Dovetail rail

A dovetail rail or dovetail mount can refer to several types of sliding rail system found on firearms, primarily for mounting telescopic sights. Colloquially, the term dovetail rail usually refer to any straight mounting bracket with an inverted trapezoid (dovetail) cross-section (though the hexagonal-profiled Weaver rail and Picatinny rail are also derivative dovetail designs) running parallel to the bore for mounting a scope or diopter sight to a rifle. These are sometimes also called "tip-off" mounts, and allow the user to easily take on or off the sight. Dovetail mount can also refer to a dovetail track running perpendicular to the bore (see "Other uses" below).

Dovetails come in several different types and sizes depending on manufacturer, but the most common are the 11 mm and 3⁄8 inch (9.5 mm). Some other less known, but currently commercially available dovetail mounts, are 12, 13, 13.5, 14, 14.5, 16, 16.5, 17 and 19 mm.

While the well standardized Picatinny rail mount (and its less standardized predecessor the Weaver rail) is most known in the U.S., many European gun manufacturers offer proprietary scope base receiver mounting systems for their guns, for example Sako has tapered dovetails, Tikka use a 17 mm dovetail, and there are other solutions such as the Blaser Saddle Mount or Recknagel Swing Mount.^{[citation needed]} Dovetail mounts are today mostly found on light recoiling air guns, but can also be found on some modern rifles for hunting and sport shooting using smokeless powder, although other options such as the Picatinny rail, which has a built-in recoil lug, are becoming more popular.

Some examples of rifles with different types of rails:

Dovetails are also integrated into some rifles most noticeably the L85A2 and A1 variants of the SA80 bullpup rifle for mounting the iron sights and the SUSAT sighting system. But in recent times it has been changed to Picatinny rail in place of it, as Dovetails were not fit for the purpose of making space for ACOG sighting system, according to the MOD

Some dovetail rails have integrated recoil lugs. One example is the Aimpoint Acro rail which is a 45 degree rail with a width of approximately 16.5 mm.

While most dovetail rails are placed on top of the receiver, there are also examples of side-mounted rails. Some service rifles used by Soviet and Warsaw Pact nations armed forces have a distinct type of side-mounted scope, informally known as a Warsaw Pact rail. The mount is found on the left side of the rifle receiver, with machined cutouts for reduced weight and ease of installation; an example is the PSO-1 optical sight. Similar rails can also be found on rifles such as the Dragunov sniper rifle (SVD), the PSL rifle, the PKM as well as some AK series assault rifles from 1954 onwards. Since 1992 the side rail mount has become standard on all AK rifles.^{[citation needed]}

The SVD and the AK rifles use slightly different dovetail mounts. The Warsaw rails are roughly 14 mm wide.