The GG&G scope mount finally arrived!!! I felt like I just won the lottery.
For me, mounting a scope is a take-your-time, do-it-perfectly project. So for tonight's pictures, I just mounted the scope into the rings by guesstimate so I had an idea of how things would turn out.
Looking at the mount right out of the box, it looked like it would be a tad high for what I wanted. However, with the scope in the mount, and clamped to the rifle, there's only about 1/16 inch clearance between the front lens cover, and the handguard. It was not too high, after all.
I needed to add just a little height adjustment to the cheekpiece to bring the scope into my eye line. Also sort-of-visible in the photo is the "Uncle Mike's" type detachable front sling swivel, as opposed the vey QD pushbutton swivel like I had used on the M1A. This is one rifle I do not want hitting the ground.
I also got some M14-size mag pouches from Tactical Tailor in both double and single magazine sizes. The single-mag version, shown here, is a "soft side" version of the hard plastic M16 quick-grab single mag holder from a previous issue.
Annnnnddddd, I'm still waiting for the rest of my multi-color "jigsaw puzzle" rail covers from Magpul.
But those are all minor matters, while proper mounting of the scope is a major project, at least how I do it. Right now, I have the mount clamped on top of an M16 riser so I can more comfortably lap the rings.
The steel lap is coated with the equivalent of 800-grit valve grinding compound, and is slowly run through the rings until enough material is removed to indicate a 50-70% contact area with the lap. This insures the rings are perfectly aligned, and have enough contact area to hold the scope firmly, without applying stress on it.
Normally, this would be a 3-4 hour job, although with GG&G's reputation for precision, it may be a lot less. Still, I don't want to rush it because I find this kind of precision, fussy work to be peaceful and relaxing. After lapping will come squaring the crosshairs with the rifle, collimation, and an initial test firing at the 50-yard indoor range. I'll have to wait to get to an outdoor range to do the 200-yard zero I'm considering for this rifle.
Well, at least the DPMS is starting to look complete, even if it has lots of little details that need cleaning up.