What are the draw backs of the euro side mount. I know they are generally disliked, so what is the reason.

Sorry if this is obvious, but what is a "Euro side mount"??

- mike

Hy "Big-Belly Georges",
I never heard of a contemporary Euro side mount. In case you're referring to the German "swing out" mounts (EAW, Recknagel, MAK,...), I can tell you that, apart from their cost, there's only good to be said about them and they're true works of art.

quote:

Originally posted by mho:
Sorry if this is obvious, but what is a "Euro side mount"??

- mike

By this I mean the type of mount commonly found on sporterized rifles, drilled and tapped on the side of the receiver vs. being drilled and tapped on top. They may not necessarily be european but that is where I have most often seen them.

I only know one of these, mounted on the left side of a Swiss K31 receiver but have no personal experience with it.

I had an EAW side mount on a Mannlicher-Schoenauer - it was needed because of the split receiver ring. Other than that, side mounts are pretty rare in Europe, and I don't know of contemporary mounts being made that way.

- mike

Well I guess the most common place I have seen them has been on sporterized European military rifles. I am referring to M96's, M98's, and K31's. I have seen them on guns in the U.S. here too, but with less frequency. I guess they aren't really "European" type but I had heard them called that before.

Griffin & Howe made them in the past and does so today.

Disadvantages are:
1.) Some scope/rifle combos require the scope to be offset to the side, ie. off center. Other do not.
2.) Damned ugly
3.) Heavy

Advantages are:
1.) You can scope some difficult to scope rifles with them
2.) With some (off center) mountings you can retain the flag safety
3.) QD with excellent repeatability, better than Talley or Leupold, not in the claw mount class though re QD, but then no other mount is, the rest are slow D

Here is a link:
http://www.griffinhowe.com/mountsandpads.cfm

JPK