Aimpoint mounting standards

Aimpoint has launched a series of proprietary mounts for their products. These include:

• Aimpoint CompM4 mount: Launched in 2007^[16] with the Aimpoint CompM4 sight. The sight is attached to the mount via two M5 screws from the underside, and the mount has a transverse groove acting as a recoil lug. The Aimpoint Comp line was launched in 1993.^[16] The predecessor of the CompM4, CompM2, had a 30 mm ring mount and was introduced in the American military in 2000. Some manufacturers have copied the M4 mount system, but it has mainly been used by Aimpoint.^{[17][citation needed]}
• Aimpoint Micro mount: Launched in 2007^[18] together with the compact Aimpoint Micro series of sights (T1 and H1, and later T2 and H2). The sight is attached to the mount with four M3 screw. The mount has a longitudinal profile which is reminiscent of the Zeiss rail, but with other dimensions and a square recoil lug in the middle. The profile is also longitudinally slightly offset from the centerline. The standard has been copied by many other manufacturers, and has been a common mounting standard for reflex sights in sizes similar to the Aimpoint Micro (such as Holosun 403B, Minox RV1, SIG Sauer Romeo4, Vortex Crossfire and Aimpoint Comp M5b^[19]). In addition to being offered as the mounting surface on sights from many other optics manufacturers, there are also many aftermarket mounts available for this pattern.^[20]
• Aimpoint Acro rail: Launched in 2019 together with the sights Aimpoint Acro P-1 and C-1.^[21] This is a mount without screws acting directly between the sight and the mount, and is slim enough (approximately 15 mm wide and 2 mm tall) so that it can be milled directly into most pistol slides. The mount is a dovetail rail with a thick transverse recoil lug (4 mm) and is reminiscent of a miniaturized version of the Picatinny rail, but with a lower and slimmer profile, and fewer edges exposed to the user. With competing standards for attaching miniature red dot sights to pistols (such as the Docter, Trijicon, C-more and Shield/Leupold mounting standards), experience among competition shooters has shown that the screws used for attaching the sight directly to the mount can wear due to inadvertently taking up recoil, including both normal recoil from firing as well as negative recoil from when the slide closes during feeding, resulting in the screws wearing and needing to be replaced over time. The Acro mount does not use such screws, but instead has a clamp mount. Due to using a clamp mount (similar to the Picatinny), no screws are needed to attach the sight to the mount rail. The Acro rail has so far been used on Aimpoint Acro (P1, C1, P2, C2) and Steiner MPS.^[21]