Mounting a scope on a Carry Handle

[CCW007]

How many have mounted a scope on an A2 carry handle? I have a National Match A2 upper, but I want optics on it. I have ordered a B Square see through base and rings along with a cheek weld. I am going to put a cheap 3-9 scope on it to see how I like it and then save up for some good optics. Does anyone have any pictures of one setup like this?

[Carlitos]

Its a really bad set up. I lent such a mount to two friends & they both gave it back to me after trying it.

Better idea? Pay the $90 to 120 for a receiver - an A4 flat top reciver - and put that on your gun in place of the A2 that is there. Think of that reciver as an expensive scope base. Much better option.

[CaptToyota]

Let me add to Carlitos reply, don't forget that you'll want some extra super high scope mounts for use with the flat top to get the thing up at a comfortable height for you to look through scope easily/cheek weld.

Millet makes a set for approx $39, on up to Les Baer and others at $130+.

[Carlitos]

thanks Capt! I forgot to add that part. I made the mistake once of mounting a scope on a flat top with "standard" sized rings & that made the scope almost un-usable it was so low.

[CCW007]

Thanks guys. I am going to do a flattop at some point when I get varmint upper with a 24" barrel. I kind of want to keep this one as is, but I have thought about swapping the A2 on it with a flat top and then use the A2 on something with 16" barrel. These parts have already shipped so if they do not work then I will return them and do the flat top.

[Black Tiger]

I mounted a NCstar 3x9 scope on my M4 and carried it during my tour in Iraq and I used a B-Square Carry handle scope mount.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a362/Sablelieger/Others/MyBoomstick.jpg

Works great, see no reason why I wouldn't use it?

[Panzerfaust]

A consideration... rather than mount a scope on the carry handle, mount a reflex sight/scope in front of the carry handle and behind the sight blade. OTOH, if you are using this rifle for varmint shooting or long range shooting, forget I said anything.

[Carlitos]

blacktiger - thank you for your service to our country.

CCW007: read this entire post on the topic of your question:

http://www.glocktalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=472094

No disrespect to those who get by with carry handle mounts, but I stick by my original post. If the carry handle mount is perfectly adequate, then why does the flat-top upper even exist? Moreover, if all you need is a carryhandle mount & a $40 chinese 3x9 scope for the ultimate military-use rifle, then why has the military adopted the flat top instead, and why do they use dot scopes costing hundreds & hundreds of dollars ???(in other words - what is the value of an illuniated reticle and why is that feature so important??). A. a specialized reticle mounted in the right place on the rifle works much better. Try finding johny jihad really fast in low light in your cheapo 3x scope at under 20 yards - let alone having any hope of seeing that thin black cross hair.

blacktiger - I respect your BTDT experience; however, I have greater faith in folks like SOCOM & others who have been there longer & done more of "that" and who have figured out the best configuration. I'd go with what they use. Regards,

CBR

[Carlitos]

Check this out: God knows optics are helping our boys in Iraq...

read this article

http://staging.defensenews.com/stor...57501&C=america

New Scopes Make U.S. Marines Deadlier
By LAURA BAILEY


The U.S. Marine Corps, which has been giving its Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight (ACOG) rifle scope to troops in Iraq, has decided to pass it out at home as well.

“The guys that can tell you the most about the ACOG are the terrorists we kill daily in combat,” said Chief Warrant Officer 5 Terry Walker, 2nd Marine Division gunner. “The first thing they say is, ‘Call off your snipers.’”

But they aren’t snipers. They’re just Marines.



“It is the biggest leap forward in combat-shooting assistance in years,” Walker said. “It takes Marines that were good shooters and makes them better. It takes marginal shooters and makes them good.”

