US20060179703A1

US20060179703A1 - Rifle scope mount improvement

Info

Publication number: US20060179703A1
Application number: US11/056,854
Authority: US
Inventors: James Leatherwood
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-02-12
Filing date: 2005-02-12
Publication date: 2006-08-17

Abstract

A scope mounting system for the U.S. Rifle M-14 type rifle that addresses the problems presented by the inconsistencies of manufacture of both original rifles and the later civilian production rifles and provides a very compact mount that permits the use of the rifle's iron sights. The mount is divided into three parts that allow adjustment of several dimensions to fit the various rifles. The scope-mounting surface is configured for pivotal movement about a front pivot located on the front bracket and the rear block contains an adjustment mechanism to permit precise windage alignment of the scope rail with the rifle barrel.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to telescopic sight mounts.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Ever since the adoption of the U.S M-14 Rifle in about 1960, numerous scope mounts have been designed for this rifle. The Applicant was involved in designing a number of the mounts used by the Army since 1960 including the ARTII scope mount as adopted by the U.S. in 1981. Because the original mating surface on the rifle is too limited in size and engagement surface, the clip guide dovetail groove on the receiver has been used as a secondary attachment surface. However the variations in manufacturing tolerances of both M-14s and civilian copies such as the M-1A make it impossible to have fixed dimensions to the mount attachment surfaces that engage both the original mounting surface and the clip guide slot.
Furthermore, variations in the receiver-barrel alignment on the rifles mean that some adjustment in desirable to achievement proper scope-rifle barrel alignment.
Prior art has approached the problem by using a fixed bracket that attached to both the original mounting surface and/or the clip guide slot. No good solution has previously been employed to deal with the tolerance variations or the need to align the scope with the rifle barrel.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a mounting system that adjusts for misalignment of the original mount surface and the clip guide slot in three different axes.
Another object is to enable the user adjust the scope alignment is surface for windage and elevation.
Still another object is to provide a scope-mounting surface that allows the use of the iron sights when the scope is dismounted.
Another object is to make the mount as compact as possible so it does not impact the overall size of the rifle.
Another object is to reduce the harmonics generated in the mount to reduce the tendency for the mount to loosen during firing.
These and other objects will become apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings. For a better understanding of this new and important improvement to M-14 type rifle mounts, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the mounting surfaces on the M-14 type rifle.
FIG. 2 is a view of two main parts minus the mount rail.
FIG. 3 shows the engaging surface on the front mount bracket.
FIG. 4 shows the complete assembly.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows the scope mounting surface 1 and the clip guide slot 2 on the side of the M-14 Rifle receiver. Hole 3 is threaded to accept a securing bolt. Groove 4 extends along the bottom of the mounting surface. Groove 5 is above the hole 3. These were designed to be the optical sight mounting surfaces for the rifle. The shallowness of grooves 4 and 5 and size of the threads in hole 3 make the mounting surface insufficient for heavy optical sights. To add stability to a scope mount it was decided to use the slot 2 that was originally used to hold the clip loading block. As it is impossible to clip load the rifle with a scope mounted on the rifle it was redundant for this use and modified blocks with scope mount attachment surfaces were placed in the dovetail slot 2. The problem is that the dimensional relationship between slot 2 and the mounting surface 1 had considerable variation, as they were never originally intended to work together.
The present invention solves this problem by constructing the mount of three separate pieces that allow the relationship between the mount surfaces that engage surface 1 and slot 2 to be changed and adjusted to fit each rifle.
As shown in FIG. 2, the mount consists of three major parts bracket 6 block 13 and rail 20. Bracket 6 engages the original mounting surface 1 on the M-14. Screw 7 engages the threaded hole in the rifle receiver and holds the bracket 6 against the receiver.
FIG. 3 shows the mounting surface of bracket 8. Rib 9 is configured to engage groove 4 on mounting surface 1. There is no rib to engage groove 5. Hole 10 through which screw 7 passed is oversized and this allows bracket 6 to move backward or forward as required in a plane parallel to the vertical plane of the rifle.
Pad screws 11 and 12 as shown in FIG. 2 allow bracket 1 to be adjusted to bring it parallel to the vertical plane of the rifle.
Block 13 shown in FIG. 2 fits in slot 2 and is secured by setscrews 14 and 15. Block 13 contains a threaded bushing 16 that can be adjusted for position by screws 17 and 18 (not shown). The variation in positioning for block 13 and bushing 16 allows adjustment in a plane perpendicular to the vertical plane of the rifle. So the mount is now adjustable in two mutually perpendicular planes relative to the rifle's mounting surfaces. Also since bracket 6 and block 13 are not permanently fixedly attached to each other, they can also move relative to each other along vertical axes that are parallel to the vertical plane of the rifle.
Block 13 and bracket 6 are connected by rail 20 as shown in FIG. 4. To allow for relative movement in the vertical plane by block 13 and bracket 6, shims are used between rail 20 and either block 13 and bracket 6. (In non technical terms, bracket 6 and block 13 can move back and forth, in and out and up and down relative to the attaching surfaces on the rifle.)
Since rail 20 is connected to bracket 6 by screw 21 and to bushing 16 by screw 22, bushing 16 can be moved left or right to provide windage adjustment. Gross elevation adjustments can be made by shimming between rail 20 and either block 13 or bracket 6. These gross adjustments will bring the scope into sufficient alignment with the barrel to allow zeroing by use of the scope's internal adjustments.
Thusly bracket 6 and block 13 is adjustable in all three orthogonal axes to accommodate rifle dimension variations and rail 20 is adjustable in two axes to achieve scope to barrel alignment.

Claims

1. In a scope mounting means for the U.S. M-14 type rifle, the invention consists of three parts as follows: (1) a front bracket containing attaching means to the rifle receiver at the front mounting surface, means for adjusting alignment with the vertical axis of the rifle and a pivotal attachment point, (2) a block secured in the clip guide dovetail slot on the rifle receiver and containing a pivotal attachment point and (3) a scope mounting rail attached to both the front bracket and block at said pivotal attachment points.