Welcome to Optics Trade debates. In each episode, we talk about a different topic and try to answer the most common questions we receive about it. Today, we are going to talk about how to mount a scope: tube mounting and rail mounting.
Rifle scope mount
All scopes can’t be mounted with rings. Some new premium hunting scopes from Europe come with a rail.
Watch our video on Tube VS Rail mounting below
Mounting a Rifle Scope with Rings
There are several tube diameters that need to be taken into consideration when mounting a scope with rings.
The 1-inch tube was the most common dimension in the past. In Europe, the 1-inch dimension was sold and made as 26 mm. Currently, the most common tube dimension is 30 mm. The majority of tactical scopes have a 34 mm tube. Some manufacturers also produce less common dimensions, like 35 mm, 36 mm, and 40 mm.
Mounting a Scope on a Rail
Rail mounting is the best possible way to mount scopes. It looks better and the scope can’t get damaged because of the mounting. Rail mounting is also a lot more reliable and robust than the ring mounting. The clamping surface is much bigger and some have recoil stops over the entire length of the rail. Leveling is never a problem with these scopes because they are only able to be mounted completely leveled.
The only problem with rail mounting is that it’s found only on expensive European mounts and that the mounting solutions are less common and more expensive. The scope can sit a little bit higher if it is used on an older rifle.
There are a few different rail mounting standards.
Zeiss rail
The LM rails were a popular scope mounting solution in the previous decades in Europe. It has since then been almost entirely replaced by other more modern mounting types.
Zeiss ZM/VM rails rail mount is the most common rail mounting system in use today. It’s also used by other manufacturers, like Leica, Docter, Meopta, Minox, Schmidt&Bender… It’s reliable and effective. We described this rail in more detail in a video.
Zeiss ZM/VM Rail mounting video
Need Zeiss ZM/VM Rail?
Swarovski SR Rail mount
The second most popular rail mounting system is the Swarovski SR. This standard is used by Swarovski and Kahles. It is very similar to other rail mounting solutions. The main difference is that the Swarovski SR rail has small teeth on the lower side, which work as recoil stoppers.
Swarovski SR rail mounting
Looking for Swarovski SR Rail?
S&B Convex rail
Schmidt&Bender have their own solution. The S&B Convex rail mount is used only used on S&B scopes. It’s less common than the other two modern systems and mounting solutions for this system are made only by German scope producers.
Interested in S&B Convex Rail?
All of these scope mounting solutions are really good, and we think that getting a scope with a rail mounting system is a great investment and we would highly recommend it.
We would like to thank you for your time. In case we did not answer all the questions regarding this topic, please leave a comment below or send an e-mail to us. If you found this video useful, please subscribe to our channel.
Products mentioned:
Riflescopes: https://www.optics-trade.eu/en/riflescopes.html
Riflescopes with rail mounting: https://www.optics-trade.eu/en/riflescopes/shopby/special_features-mount_rail.html
Mounts: https://www.optics-trade.eu/en/mounts.html
Can’t agree that a rail mount looks better. I personally think they are as ugly as hell. On a military style rifle they may work, but on a quality hunting rifle, they are just plain ugly.