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Posted: 7/10/2014 9:12:54 PM EDT
| I need some new scope rings and am looking at the Warne Maxima QD rings, and I need the rinds as low as possible, will medium rings (.375") fit with a Mk AR 40mm scope on a AR with a free float rail. |
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I think you may be making a mistake if you plan to use those rings to mount that scope on a flat top M4 style AR15. The rail on the upper receiver is short. Too short to attach two regular bolt type rings and obtain proper eye relief. Typically, you want the rear of the scope eyepiece in the vicinity of the rear of the charge handle to get a good sight picture through the scope. With the Mark AR and most other scopes, when you do that the turrets are too far forward for the front ring to find a slot on the upper.
You do NOT want to put that ring out on the hand guard. Even very good free float rails can shift and are very difficult to properly align with the precision you need. Bumping the handguard is likely to change your point of impact. This is why, if you look at the photos of mounted scopes on AR15 variants, you will not see bolt gun rings. What you will almost universally see is one piece cantilever mounts that move the scope forward so that the eyepiece is in the proper position AND the whole mount and rings stays on the upper receiver. You will also see that the scope is much higher than the Warne rings you are considering. There are two important reasons for that: (1) your stock is much higher than on a bolt gun. It is raised so that your cheek puts your eye in line with the much higher standard height of AR sights. Even folding sights are designed for that height. For this reason, if you use bolt gun type ring height, when you mount the stock, your eye will actually be looking over the top of your scope eyepiece, or you will have to turn your head sideways to line up with the scope; (2) if you ever want to have folding backup sights on the rifle, there would be no place to put the rear sight. There would not be enough room under the eyepiece. Now, I am assuming you do not have an AR10, or similar 7.62 rifle. It has a longer upper receiver with more "real estate" for mounting. You can use tactical separate rings, but, again, they need to be much higher to match the stock and permit folding backups. Generally speaking, to mount a scope on an AR, you want the centerline of your scope, its axis, to be about 1.5" above the TOP of your upper rail. Your suggested rings will be way too low, even if you make the mistake of bridging the front ring over onto your handguard rail. May I recommend that you look at a mount like the LaRue SPR LT-104, which is a return to zero QD style, or if you don't need QD, Leupold makes a nice one piece cantilever mount specifically for its tactical scopes to be mounted on AR15 uppers. I come from a bolt gun background and like my scopes as close to the rifle bore as possible on them, because those stocks are designed that way. I use low or medium Talley QD rings on most of them. The Warne Maxima is a copy of Talley. This will not work on an AR15. |
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