Mounting question

[Darkstar5012]

When mounting an optic to a flat top ar upper I noticed there is a very small amount of forward and rearward movement (caused by the mounting bolts being narrower than the slots in the top rail)Before i tighten the mounts should I pull the optic back then tighten it or push it forward then tighten it? I hope that made sense.

[J-cat]

Push it forward.

[Pthfndr]

Push it forward.

What J-cat said. You push it forward so it is all the way forward when the rifle is under recoil.

[Darkstar5012]

Awesome, thanks for the replies.

[FourT6and2]

The question has already been answered. But I figure maybe those who don't already know would be interested in why.

A dumbed down version of Newton's First Law of Motion is "an object at rest wants to stay at rest." So when you fire a shot and the rifle—under recoil—begins to move rearward, the scope rings and the scope want to remain stationary. So the rifle is moving to the rear, but the scope rings are not. If the rings were mounted by pushing them back, then while under recoil, the rifle would essentially slide from underneath the rings, until the rings contact the rear of the next forward recoil lug on the rail. And you would lose your zero. When you mount the rings by pushing them forward, as the rifle moves to the rear, the rifle can't slide under the rings/scope, as they are already pressed up against the part of the recoil lug that will be moving rearward under recoil.

To the shooter (who is viewing this scenario from the outside), it appears as though the rings are sliding. But really, the rings are staying put. The rifle is really sliding from under the rings in this closed system.

Hope that makes sense.