Airgun Mounts

Airguns or pellet guns (the name comes from projectiles they shoot – pellets) are popular among all generations of people with a variety of different interests.

They are used for

plinking,
hunting,
sport competitions etc.

All these activities demand variety of different airguns. A lot of these applications do not require a rifle scope for using an air gun, but some of them do – especially hunting or long range shooting.

Hawke 9-11mm Match Mounts, 30mm, high

General Features of Airgun Scope Mounts

It is common to almost all airguns that they have 11 mm dovetail on the receiver. This dovetail is full length and it is used for mounting a rifle scope or diopter. Such dovetails are basically the same as on the rimfire rifles (.22 calibre). It is important to know that they share the same mounting platform and this is why we can found airgun scope mounts also on rimfire rifles and normally, similar scopes are used on both types of rifles.

When thinking of mounting a rifle scope on the airgun, we have to consider that spring powered airguns have strong recoil in both directions. This is why the robustness and rigidness of the mounts is extremely important (especially with spring powered airguns). This problem is not the case with rimfire rifles, where recoil is very mild.

Mostly, these mounts are made from aluminium and can also have a screw that serves as recoil stopper. The screw can be placed vertically, but with the two part design scope mounts, screw can be placed horizontally. Although, majority of airgun scope mounts comes without recoil notches. There are two options available for mounting the scope on the airgun monoblock scope mount: 25.4 mm (1’’) or 30 mm rings. Other dimensions can also be found, however - they are extremely rare.

Normally, airgun mounts are affordable and in most cases fixed. Detachable airgun scope mounts are usually very rare. However, the most affordable airgun mounts are also the ones from the lowest quality (although, sufficient) and high quality mounts can be expensive, too.

Adjustable inclination on the rifle scope mounts is advisable, usable and a lot of times needed (because of the imperfections of different parts – rifle, mount, rings and dovetail). Some of the mounts also have recoil buffer available. There are also available shock absorbing recoil buffers that can be bought separately and installed behind the scope mount and help to absorb recoil.

BKL 0.6" Long Dovetail Rings, 30 mm

Monoblock Scope Mounts for Airguns

Monoblock scope mounts for airguns are definitely more reliable than two piece scope mounts. This is normally because they can handle recoil much better. They are robust, rigid, hard and they offer great clamping surface for the dovetail. However, with monoblock scope mounts, setting the proper eye relief might be an issue in some cases. Also, monoblock mounts are almost always more expensive than similar two piece mounts. Clamping surface on the rail which is connected to the rings in one piece is usually higher than it can be with comparable two piece mounts. This might also be an disadvantage, worth mentioning.

One Part and Two Part Design of Airgun Scope Mounts

When we are talking about two piece solutions of airgun mounts, we should not forget to mention some of the differences between one part and two part design of these mounts. One part design is easier to produce, therefore these mounts are cheaper as a rule. Versatility with one part design of scope mounts is normally poor. More options of mounting a scope are normally available with two part design scope mounts. It is good to know that airgun scope mounts for rifle scopes with rail systems are not usual (actually, they are rare). If they are available, they are normally available with two part design of scope mounts. Example for such mount could be Recknagel’s tip off mount for 11 mm dovetail on the bottom and with Zeiss rail option (ZM/VM) on the top. They also offer a LM rail version of these mounts.