thick would work better, (at least for my narrow eye spacing) but they are real hard to find in stock anywhere. Most people have wider eye spacing than I have though so 1/2" is probably fine for most people.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1048403-REG/burris_optics_410356_speedbead_1_4_mount_riser.html/c/product/1048403-REG

Here's a pic of it on my 22

85ajV1f.jpg


Here's the one on my 223

Yes it is clear of the Burris scope level.

I like the scope mounted high like this with the cheek and butt pad high to lower the recoil impulse and prevent muzzle rise.

930LUV8.jpg
Click to expand...

It is strange that there is no "good" version of that mount. I searched high and low at one point and couldn't find one. It's weird because the Chicom ones have to be a knockoff of something... Burris makes one but it's specifically for their Fastfire.

To the OP, the reason I suggested at 12:00 is that I find it more natural when shooting offhand to get a "chin weld" when looking through the red dot than I do slightly rotating the rifle to use an offset red dot, especially on a heavier rifle. The left eye setup of Maple57 looks nice for getting on target quick but I'm not sure what it would be like to actually shoot with? maybe awesome, I dunno. Personally I find 12:00 to be best for quick shots but to each his own.

Another option (that I had done on the ring cap of my MDT unimount) is just to get the top cap drilled and tapped for a short chunk of pic rail. It's pretty easy if you have access to someone with a machine shop.
 
Maple57 said:
Here's the pic rail mount on ebay.ca

If I could find a real good one I'd buy it but even this cheap one works just fine.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/1-30mm-Ring-Picatinny-Rail-Barrel-Adapter-Scope-Mount-For-Red-Green-Dot-Laser/193158457111?hash=item2cf9242717:g:yuMAAOSwZA1afWwd

Here's an example of the 1/2" riser

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/3-Slot-Low-Base-Riser-Converter-Adapter-21mm-Picatinny-Weaver-Rail-Mount-Rail/323833248389?hash=item4b65f73a85:g:K-YAAOSw6VVdAgEp

Instead of the 1/2" riser I think stacking 3 of these in 1/8" thick would work better, (at least for my narrow eye spacing) but they are real hard to find in stock anywhere. Most people have wider eye spacing than I have though so 1/2" is probably fine for most people.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1048403-REG/burris_optics_410356_speedbead_1_4_mount_riser.html/c/product/1048403-REG

Here's a pic of it on my 22

85ajV1f.jpg


Here's the one on my 223

Yes it is clear of the Burris scope level.

I like the scope mounted high like this with the cheek and butt pad high to lower the recoil impulse and prevent muzzle rise.

930LUV8.jpg
Click to expand...

On the 223, I'm curious why the bubble on the scope level shows a different cant than the base level?
 
Cadex makes a scope ring option that mounts the red dot off to the left side.

Burris PEPR mount comes with pic rails on the upper scope rings.


CzyHorse said:
On the 223, I'm curious why the bubble on the scope level shows a different cant than the base level?
Click to expand...

It's a new build, and I switched that scope from my Cadex that morning and I'm still tweaking.
 
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CzyHorse said:
On the 223, I'm curious why the bubble on the scope level shows a different cant than the base level?
Click to expand...

Multiple levels on scope rings/bases and in the chassis will almost never line up due to machining, finishing and tolerance stackup. Typically, you're best off with one level that is leveling your reticle to gravity.
 
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