Eyes Wide Open

Mounted to the M16A4 rifle, the scope allows the shooter to keep both eyes open, which is helpful in a combat zone.About 3,000 ACOGs are currently in Iraq with the I Marine Expeditionary Force; they will be turned over to II MEF when the unit arrives next spring. The ACOGs were first purchased for Marines in Iraq as an interim fix when the call went out for better gunsights. After testing several optical sights at Camp Lejeune, N.C., the Marine Corps decided to go with Trijicon’s TA31. It is the same model as those now used in Iraq, albeit with a red “donut” reticle instead of a chevron pattern.
A total of 4,200 will go out to the Corps in December; the aim is to field 53,000 scopes by 2010. “The one thing that every Marine agrees [on] and wants is an ACOG scope,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Fred Bourne, gunner for 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines. Bourne returned in August from Iraq, where his battalion had 200 ACOGs. With the optic, Marines in the battalion logged kills at distances as far away as 722 meters, yet also found the sights helpful in close engagements under 50 meters. They even used them as observation devices, like binoculars, while on watch. “In the city, it was much more valuable than the [M249 Squad Automatic Weapon] or [M240G machine gun] because, for once, we had the ability to look out into windows and down the alleys,” Bourne said. “It is an absolute necessity in this guerrilla war where we have to identify our opponent from the civilian-dressed masses,” he said.Scopes for Every Infantry Battalion
The 53,000 ACOGs will be distributed

[CCW007]

Originally posted by Carlitos

CCW007: read this entire post on the topic of your question:

http://www.glocktalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=472094



Thanks for the link I have read that thread.
I have gone back an fourth on getting a stripped flattop upper and replace the one I have, but I want to keep the A2 like it is because I like it and how it looks. It can also be used in matches at my range in this configuration without optics. I just so happen to have a cheap 3x9 scope that I am going to try on it for the time being. That does not mean I am going to keep the cheap optics on it, but I cannot see putting anything expensive on it either unless this setup works for me. The reason I want to have optics is so I can use it on varmints. We have a several Beavers on my dad’s place doing lots of damage to trees and I think this would be the best gun I have to dispose of them. I can use the peep sites or optics depending how far they are. I will to get a dedicated varmint upper at some point, but I am trying to come up with 7k in 60 days or less to install a heat pump without financing anything, so until then I need to make what I have work as cheep as possible because getting money by the wife is a no go right now.

[Black Tiger]

Originally posted by Carlitos
blacktiger - thank you for your service to our country.

CCW007: read this entire post on the topic of your question:

http://www.glocktalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=472094

No disrespect to those who get by with carry handle mounts, but I stick by my original post. If the carry handle mount is perfectly adequate, then why does the flat-top upper even exist? Moreover, if all you need is a carryhandle mount & a $40 chinese 3x9 scope for the ultimate military-use rifle, then why has the military adopted the flat top instead, and why do they use dot scopes costing hundreds & hundreds of dollars ???(in other words - what is the value of an illuniated reticle and why is that feature so important??). A. a specialized reticle mounted in the right place on the rifle works much better. Try finding johny jihad really fast in low light in your cheapo 3x scope at under 20 yards - let alone having any hope of seeing that thin black cross hair.

blacktiger - I respect your BTDT experience; however, I have greater faith in folks like SOCOM & others who have been there longer & done more of "that" and who have figured out the best configuration. I'd go with what they use. Regards,

CBR

Thanks, I respect your post too; however, unlike SF guys, I don't have a multi-million dollar budget, where I can the top of the line stuff and afford the uber-tactical optics common to them. Some of us make a lot of money and can afford the good optics; some of us don't.

Now, in many of the situations I was involved in Iraq, I never had the chance to lay in the prone, adjust my stock, aim and fire. The moment when an IED goes off and you are in the middle of an ambush, you don't have time to do anything, but raise your weapon and fire into where you think the enemy shot that RPG off...

Is called "Reflex Shooting".

Any soldier or Marine worth his salt will tell you that when you are ambushed, with bullets wizzing by you, you don't have time to think about angles of aim or windage adjustments, you pull the trigger and you do it fast; your $400 Uber-Tactical scope becomes nothing more than 2 pounds of dead weight on your weapon.

If the man wants to install a $30 Chinese scope on his carry handle, then that's his choice and I respect him for that. If it was me, I use straight iron sights and nothing else; nothing to crack, bang out of focus, fog up or die on me when the SHTF.

[p01ic3m4n]

Originally posted by Carlitos

blacktiger - I respect your BTDT experience; however, I have greater faith in folks like SOCOM & others who have been there longer & done more of "that" and who have figured out the best configuration. I'd go with what they use. Regards,

CBR

talk about jumping on the bandwagon. if SOCOM has it, then it must be the best for everyone right?

