Thanks, Clark. That is exactly the level of detail I was looking for. jorge

I'm under the impression that during recoil, the brunt of the recoil is absorbed by the rear mount. Can anyone of you learned folks elaborate? thanks,jorge

The recoil is absorbed by both mounts in shear and the rifle goes back and the scope tries to stay at rest.

To the extent that the center of mass of the scope is above the mounts, there is also a moment that pulls up on the rear mount and pushes down on the front mount. Mounts are stronger at being pushed down on, rather than being pulled up on, so the rear mount has it worse.