I took some quick measurements comparing my weaver scope mount rail sections to a section of picatinny rail i had laying around and drew up a quick diagram.
Weaver vs picatinny rings.
Click tap to enlarge the cross sectional profile of weaver and picatinny rails are essentially the same there are two key differences.
With picatinny rings the notch part that goes into the slot is 5 millimetres wide and therefore fits perfectly with the 5 23 millimetre slot on the rail.
The rings physically fit but there is gap between the bottom of the ring and top of the rail.
Just what is a picatinny rail anyway.
The picatinny rail is a term that has evolved in the firearm industry from a military standard specifically mil std 1913 ar which was adopted on february 3 1995.
Specifically burris signature zee rings weaver on an ar15 picatinny rail.
Weaver rails vs picatinny rails.
Picatinny slots are 206 wide with a center to center groove width of 394.
Weaver rails are the older standard developed by the weaver optics company.
The weaver mounting rails have slots that are 180 wide and do not necessarily have a consistent spacing between the grooves.
And how is it different from a weaver.
The purpose of the recoil key is to keep the scope from moving.
Picatinny accessories will not fit on a weaver rail but weaver accessories will fit on a picatinny rail.
The cross screw is smaller than that on the picatinny ring burris xtr.
The recoil stopper in weaver rings is 3 8 millimetres wide while the one in picatinny rings is around 5 millimetres wide.
Weaver rails have slots which are 180 wide and do not necessarily have standardized spacing.
Let us go in more detail.
Weaver accessories are thus designed to be flexible in terms of slot spacing with the most common example being scope rings which can be placed at many points along the scope s body to accommodate the unevenly spaced weaver slots.
I don t get the feeling the weaver fit on the picatinny.
Will scope rings using the weaver style mounting spec work satisfactorily on a picatinny rail.
Since we recommend pushing both rings forward toward the muzzle the amount of play in the slot is a moot point.
The main thing to consider is that there is still a bit of play in a weaver slot and typically picatinny specific rings also have a bit of play in a picatinny slot.
