Arca Swiss to Picatinny Rail Adapter

Arca Swiss to Picatinny Rail Adapter, here seen on an Edgun Leshiy. This might give you some small idea about something else we might be working on. ;)

So you may have already seen a little side project of ours to make an Arca Swiss to swivel stud mount/adapter. Well, with new requirements comes new adaptations. For yet more testing, on other rifles, the need arose for an RIS (aka Picatinny rail) to Arca Swiss tripod mount. These things are available commercially, but somehow browsing the options out there they just seemed...... underwhelming. Chunky, oversize, inelegant, and poorly reviewed seemed to be the status quo, why not make one better? How hard could it be?

Arca Swiss to Picatinny Rail Adapter - all the gripping force is supplied by the Arca clamp.

First though, what is Arca Swiss and why is that what it is called? The short version is that Arca Swiss is a company which makes very nice large format film cameras. To hold these large and heavy cameras, they invented arguably the finest monoball tripod head in the world, special because the ball isn't actually round, but precision machined to be eccentric such that increased resistance is felt as the ball head leans further and further from center. In this way you can mount one of their large heavy cameras, set the ball tension once, and then position the camera at any angle you like safe in the knowledge your expensive investment isn't about to flop over. Unsurprisingly, photographers who used other types of cameras took notice, and the rest as they say is history. There are now a plethora of ball heads and other tripod heads out there using this specification mounting clamp, and as naming rights follow the originator, it is called an Arca Swiss style clamp.

Arca Swiss to Picatinny Rail Adapter - two identical and simple parts is all it takes to use the mounting clamp to securely hold everything.

As precision shooters increasingly see the benefits of shooting off a tripod, a solution to convert from the common RIS rail to Arca Swiss was necessary. Enter our solution which is easy to 3D print and the design files we're giving away. It is simple, just two identical pieces, and uses the clamping force from the tripod head to grip the RIS. Because you want more than just the Arca Swiss clamp preventing your rifle from sliding off, there are four interlocking cross-pieces which fit in the rail slots to prevent any sliding on the rifle. And that is it really. Simple, efficient, modular, and light weight; an easy way to mount an RIS equipped airgun or even firearm on a tripod.