Dovetail to picantiny adapter recommendation

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nemo
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Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2008 10:46 pm

Dovetail to picantiny adapter recommendation

Post by nemo »

Greetings all,

I want to mount a scope on a Walther 11mm dovetail and would prefer to use a picantiny rail. Could someone recommend a quality one with 20-25 moa?

Thank you,

M
nemo
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Re: Dovetail to picantiny adapter recommendation

Post by nemo »

Hi Andre,

thank you for the reply. However, in my understanding Weaver is not the same as picantiny.

Kindest regards,

N
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Andre
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Re: Dovetail to picantiny adapter recommendation

Post by Andre »

nemo wrote:Hi Andre,

thank you for the reply. However, in my understanding Weaver is not the same as picantiny.

Kindest regards,

N
Doing a little research, you are correct. It sounds like Weaver rings will fit on a Picatinny rail however.
nemo
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Re: Dovetail to picantiny adapter recommendation

Post by nemo »

Hi Andre,

yes, this is mu understanding too. Hence the need for picantiny rail.

Kindest regards,

N
mtncwru
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Re: Dovetail to picantiny adapter recommendation

Post by mtncwru »

While Weaver and Picatinny are, technically, not the same thing, the vast, VAST, majority of Weaver rings will fit just fine on an M-STD-1913 "Picatinny" rail. The only way you would run into trouble is if you're using something that has two fixed-position recoil lugs. If you're just using a pair of scope rings, you're fine; just position the rings so the slots line up.
nemo
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Re: Dovetail to picantinny adapter recommendation

Post by nemo »

Hi mtncwru,

with all due respect, I understand this; see my reply to Andre. That is, why I am trying to find picatinny and not a Weaver rail.

Kindest regards,

N
justadude
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Re: Dovetail to picantiny adapter recommendation

Post by justadude »

The next thing you will find is that there are some rails out there cut to the Picatinny standard but marketed as Weaver due the target market.

Might want to contact Pyramid Air and see what they have to say about the linked product.

'Dude
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Andre
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Re: Dovetail to picantiny adapter recommendation

Post by Andre »

In case you can't find a Picatinny spec one, you can open one of those slots up with a dremel.
Last edited by Andre on Sun Mar 29, 2015 4:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
nemo
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Re: Dovetail to picantiny adapter recommendation

Post by nemo »

Hi justadude,

I did not know that; thank you.

Hi Andre,

although I really appreciate your help, I do not understand your reasoning. Since I do not have any rail yet, why would I buy something that I need to modify?

Kindest regards,

M
mtncwru
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Re: Dovetail to picantiny adapter recommendation

Post by mtncwru »

What are you trying to mount?
nemo
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Re: Dovetail to picantiny adapter recommendation

Post by nemo »

Hi mtncwru,

what I am trying to accomplish is have one rifle for two disciplines, each requiring a different scope. In my understanding, a quality picatinny rail and QR rings will hold close to zero, when taken off and mounted back on the same picatinny rail/rifle, e.g., Leupold guarantees less than 0.5 MOA shift.

Kindest regards,

N
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Andre
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Re: Dovetail to picantiny adapter recommendation

Post by Andre »

It seems you have your mind made up, but why not use the standard 11mm rail? Weaver rails are no more accurate than 11mm's when it comes to repeatability. Trust me, I've used them. Your Walther should have numbers along the standard rail to keep the scope in the same place.

I took a scope off my 10/22 to clean it, put it back on the 11mm rail and shot a candy mint at 50 yards, first shot cold bore. On a target rifle it would be even better, and the sides of a 11mm rail won't scratch up your hand when opening the bolt like a Weaver rail would.

