11 mm Flat Top Dovetail

General description

The dovetail is a unique design which allows the installation of mounts on various rifles. Regardless of the rifle type and dovetail width, this unique design is grooved onto the rifle's receiver, barrel or slide. Rifles are designed with different dovetail widths. The most common are 11 mm, 3/8”, 12 mm, 14.5 mm, 16.5 mm and 19 mm. The 11 mm dovetail is by far the most common of all dovetail designs. In terms of frequency and recognizability, it even surpasses Picatinny rails. The 11 mm dovetail can be found on small caliber (rimfire) rifles, air rifles and even some centerfire rifles (sport, tactical).

While the 11 mm dovetail cannot often be found on centerfire rifles, it is, however, dominating the market of rimfire rifles. More than 90% of all rimfire rifles feature an 11 mm dovetail on their receiver. The same also applies to air guns.

Physical properties and dimensions

For a better hold on the rifle, the upper side of the dovetail is wider than the lower side. Dovetail dimensions are measured across the top, which is wider, in our case 11 mm. Generally speaking, dovetail designs offer the possibility of mount installation without the use of screws. Scope mounts simply clamp onto the dovetail with sufficient force, so that there is no movement from recoil. Additionally, some 11 mm dovetails are designed with a recoil lug, which offers even better resistance against recoil. This is most common with centerfire rifles. For an even more versatile scope mounting, some rifles have holes in the receiver. On such rifles, you can choose either to use the dovetail or the holes in the receiver.

The slopes on the 11 mm dovetail are at an angle of 60 degrees. The mounting surface can be designed in two length styles – as a full-length dovetail or as two separate dovetail parts.

Flat Top vs Round Top 11 mm Dovetails

There are two types of rifles with 11 mm dovetail available on the market: some have a flat top and others, such as most Anschutz or certain Savage models come with a round top receiver.

This page refers to the rifles featuring the flat top; however, we do have a separate landing page for rifles with the round top 11 mm dovetail which you can see here:

Check out 11 mm Round Top Dovetails

It is important to note that scope mounts suitable for rounded-top receivers will fit rifles with flat-top, but mounts made for rifles with a flat receiver will not fit the round-top style receiver.

Figure 1: An example of a flat top 11 mm dovetail as used on Steyr Mannlicher Zephyr 2

Here are some rifles with a flat top 11 mm dovetail:

• Anschutz 1827 F

• Anschutz 1727 F

• Anschutz 54.30

• CZ 452

• CZ 453

• CZ 455

• CZ 457

• CZ 511

• CZ 512

• CZ 513

• Krico Model 400

• Krico Model 401

• Ruger Model 96

• Sako Quad

• Savage Model 389

• SIG Sauer 200 STR

• Steyr Mannlicher Zephyr II

• Tikka T1x

• Voere K15A

Centerfire rifles with a flat top 11 mm dovetail:

• Krico Model 400

• Savage Model 389

• SIG Sauer 200 STR

Best Scope Mounts for 11 mm Flat Top Dovetail

Fixed Scope Mounts for 11 mm Flat Top Dovetail

One-Piece Fixed Scope Mounts for 11 mm Flat Top Dovetail

Fixed one-piece scope mounts require tools for attaching and detaching from the rifle’s mounting surface. One-piece, two-part mounts use a base onto which the two rings are attached whereas the monoblocs or one-piece one-part mounts are usually milled from a single piece of material, with the lower end of the rings merged with the base.

You can see our offer of one-piece scope mounts for 11 mm flat top dovetail here:

One-piece Scope Mounts

Two-Piece Fixed Scope Mounts for 11 mm Flat Top Dovetail

Fixed two-piece scope mounts cannot be detached from a rifle without the use of tools. They come at an affordable price and offer high reliability. Generally, they are not difficult to install on a rifle. Fixed means that the user cannot quickly detach and therefore switch scopes, which somewhat limits the usability.

Fixed ring mounts for 11 mm flat top dovetail are mostly produced in two fashions. A) direct rings with 11 mm clamps and B) advanced two-part rings with a separated base part, which clamps onto an 11 mm dovetail and ring which is attached to the base part. Simple rings are cheaper and easier to manufacture, while more advanced rings with separated ring and base part are more expensive, but usually offer the possibility to adjust the scope's windage on the mount itself. Some manufacturers also produce one-piece Monoblock mounts for 11 mm dovetails.

You can see our offer of two-piece scope mounts for 11 mm flat top dovetail here:

Two-Piece Scope Mounts

Detachable Scope Mounts for 11 mm Flat Top Dovetail

Detachable scope mounts allow for quick and simple attachment and detachment to the rifle’s mounting surface without the use of tools or any other instruments. Some scope mounts in this category are removable but do not offer repeatability, which means the scope must be zeroed in each time after detaching the mount.

All Detachable Scope Mounts for 11 mm Flat Top Dovetail

You can see the full list of detachable scope mounts suitable for 11 mm flat top dovetail here:

Detachable Scope Mounts

Detachable Repeatable Scope Mounts for 11 mm Flat Top Dovetail

On the other hand, there is a group of mounts within this category that offer repeatability. This means that the mounts will clamp onto the dovetail base with the same force every time, so the scope will retain its zero even when detached and reinstalled. Usually, Detachable Mounting options are designated as QR (quick release) or QD (quick detachable) abbreviations. You can see our offer here:

Detachable Repeatable Scope Mounts

Detachable Repeatable Pivot Scope Mounts for 11 mm Flat Top Dovetail

Another kind of detachable repeatable mounts are pivot mounts, also known as swing mounts. They also offer 100 % repeatability and can be quickly and simply detached and reattached with the use of levers, buttons and screws, with no tools required. Pivot mounts are extremely durable, lightweight, compact and elegant. Their drawback is perhaps their price, which is considerably higher than the price of fixed mounts with rings and other mounting options. The installation on the rifle should be done by a skilled gunsmith. Most of the time, pivot mounts are higher than 14 mm.

Pivot scope mounts are available either as one-piece or two-piece versions. They allow simple installation of multiple riflescopes or red dot sights on a single rifle with a great amount of interchangeability. You can see them here:

Detachable Repeatable Pivot Scope Mounts

Picatinny Rails for 11 mm Flat Top Dovetail

The Picatinny rail already established itself on the global market as the standard for optics mounting since its invention in 1995. Developed on the Weaver template, the biggest advantage of the Picatinny rail is its usage across its entire length, unlike Weaver which has predesignated slots for mounting, limiting its usability and versatility. Ease of use and interchangeability are also its assets. Picatinny has slots evenly placed, namely exactly 5.23 mm one from the other and 3 mm deep. Because of this, the mounting is identical on all firearms using the Picatinny standard.

Picatinny rails are usually available with 0 MOA or 20 MOA, 28 MOA, 30 MOA, 40 MOA and 45 MOA inclinations. Although, the most common are 0 and 20 MOA versions. 20 MOA inclination enables users to have more elevation adjustment available on the riflescope additionally, better long-range performance. Picatinny rail can accommodate all types of mounts, also those designed for Weaver standard.

Due to the wide selection of possible mounting systems that are compatible with Picatinny, some users prefer converting their 11 mm dovetails to the Picatinny rail. These mounting solutions essentially work as adapters. The upper side has a form of Picatinny rail, while the bottom side attaches to Dovetail.

Check out Picatinny Rails for an 11 mm Flat Top Dovetail here:

Click here for Picatinny rails

Red Dot Mounting Options for 11 mm Flat Top Dovetail

In addition to the abovementioned systems, we also offer some mounts for red dot sights that are compatible with the 11 mm dovetail mounting surface. You can see them here.