Believe it or not, the M16A1 rifle weighed only 6.8 pounds when first issued. At that weight it was ideal for almost all law enforcement and military applications.
Over the years, a wide range of accessories - now considered by many to be essential - have been added and today a “fully loaded” M16A2/AR-15 can approach almost 11 pounds, empty. That’s more than many World-War-II-era battle rifles. The famous .30 M1 Garand rifle, for example, weighed “only” 9.5 pounds.
There are legitimate applications that require attaching an optical sight of significant magnification to the M16/AR-15 series. Law enforcement special response teams and military special operations units sometimes need precision with the 5.56x45mm cartridge that only a high-quality scope can provide.
Civilian shooters also often desire to shoot at greater ranges than are possible with a red dot or holographic sight. We decided to buck the trend of overloading the M16/AR-15 series and have designed a set of really lightweight sniper-grade scope rings.
A set of our Aluminum Sniper-Grade Scope Rings weighs only 4.8 ounces. The ring bodies are manufactured from exceptionally strong 7075 T6 aluminum alloy. This is the very same aluminum alloy used to manufacture Colt M16/AR-15 receivers, as well as many of their clones.
Great attention has been placed upon the design. The sidebar is significantly thicker than most to permit high-torque tightening without the associated problem of sidebar flex. The ring cap is held in place by four socket-head steel cap screws.
These thread into stainless steel “Helicoil” inserts to prevent stripping the threads. The square-cut cross bolt and its locking nut are manufactured from 4140 chrome moly steel.
Our Aluminum Sniper-Grade Scope Rings are 0.625-inch in width and are high enough to accommodate a scope with a 56mm objective lens. They are only available in 30mm diameters. Light and yet incredibly rugged, they set a new standard for professional scope rings for law enforcement, military and civilian use.