Originally posted by Black Tiger
I mounted a NCstar 3x9 scope on my M4 and carried it during my tour in Iraq and I used a B-Square Carry handle scope mount.


i have the same thing on my M4 that i carry on patrol. the issue rifles had eotechs and no iron sights. i found them useless. i deploy my rifle anytime i know distance or firepower is going to be an issue. the eotechs give me nothing as far as distance shooting goes. i always had to fart with the eotech to turn it on. not something i like jacking with when i'm in a hurry and trying to watch the target.

my rifle has an A2 carry handle with the scope on it. i can drop it and my iron sights are still there and working. on calls like bank robberies or high threat calls, i have the scope as a backup; hence the reason i'm not sinking a lot of money into one. this one does exactly what i bought it for. in a bank robbery, i may take up a position a good distance away. i don't want to hit a bank customer should something happen. the scope gives me that something extra to prevent that. other than that, i have no need for a scope and mostly use the irons.

i could honestly care less what SOCOM is using or what the military thinks is the dandiest thing out there. i use what works best for the environment that i intend and expect to use my rifle in. to proclaim that since SOCOM uses something means everyone else should, is entirely ridiculous. police swat teams do not generally use the exact same equipment SOCOM uses. the ones that do are using the wrong tools for the job. none of us are going to be crawling under barbed wire fences in the mud dodging RPGs. the worst my rifle is going to see is being thrown around in a patrol car or hitting a fence or something. probably more than what your rifle will see.

don't take this the wrong way, but i don't see recommending $500 optics and more money on a flat top when it is entirely unnecessary.

too many movies...

[Remander]

I have an M4 style Bushmaster with an A3 flat-top removable carry-handle.

I do not use the rifle for military or police purposes or personal protection. If I did, I'd spend $800 to $1,000 on an ACOG (and one day I may just do it anyway, because ACOGs are cool and I'd love to have one).

I do use the rifle to have fun at the range, shooting paper at 50 to 200 yds or plinking steel gongs and silhouettes at 200 to 440 yds. No competition, just fun shooting.

I currently have a Leupold carry-handle mount (about $25 I think) with a Simmons 44 mag 4-12 power scope on it. I also own some Millet high-rise rings to mount a scope on the flat-top, but I have not used them yet.

The handle-mount works great for my current purposes. The accuracy and cheek weld are fine. I have a blast shooting this set-up.

[ibontop]

My A2 I carried in Desert Storm was fitted with the Finest Steel sites... no optics. So I can't say from actual glass usage in combat, but I will attest to reflex shooting when **** hits the fan fast. Get clear and get better site picture.

My AR has A2 upper. With Millet red dot on it. 115 for scope, not a 35 dollar POS, but not a 700 dollar Acog either. It works good for me,, I can keep decent weld by adjusting stock mount on shoulder. And can just drop head down a bit for iron usage through the mount.

I will probably get a flattop upper at some point, but if you dont have money to throw around, specially after spending on Others for Christmas, and want a red dot,, go for it, stick it on the carry handle.

[64ti]

for and A2 upper is the question here not build another upper. I hope the original poster is still reading. I have a RRA Match A2 that I shoot in NRA competition and it has to have the A2 upper to compete. I bought a scope mount for the A2 upper and it is the ARMS mount that fits inside the carry handle and is tightened by a round nut on the bottom. I put a Weaver GrandSlam 3X10 scope on the rifle in the mount with the supplied 30mm to 1 inch conversion rings for the 1 inch scope. I have used it on 2 rifles now to check loads and show my friends that shoot high $$ rifle and scopes that with the right loads an AR15 can reach out and touch the paper and with good groups. I have used the rifle with scope and a cheekpiece from DSarms about $20 that attaches with velcro to help put your cheek online with the scope. 800 yards and 80 grain bullets single loaded put me in the 9 and 10 ring. You can use this rig and take it off and use iron sights when you like. It returns close to zero and you can check out groups sizes with different ammo and know what will shoot from you rifle. I hope this helps you. Too much detail let me know. Roy