Sportsmatch OP91 Scope Mount

The New OP91 mount from Sportsmatch is a one-piece unit designed for scope mount stability and quick release swap overs, which are particularly helpful with secondary NV sights becoming so popular on sporting rifles.

Take a look

Detailed dimensions for the medium-sized unit here can be found on their website. The 30mm tube is itself listed as being supported 15mm above the Picatinny or Weaver rail’s upper surface. Secondly to that and specifically helpful for a one-piece mount, is the detailed information of effective tube spacing away from the linear support that connects the twin ‘rings’ at either end. That’s listed as 5mm and important to know because many scopes have bulky underside saddle dimensions and additional gas charge ports that must not foul the mount itself.

The finer details

The overall length is 120mm from front to rear. There are twin, 28mm long, 6-screw ring tops to lock your scope down with an enlarged surface area and not just clamping force. Sportsmatch lists all screw torque specifications in detail (15in-lbs/1.7Nm for the rings) and as well as the QR levers, optional slotted nuts are supplied for a more conventional setup of 28in-lb/3.2Nm for the rail.

There is a bubble level at the rear of the mount, which implies the QR levers are sited on the right side of the rifle. I personally prefer the opposite to this as it allows more space for the bolt handle, depending on the linear position of the mount. If you swap sides, the bubble is at the front. However, the mount is fully compatible with Sportsmatch’s SP2 swing-out or SP3 full-span spirit levels, which are larger and easily visible.

Overall weight is 164-grams and to me epitomises, ‘just enough’without excess. The QR jaws are sprung, so push themselves clear of the underside rail, making it easier to clip the mount on/off. At 20mm long, the QR levers offer plentiful grip, barehanded or in gloves. These are also sprung to lift/turn into a ‘storage’location once tensioned.

If you add a spirit level, they feature spacers so the same tensioning torque can be applied evenly. I choose to add an SP3. In use, the mount has certainly been secure on its Picatinny rail, with twin steel anchoring bars spanning the slots. No specific Aluminium alloy is detailed but I suspect a 6000 series is used, with great machining and finishing standards and a tough, hard anodised coating that has stood up to usual day to day handling without aesthetic damage.

As for return to zero when swapped, it has been reliable and with the levers set up as positional indicators, it’s not hard at all to make sure they return to the previous angle (applying the same torque).

It’s also worth mentioning that there is very little rotational friction on any of the steel fasteners within the aluminium and this also greatly aids torque consistency. So, far superior to gritty threads and indicative of the “Made in UK” quality with a lifetime warranty.