What kind of AR carry handle optics mount do you use and why?

[El Rojo]

This is in response to a question in the Scope my Bushy thread.

What kind of carry handle scope mount is best? I understand that you can mount red dots, holosights, regular scopes, just about anything to an AR. So answer all of the possibilities.

I myself am going to be looking into one of the "goose nck" mounts here soon so I can put a red dot on my A2 commando that is on the way. Any good recommendations?

Someone else might want to be a regular scope ontop of the carry handle. What do you suggest for that?

Any and all suggestions are welcomed. Keep in mind cost vs. quality. What is cheap, what works, what is the best? Thanks.

And don't forget that pictures are worth a 1000 words!

 

[Kodiak AK]

Well I know Eotech seems to be what is sworn by, and Cmore seems to be what is Sworn at .

The only handle mount that I have seen are the delta mounts and few variations of it . I realy need to find this info too , because my Tasc ( Hurry up IRS.) is going to have a carry handle , and I want glass .

 

[jefmad]

I started out with a 4x scope designed for a carry handle but it wasn't quite what I wanted. Now I have a Redfield 4MOA red dot mounted on top of the carry handle. I can keep the bullets in a 3"-4" group at 100 yards and that is all I am looking for from this set up. Cheek weld is not the greatest but it is workable and I am happy with it.

 

[Gordon]

Put 600 rounds squareing away my COLT Hbar A-2 with arms #39mount M68 rings and Aimpoint Comp Ml2 sight. First the "new " battlesight zero for Irons, then turn on aimpoint and co witness aimpoint at 50yards. Move out to 100yds and check irons. Then back to 50 yards using Aimpoint without using irons (using big arpeture) and I touched up Aimpoint adjust ment to hit dead on and left the sighted in irons alone. I believe this to be the ultimate carry handle system, my shooting buddies bought one too! BTW the #39 mount gives a place to mount a larger magnifacation convention optic too! I 'm stripping every thing down for cleaning and blue lock tiite on all the mounting threads (esp the ones UNDER the M68 which loosened in the 600 rounds) .

 

[CleverNickname]

When I had my Aimpoint on my Dissipator, I used an ARMS #39.

 

[El Rojo]

Here is a link to the ARMS #39 for those of us who like pictures and more info. Thanks for your input Gordon and Clevernickname.

http://www.armsmounts.com/new.html#39

 

[El Rojo]

bump

 

[JShirley]

I liked the irons on my M4 just fine. If I'd put optics on it, I would've wanted an ACOG.

John

 

[Kodiak AK]

I like redundecy . I came across this last night .

I found it here ...http://www.survival-center.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/firearms.html

I think I will put that mount on my TASC when it gets here . I want to be able to use the irons asap if Mr Murphy comes a calling . I like redundecy .

 

[ShaiVong]

I screwed up and got a freefloating 20" HBAR A2 upper, which now has an EOTech 550 mounted forward of the carry handle on a BC-CAM bi-level mount.

Cowitnesses perfectly.

I'm gonna slap a scope on it with the lowest rings possible, and hope its doable. Looking at a Zeiss conquest or Leupold M8; leaning toward Zeiss.

 

[Nightcrawler]

Consider a cheek pad if the scope on top of the carry handle is too high. That usually does the trick.

Check it out.

 

[Harry Tuttle]

when you mount a scope on a rail on the carry handle
and slap on a "Delta" cheek piece

the iron sights become unobtainable

the leapers mount is a 35 dollar intro to the AR15 gooseneck system

Upgading to the real deal ARMS 39 with the aimpoint and the ARMS aimpoint mount,
makes for a rather sweet platform that co witnesses the dot right on the front sight tip

http://www.americansforguncontrol.com/leaper/

 

[Nightcrawler]

Then try this. You can just slide it out of the way when you want to use the irons, then.

 

[Kodiak AK]

What is co witness?

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Co-witness refers to 1x red dot sights. You place the red dot so that you can still use the iron sights through the red dot in the event the red dot fails.

 

[Kodiak AK]

Thank you . That is exactly what I am looking for . I guess maybe I wont go with glass , and get a red dot instead .

 

[El Rojo]

The question is does the dot rest right on the end of the front sight? That seems sort of redundant to me. If it were a tad higher maybe it would make more sense to me. This is just my theory, please someone explain to me if it helps to have the red dot resting on the front sight post, if that is indeed the case.

