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Posted: 5/23/2026 8:41:37 PM EDT
| I have never had to remove any of my QD mounted scopes, but was looking at it to do some stuff with a couple of weapons. Do they truly go right back to their true zero when reattaching the scope or optic? |
Dare to tame me. Nothing can hold back my rage. Dare to tame me. You can't fool the faithless. Dare to tame me. Fear the man who lost it all.
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Years ago the QD brand wars were waged in the forums of ArfCom. Lines were drawn, names were called, manufacturers doctored fake results, dealers were cut off for selling mounts from other brands, and lawsuits and acts of violence were even threatened. Eventually third parties started testing them. Their findings? None of them deviated enough to not amount to ammo. We’re talking tenths of an inch of deviation from the top brands. It turned out they all had their trade offs but all worked fairly well. Overnight everyone put their pitchforks down because they realized they were arguing like idiots over stupid stuff. People threw away friendships, partnerships, and tons of money all in the name of being petty dumbasses. It was a hell of a time. I’ve used ADM the most, but also Scalarworks, Bobro, Warne, Kinetic Development, and GDI. I’ve never had an issue with a single one of them, including any loss of zero. |
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Attached File Ghostface remembers….. I use QD for everything except one optic on one rifle. Why? Because it’s an M1A and it already sits high enough as it is with low rings. If it were in a QD mount it would sit even higher. |
If a 147 grn 9mm at 1000 FPS is the hammer of Thor then a 165 grn. 40 at 1200 fps must a lightening bolt from Zeus!
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Unless shooting small targets like P-dogs beyond 300 yds I wouldn't lose confidence over it. Have ARMS, AD, LT, Aimpoint QRs - they all RTZ. Our thermals are on AD single and dual levers. My buddy swaps his out with a variable about every week, still manages to kill rats fine. |
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Yup, they are fine as long as you put them back the same way and installed properly in the first place. Never a measurable difference with most brands. Early KDG mounts were garbage though, maybe they’ve fixed their design. Had more than a couple examples not hold on on carbines during patrol rifle classes Wet mounting helps too imo |
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Return to zero is kinda funny. It assumes that the shooter themselves is doing everything the same exact way they did when they zeroed it last. Depending on what your precision standard for a zero is, That's typically not happening unless you are going to the range a lot. That being said, I've had good luck with a variety of mounts. |
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Disclaimer: I've never just trusted the return to zero, but I've always had the luxury of time to check zero after a remount. C_DOES has a lot of rezero tests of QD and Non-QD. Most do good enough for LPVO. Here's one, but he has many more.  Mount Show Down! Spuhr vs Geissele vs Scalarworks vs American Defense Tldr; probably good enough if it's an established brand. |
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Any quality QD mount will return to zero well within MOA if installed correctly, usually within one click of scope correction. I once tested this myself with a Larue. I shot one 5rd group. Then next to it I shot one 5rd group, but this time I detached and reattached the optic between each shot. Both groups were in the exact same POI and to the same group dispersion. Non-QD mounts will do the same with the added step of ensuring your bolts have received the same torque when reattached. All QD does is streamline the process. |
| Good to know. Was looking at painting a couple of rifles. My QDs are all Larue or ADM. I do have one Badger with bolts to tighten. |
Dare to tame me. Nothing can hold back my rage. Dare to tame me. You can't fool the faithless. Dare to tame me. Fear the man who lost it all.
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I would like to know more about the burnish and cleaning methods. Sounds like good information even mounting scopes in general. I have always pushed the mount as forward as I can in the picatinny before tightening them down. Never thought to clean mating surfaces really good and work them some to clean off any coating before the final mount. Good advice. I bought a mount last week and waiting for it to arrive. I will try this method. Probably good idea to remove other QD mounts and clean them up also. Then rezero again. Thanks. I still learn from this board at least on a weekly basis. |
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