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Posted: 8/8/2012 5:51:01 PM EDT
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Hi guys,
Recently bought a friend's AR for a very decent price. It's a Bushmaster A2 16" HBAR upper assembly (with carry handle), with Firebird Precision FPX-15 lower, Daniel Defense quad rail, and Yankee Hill tritium sights. I traded him my new in box M&P 40c and $100 cash. Feel like I came out ahead, but he really wanted the M&P40c, and they're hard to find right now, so we traded. I have a red dot reflex sight that I have mounted on a Mossberg Tactical 22 right now. It's a cheapo "TruGlo" model that was like $55 at Cabela's. I want to mount it to my new AR, but the carry handle seems to be in the way. I bought a 1" picatinny riser to use on the Daniel Defense rail, thinking I could then mount my optics on the riser. Does anyone here use optics with a carry handle rifle? Does it work? Does it look idiotic? Please let this AR15 newb know. Thanks, guys :) ––- oh, and "Hello" from Utah! |
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It's not ideal to mount optics on the handguard, especially if it's the non-free-floating EZ CAR model which I suspect it is in this application.
The best choice, IMO, for mounting a reflex sight on an A2 upper receiver is a cantilever/gooseneck mount. It screws into the carry handle but the actual mount for your optic is forward and below the carry handle, like so: 
It's a much more reliable system than mounting directly onto the handguards. Plus, as a bonus, these mounts are cheap because they're out-of-vogue nowadays; I bought mine for $10 off of the EE on this website. |
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You can do either the screw on mount that sets the optic above the carry handle or the gooseneck that bassist suggested. Here's a pic of my tru-glo on a BC-CAM mount.
http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii620/RevCov/IMAG0279.jpg The BC-CAM mount lets you adjust the front portion up and down to co-witness the red dot with your irons and generally keeps your overall weapon height shorter. I have an A2 Bushmaster and have tried both styles. I'd suggest getting both type mounts (as bassist sai theyre pretty cheap on the EE) and try to see which you like best. |
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Alright guys,
Thanks for the tips! My friend's rifle (one that I'm buying, with the A2 handle) is in fact free-floated, with the DD OmegaX quad rail. I bought a scope riser, and am going to mount my el-cheapo reflex sight (until funds come along for a better one) midway between the carry handle and front sight post. As I understand it, you use the reflex sight with both eyes, correct? As you focus on your target, the dot should hover over where the sight is pointed. Is this a correct understanding of the workings of a reflex sigiht? Thanks Brad |
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Pics of my (soon to be) All-American Rifle:
http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/330/20120807205641.th.jpg http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/9528/20120807205335.th.jpg |
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I just did this with my A2 carbine. I decided to forgo a quad rail to help keep the weight down. It's just a little front heavy.
I went with the A.R.M.S #39 A2 Plus mount which has been extremely solid. God willing, my next AR will be a flat top, then I can forgo the gooseneck. For now, this works fine. http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd231/redalrt1/IMG_0994-2.jpg |
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Trijicon build a few ACOG models for direct carry handle mounting.
one of THESE might work well for you: http://www.trijicon.com/na_en/products/product3.php?pid=TA47-6 |
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