What is the Perfect Height Red Dot Mount?

Perhaps the greatest virtue of the AR-15 today is how many options are available for it. At the same time, the staggering amount of choices can easily bewilder many. Sometimes all these possibilities can be a bit overwhelming. This is true for something as seemingly mundane as selecting a mount for a red dot sight. When you go to buy one you are suddenly faced with the question, “What height mount do you want? Do you want it to Co-witness? A lower 1/3^rd mount? Maybe you want a higher 1.93 or a 2.25-inch height mount? Or perhaps you’d like to go taller still?” It can be a bit confusing.

Let’s start with what task a mount for a red dot sight performs. Obviously it interfaces the optical sight with the receiver of the rifle. Its main function is to attach securely to the rifle and ensure the optical sight is held robustly in place. How high you desire the red dot sight’s optical centerline from the rail will depend on a variety of factors. These will include your physical size and build, what shooting positions you expect to predominantly fire from, the height of any accessories you will have mounted at 12 O’clock on your rifle’s rail, will you be shooting passively through your red dot with a night vision device, and what mission is this rifle intended to perform. These are all important points to consider.

What is not important to consider is what some elite commando unit uses if you are not shooting the same way they train and fight. These units typically perform very specialized tasks with specialized equipment which may or may not have any relevance to you. They may be focused on rapidly clearing rooms, shooting standing up on the move, rather than prone, sitting or kneeling. They also may have certain mission essential weapon accessories mounted to the top of their handguard, requiring greater height to see over them. My point here is to focus on what you will actually be doing with your rifle, rather than on what someone else does.

The same should be said about following “influencer” trends online, on YouTube, social media or print magazines. There are many out there who provide excellent information. However, there is also a large number who simply regurgitate what they have had heard without fully understanding the “why”. Many simply share photos of the latest “cool” set-up. My point again is simply to have the discernment to understand what best fits your individual needs. Your needs, are what is ultimately most important, not what anyone else does or what looks cool.

Only you can really decide what height fits you best. What works best for your shooting buddy may not work for you. Sheer physical size needs to be considered. For example Firearms News Editor-in-Chief Vince DeNiro is 6’ 3” with long arms. He can comfortably shoot a much longer length of pull and with a higher mount than I am comfortable with at 5’ 11”. So, start by contemplating this, and then consider these questions:

1. What shooting positions do you expect to predominantly fire from? Will you only be firing offhand? Or will you be firing from a variety of traditional positions like sitting, kneeling and prone?
2. Do you have any accessories mounted at 12 O’clock on your rifle’s rail? If so, how tall are they?
3. Will you be shooting passively through your red dot with a night vision device?
4. What mission is this rifle intended to perform? Is it for a specific task, such as only home defense? Is it a range toy primarily shot off a shooting rest? Is it a General Purpose rifle used in various situations?

If you are primarily or only shooting offhand, you may wish to go with a higher mount. A 1.93 or 2.25-inch height may be exactly what you are looking for. However, many shooters find shooting prone increasingly more fatiguing the higher the mount gets. Personally, I have some old injuries and somewhat limited neck motion and so I find mounts higher than 1.93-inches to be uncomfortable and fatiguing when prone. I also shoot kneeling, sitting and prone frequently, so super high mounts do not work well for my particular needs.

At the same time I do have an IR laser/illuminator and pressure switch mounted at 12 O’clock on some of my rifles. Due to this a conventional Co-witness is not ideal as part of my field of view is blocked. For me, a 1.93-inch height mount is high enough to get me over my accessories without being too tall. I also shoot with night vision devices, both actively using an IR laser and passively looking through a red dot or holographic sight. For this application a straight Co-witness or Lower 1/3^rd doesn’t work well for me. They are simply too low to try to easily and rapidly look through with a PVS-14. I do not want to be constantly smacking the night vision device’s tube against the rifle’s receiver. A 1.93-inch height mount works well for me. Offhand a 2.25-inch height mount also works well for me.

Now, if I am not running accessories at 12 O’clock or worried about shooting passively through my red dot with a night vision device, a Lower 1/3^rd mount is fine. I know a number of people who tried tall mounts, didn’t like them and went back to Lower 1/3^rd or 1.93-inch height mounts. I prefer having the additional point of contact a good cheekweld provides as it helps control the rifle.

A good quality mount can be expensive. It can be financially painful to buy an expensive mount only to learn the height is less than ideal for your individual needs. I’ve done it myself. Is there a cheap solution? If you are interested in going to a certain height mount, but are unsure and do not want to waste money, you can buy an inexpensive airsoft mount just to test to see if you like the height. Or, you can use a riser under your current height Co-witness or lower 1/3^rd mount to duplicate the height. My entire point here is to get you to think about what your actual needs are and what will best serve them. There is no perfect mount height, just what works best for you.

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If you have any thoughts or comments on this article, we’d love to hear them. Email us at FirearmsNews@Outdoorsg.com.

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