I can't help you in finding a mount, it seems none is available for a "Picatinny" rail.
BigAl
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Re: Dovetail to picantiny adapter recommendation

Post by BigAl »

I have to say I'm with the just stay with the standard 11mm dovetail group. I have never had an issue with sights going back to zero, be they scopes or diopters in over thirty years of use on a wide variety of firearms. That includes Anschutz match and sporter rimfires, Walther match air rifles and a variety of PCP and spring sporter air rifles from the likes of Weihrauch, BSA, Air Arms and half a dozen others. They have been shot in a whole variety of ISSF/NSRA/BR matches as well sporting shooting in the field. The sights on these rifles have had to regularly go on and off, as my gun safe (a legal requirement in the UK) will not fit scoped rifles. I would not leave a diopter on a rifle in the cabinet either, far too much probablity of damaging it.

The only time I would consider a Picatinny/Weaver rail system is on a heavily recoriling centerfire rifle. Mind you, you don't often see 11mm dovetails on CF rifles anyway. Well except for a few .22 Hornets.

Alan
nemo
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Re: Dovetail to picantiny adapter recommendation

Post by nemo »

Hi Andre, Al,

do I understand you correctly that you are suggesting that if I get two pairs of the same rings, mount each scope on a respective pair of rings, and zero both scopes on the rifle, I will be able to switch the scopes without significant change of zero?

If that were the case, I have no problem changing my approach.

Kindest regards,

N
BigAl
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Re: Dovetail to picantiny adapter recommendation

Post by BigAl »

Well I have never had any issues, and often I am just using cheap Chinese knock off SportsMatch clones. I will say though that I do now prefer to use BKL's on my better scope/rifle combinations. Usually any variation in zero is no more than would be expected due to changes in conditions from one shooting session to another. Although I normally remove sights when the rifle goes in the cabinet, when away at multi day matches the sights often stay on the rifle. I have never really noticed any significant difference in consistency of zero between the two situations. Of course you do have to ensure that the mounts go back on the rail in exactly the same spot each time. The engraved scales on most match rifles really helps in this situation. even so it is usually pretty easy to arrange for one or other of the mounts to have an easily reproducible location.

My daughter came second in the UKBR22 25m HV championships using my Anschutz 1813 when she was only 13, so the rifle does shoot OK. That was with a Sightron SII 36×44 BRD scope and BLK two piece double strap mounts. She shot a 750 56X while the winner shot 57X. I dropped two points and came 12th! She won the Ladies 50m HV too. She had also won that event the year before, while using a cheap Hawke 10-40×50 Target scope in knock off SportsMatch mounts.

Alan
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Andre
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Re: Dovetail to picantiny adapter recommendation

Post by Andre »

nemo wrote:Hi Andre, Al,

do I understand you correctly that you are suggesting that if I get two pairs of the same rings, mount each scope on a respective pair of rings, and zero both scopes on the rifle, I will be able to switch the scopes without significant change of zero?

If that were the case, I have no problem changing my approach.

Kindest regards,

N
Exactly, even if you get different rings they should interchange and still hold more-or-less zero. Make sure you use a torque wrench to make sure the scope mount screws are tightened the same amount, to maximize consistency.
nemo
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Re: Dovetail to picantiny adapter recommendation

Post by nemo »

Hi Andre, Alan,

thank you very much.

Kindest regards,

N
mtncwru
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Re: Dovetail to picantiny adapter recommendation

Post by mtncwru »

Yeah, just use 11mm rings. Or, if you need the extra MOA from the rail, just get the Pyramid Air rail and a set of rings you like. If you don't need the MOA, I would vote for the 11mm rail direct option: fewer parts to come loose, get misaligned, etc.

The only time you *might* run into issues with a Picatinny rail and Weaver rings is if you're using a one-piece Weaver mount with two recoil lugs, then the slot centers *might* not quite line up. If you're using a pair of rings, though, you just slide one a few millimeters forward or back on the scope so the recoil lugs line up with the slots on the rail.
nemo
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Re: Dovetail to picantiny adapter recommendation

Post by nemo »

Gentlemen,

thank you for all the help. Now onto the next issue, I need a rather tall rings at least 1.5 inches for a scope with 30 mm tube. Can you please recommend a source for such rings? I will post a new topic.

Thank you,

N
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