 

[pbhome71]

The dot, at least on mine, laid on top of the front sight. Yes, it did seem redundant.

It is not until you realized that on a good red-dot, it is palalax free, or almost. This make target acquisition faster since you don't have to worry about lining up the front and the rear sight. All you need is to put the dot on the target.

-Pat

 

[pbhome71]

BTW, the cheap base does not worth the money. I had many of those. Please don't make the same mistake I made.

The cheap see-through mount that I had for my long gone Bushy did not fit very well into the carry handle. The screw which secured the mount to the handle is always became loose. Also, on mine, the see-through grove was not deep enough. This made using the iron sight a bit harder, since the mount obscure most of the sight.

The ARMS mount is nicely made, and a little more expensive. However, it should fit well and last as long as the rifle. Check out the #2 mount.

IMHO $20.00 for a cheap one, v.s. $60 for an ARMS one, is a no brainer - especially when you factor in the shipping cost and aggrevation.

I have one of the ARMS #18 mount on my M1A, and very happy with it.

-Pat

 

[ShaiVong]

If ARMS made a bi-level mount that would cowitness an EOTech i would be right on it. The adjustable one I got is pretty nice.. Wish it was solid though, I think it would be stronger.

My AR15 fell over once, and it bent the mount at the screw hole.. Bent back ok though.

 

[Gordon]

the ARMS #39 IS bi level, and with see thru rings on the top you'd still have iron sights. ARMS also sells half and full spacers which will adj any platform height. The arms mount anchors in 3 places rather than one frlimsy one. Now I don't know if it is a mistake but Botach Tactical .com has the ARMS #39 listed at $40, I paid $120 for mine.

 

[Onslaught]

The question is does the dot rest right on the end of the front sight? That seems sort of redundant to me. If it were a tad higher maybe it would make more sense to me. This is just my theory, please someone explain to me if it helps to have the red dot resting on the front sight post, if that is indeed the case.

Couple of things 'bout that. You don't line up the red-dot with the irons to aim, that's just where the dot sits if you use the irons. If you want the dot higher, you can adjust it to be wherever you want it to be. BUT, if you sight your red-dot in for the same thing as irons, that's where the red dot ends up when looking through the irons. When you look over the rear sight, the dot does sit higher, and is still "on target".

It's convenient because 1) you don't have to change your head position to use irons or red-dots, you just look over the rear sight, or if you have a fold-down, you don't even have to do that. 2) if the batteries die, you still have irons right there. 3) If your irons are zeroed, all you have to do to zero your red-dot is adjust the dot to float above the front sight... Instant, repeatable zero, even if you remove it.

I had an A1 receiver for a while, and tried both red-dots and magnified optics on it. I HATED it, and didn't want to use a cheek riser. I eventually went with flat-tops, and won't have anything else now.

BUT, if I had an A1 or A2 and wanted to mount a red-dot to it, I'd use the gooseneck mount like you mentioned.

OKO is what I have on my flat-top. They make their own goose neck mount. So I'd probably use them if that's what I wanted.

I've been considering the EOTech, and there are a couple different quality gooseneck manufacturers that work with it too. I personally would go with the "Cooley" gooseneck because it's adjustable and I prefer a higher co-witness than "absolute" co-witness.

One last thing I'd give serious consideration to as well... A YHM 4 rail handguard costs about the same as a quality gooseneck mount. I like red-dot optics mounted forward anyway, so that might well be what I went with, since it would have the most versatility.

 

[Blackhawk 6]

I use the ARMS #2 and ARMS #22M68 to mount my M68 to my carrying handle. This allows me faster acquisition of the red dot and if I need to transition to iron sights I just drop my head and obtain a cheek weld. The co-witnessed sight picture is too busy for me.

 

[Zak Smith]

Technically, I don't use any. All my AR's with optics have a flat-top.

That said, I've used these systems and like them too, if I had to have a carry handle:

1. No question, TA11, TA31, or TA01 ACOG. Your choice when it comes to which particular model. They are extremely fast for close-range (the BAC on the TA11 and TA31) yet can make hits out to 500 yards pretty easily.

2. Aimpoint M2 on a gooseneck mount. This is FAST.

-z