Re: What mount for a Leupold CQBSS on an AR-15?
I tried a Badger mount first for mine, but found it to not have enough forward cantilever to it. I would absolutely NOT recommend running a canted mount at all for it or any 1x scope as it throws off the image and causes excessive distortion and will dual plane your view. I think it was David S from Optronica that had the detailed explanation of why that happens and the advice of running flat mounts only. I'll see if I can find that post somewhere.
You have over 10 mil in a single turn with it so reaching out there should be little problem at all, and you can disable the top hard stop of the elevation to dial past, just keep in mind that also disables your bottom zero stop too.
I ended up going with the factory Leupold Mark 8 mount, and it runs quite well for it. Drops the end of the ocular just forward the end of the charging handle, and for my rifle with a PRS stock it puts the eye relief right where it needs to be at. I'll see if I can post a pic later to give you an idea of how it mounts with it. You still have the flexibility to go back further if you need, but my long neck required me to go forward. Another option that's QD is one of the extended mounts from ADM.
ETA: Found the post in this thread and quoted below.
LINK
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: David S.</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: GasLight</div><div class="ubbcode-body">When I have the scope on 1x, and I look through it at 50 yards I can see 2 targets, the image through the scope is noticably lower than view through my 'weak' eye.</div></div>
Are you running an angled base/mount?
What you are seeing is a peculiarity with 1x scopes (any <span style="font-style: italic">scope</span> starting at 1.1x or 1x that allows binocular vision with both eyes open) that is an issue with all such scopes, yet I've never seen this talked about anywhere.
The way a scope is constructed, the image you see will shift up or down when dialing elevation, so when looking "straight ahead" with both eyes open, there will be an offset between the "bare eye" image and the one the "scope eye" picks up. As long as this offset is small (meaning the scope being near optically centered), this is not an issue. The further you get from optical center, the harder it gets for the brain to get the two images to match. This is very much like looking through a misaligned pair of binoculars. (Note: this does not apply to red dot sights since they don't use an erector system like a scope).
Normally, dialing large amounts of elevation only happens at longer ranges, but you'll use higher magnification at those longer ranges anyway, so no problem here. The problems start when putting such a scope on an inclined base/mount, because then you're way off optical center at short ranges. The same thing might happen if the base is crooked and lots of elevation/windage from optical center is necessary to zero the rifle, but since you are mentioning that the image through the scope is "lower", I'd guess there's a good bit of forward cant in your setup.
Bottom line: <span style="font-weight: bold">Do not use an angled base/mount for a 1-Xx scope!</span> It's not a fault of your individual scope but a result of being off optical center at short ranges. You will be able to "dial away" the effect by cranking in a couple mils of elevation (adjusting for long range).
Distortion at the edge of the FOV is generally a property of the optical design and as such varies when looking at different models.</div></div>
Here's a pic of my setup with the Leupold mount.
