Recently purchased a Leshiy 2 and wanting to mill off a section of the pic rail that includes the vertical support. In its place I would like to direct mount an optic. Can anyone make a recommendation on a shop/person up to the task?
Recommendation for milling and direct optic mounting.
- Thread starter Treks
- Start date
A local gunsmith machinist that has done that type of machining work in the past is probably the best thing to do,and least expensive once shipping is figured into the total cost. It is a rather easy machining job to cut a common sized dovetail groove between two of the picatinny rail lugs and tap a shallow hole to lock the red dot adapter plate into. Also, because the milled portion and possibly the plate is going to be a permanent addition, it might be best placed in a location that won't interfere with the future placement of scope rings or a cantilever mount. Mounting Solutions Plus has a whole bunch of different designs of red dot adapter plates:
www.mountsplus.com
Docter Red Dot Mount
Browse our extensive selection of top-quality red dot sights designed to improve your shooting precision and target acquisition. Shop the best red dot sight options at Mounts Plus today!
www.mountsplus.com 
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I agree with you on the local front, unfortunately I have exhausted all available options. Only place with the ability specializes in high end shotguns and isn’t willing to take on something outside of their wheelhouse. The shotgun smith also confirms that it is an easy enough job. Perhaps I will start to broaden my radius.
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Alternatively, there's this Burris FastFire III, 3 MOA dot, with an AR-F3 picatinny rail mount, on sale at 50% off, that probably the perfect height on that Leshiy 2 rail. You're likely going to have close to that much money wrapped up into the machinist job after everything is said and done.
www.midwayusa.com
Burris FastFire III Reflex Red Dot Sight 3 MOA Dot AR-F3
For AR or carbine shooters, the AR-F3 combines the popular FastFire III with a rugged protective Picatinny-style mount. The mount has a storage...
www.midwayusa.com Upvote 0
Is a low mount micro reddot too tall that you want to mill it lower? May not be able to get low enough of a cheek weld with a direct mill job. Just get a low pocatinny mount for a micro reddot and see how it works. Much cheaper than a permanent option of milling.
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Wont be using a red dot, rather a low mag scope. I have rigged up the current 30mm tube / 32 obj lense scope and no issues with cheek weld. I am also open to having the pic rail milled off if clearance is an issue. Not concerned about the cost, more concerned about having it done right.
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On my L2 the R2D2 head towards the front of the valve assembly sits higher than the picatinny rail. So does the magazine, although it's not as high as the the R2D2 head.
So I have found the ocular end of a scope to more of a hindrance to mounting clearances than the objective end.
Or does your scope sit so far forward or backwards that this isn't a problem?
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Yup! It sits forward enough to clear and tucks in such a way as to help create a natural and repeatable cheek weld.
EDIT: It does have the Valkyrie hand guard
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With only the picatinny rail in hand (completely disassembled), a local mom and pop machine shop (job shop) will be able to get it done. So they can bid the job and know what it entails, an exact blueprint sketch of the areas needing machined is required though. The exact dimensions and depths of cut are important to them, just as they would be to a gunsmith.
What kind of permanent addition are you trying mount on for that short 30mm scope? Leupold makes a super small picatinny rail cantilever mount that may be perfect.
Here's a lot of the blueprints for the red dot type of mounting footprints.
www.optics-trade.eu
What kind of permanent addition are you trying mount on for that short 30mm scope? Leupold makes a super small picatinny rail cantilever mount that may be perfect.
Here's a lot of the blueprints for the red dot type of mounting footprints.
Footprints/Mounting Standards on Red Dot Sights - Optics Trade Blog
In this article, the most common footprints/mounting standards used on red dot sights are listed. Each standard is described and an image of it is added.
www.optics-trade.eu Upvote 0
Can you take a picture and post it up of the scope set-up? We'll be able to get the correct answers to you better that way.
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Curious to hear what scope you have. Only 32mm objective scope I have that gets close to being forward of the R2D2 head is my Burris Timberline. FOV is too narrow for how I prefer to use the L2, however.
I do plan to order a shorter air tube & reduce the length of pull on my L2. That will help.
By the way, sorry I haven't contributed anything to the actual question you put forth. Interested to see what you come up with.
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Most certainly, will work on a quick photoshop this weekend. Original idea was to customize a direct mount like these:
but not sure if there is enough meat underneath the pic rail. Not so much worried about pcp recoil as grabbing the scope and breaking free a weak mounting point.
but not sure if there is enough meat underneath the pic rail. Not so much worried about pcp recoil as grabbing the scope and breaking free a weak mounting point.
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Me too! Using a Optisan CP 3-12X32P… I did edit that post to add that it has the valk handguard.
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That would not be hard to mate up, but alignment would be critical, probably including hand lapping the rings to ensure the tube remains strait and un-torqued.
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Yeah, but will look into your suggestion as well. Found a recommended machinist from sniper hide, will reach out to see if they are up for something different.
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Not that I’m suggesting you shouldn’t do it - I am wondering why? I’m running an Optisan CP on medium Tier One mounts and I’m not sure one could go much lower to the barrel centreline. Scope lines up perfectly at the rifle break (also bear in mind this is a low diameter scope).
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Message sent.
Encore- I have plans to cerakote already and saw this as an opportunity to lower the bore height and reduce holdover/under to a minimum. I had been looking at the Ken Farrell low’s, but then started to wonder what else was possible.
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Starting to think the better play would be to just have the pic rail cut at the air gap to allow the ocular lens to clear. Pretty sure that a direct mounting would break off in time. Some reason the tier one low mount does not list a height on their site.
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I am finding 0.98" (25mm) to center for the Tier One low picatinny rings.
You might be able to get lower than that with a set of 1" Burris XTR Signature Rings. They have tapered inserts that can also be used to adjust scope height slightly.
I'll see if I have a set I can mock up on a 32mm objective scope.
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