Dovetail scope mount: Good or bad?

[Dannicus]

I have a Marlin 980S with a Simmons 3-9x ".22 Mag" scope on it and a RifleBasix trigger. The scope is mounted via dovetail, but the receiver is tapped for rings.
Am I missing out on some accuracy potential by using the dovetail?

I haven't really gone through many different types of ammo to see which is best, but I have a ton of Blazer 50 round boxes and on a good day it'll group 1.5" at 100yds with those.

[FredoSD]

I may be wrong but I'd say yes. I've always had a issue with dove tails. No real testing but they look like they won't hold up a nice piece of glass.
I feel the sturdier the base holding down the scope the better.
I just Installed a Pic rail on my CZ American 455. I bought what I needed from DIP, sorry don't gave the link handy.

[Izzy43]

I have a Marlin 980S with a Simmons 3-9x ".22 Mag" scope on it and a RifleBasix trigger. The scope is mounted via dovetail, but the receiver is tapped for rings.
Am I missing out on some accuracy potential by using the dovetail?

I haven't really gone through many different types of ammo to see which is best, but I have a ton of Blazer 50 round boxes and on a good day it'll group 1.5" at 100yds with those.

You will have a better mounting system for the scope with a Weaver/Pictanny rail. Much more solid than the dovetail. Another advantage is with that type of mounting rail you can remove the scope and replace it in nearly the same position which is nearly impossible with the dovetail. Your scope will only be as good as your mount and rings.

All my rifles that have scopes wear this mount. http://www.diproductsinc.com/Detail....12011&CAT=4803

[Dannicus]

It's nice that you can take that scope off and replace it without losing zero, but it blocks off the irons.

[Izzy43]

It's nice that you can take that scope off and replace it without losing zero, but it blocks off the irons.

The problem with mounting a scope with see thru rings so that the iron sights can still be used is that the scope is mounted higher above the bore and limits the useful range of the scope. Remember that .001" in scope height equates to 1" of elevation at 100 yds (this according to Leupold).

The normal height above the bore for scope mounting, center of scope to the center of the bore is 1.5" or less. As you go higher you start to lose elevation adjustment in the scope pretty fast as moving the scope higher equates to lowering the bore of the rifle.

If you want to retain the use of the iron sights I don't know of any option other than rings that mount to the dovetail.