Rail systems VS Mount Types VS Accessories

[MultipleParadox]

Hi there,

After searching for a few days on these forums and around the web in general, I couldn't find that info anywhere.

I'm just wondering about how am I supposed to know what kind of accessories will fit on what kind of rails, and if it doesn't what kind of mount will fit with and that will fit the other... I guess you understand :P

For instance, I ordered a King Arms M4 with Larue RAS. Nowhere I could find the actual type of rail it is (Picatiny, weaver, they're almost the same... Or another type I'm not aware of?)

Now I also ordered an Eotech 552 replica. Again, it's not stated what kind of mount it has, nor on what it should fit on.

Do I need an "extra" mount, a riser or something?

Where can I find information about all these things that would help me put this together? People seems to be knowledgeable here about all this so I'm wondering if I really am just clueless about this or what

Thanks for your help

MP

An real Eotech will fit on both a weaver and picatiny rail, dunno about a repro but it should.

You do not not anything extra , the Eotech and whatever else you get can be installed directly onto the rail

As for more info on this, search the forums and google. Also when you buy sights, etc it should say what kind(s) of mount it will fit on or give you a size in mm.

As for knowing what kind of rail your RAS is, most likely it will be a Picatiny, but to confirm check out the Larue website or email them. Just think about it.. it's pretty simple stuff..

[m102404]

For airsoft....

Most every rail you'll see on these replicas will be Picatinny style...deep slots, evenly spaced. SOME rails will be weaver (narrower slots, sometimes not spaced evenly)...but the only ones that spring to mind are the slots built into the rails of some pistols. Receivers, top rails, handguards, mounts, sights, etc...

That said...the tolerances and cross brand compatibility in airsoft stuff is not the greatest. A fair number of "cheap clone" mounts will not really fit some rails. Some cheap clone rails will not mate securely with other accessories. They'll fit/mate in the sense that they're "made" for it...but they're off enough that there'll be wiggle/wobble/play even when snugged up as much as possible. They may also be off enough so that they work loose/shift/etc...with regular or hard use.

So to answer your question...to put that 552 on your KA M4...it should go straight on. Hopefully it's straight and tight...but you may find that it's 1) crooked, 2) tilted, 3) loose.

It's not that you picked the wrong rail type (there isn't a choice in your case)...it's just a product of replicas with sloppy tolerances.

[MultipleParadox]

Thanks for your replies, this already helps.

I feel there's still a lot of gap to be filled but my essential question is answered.
I guess I'll get to know the basis over time

Thanks guys!

MP

[mroneto]

My Element LaRue 10.0 handguard is fully CNC'ed, but apparently they made the tolerances to about 18.5-19mm instead of the proper 20mm.
Now that isn't really a huge problem, it just means anything i put on the rails may be a tiny bit loose (easily fixed by shimming with a bit of tape here and there).

The problem is if the rails are much thicker than 20mm, but you will only find those on really cheap ACM and no brand sets. KA is well known for its quality, so no problems there.

Also, as for the riser for the EoTech, it is used because should you decide to co-witness (using iron sights while looking through the optic), the irons would take up almost the entire window.
The ideal setting is where the iron sights only take up between 1/3 and 1/4 or the glass window.

However, keep in mind that the above really only applies to real steel situations where your life may depend on the level of co-witnessing; for our purposes, you can just leave the EoTech straight onto the receiver with no problem.

Just make sure you zero everything afterwards because your shots will most likely not be point of aim, point of impact with the optic crosshair.


-mroneto-