How to mount a Vortex Defender ST on a Weaver base: it is a Leupold DeltaPoint Pro open-emitter reflex, so it needs a Weaver-compatible Leupold DeltaPoint Pro mount, not a Picatinny one.

Updated 05 September 2026.

Scope Mount Finder / Every rail, tube and red-dot footprint

Fit a Vortex Defender ST on a Weaver base

Name: Fit a Vortex Defender ST on a Weaver base: published specification
Creator: Scope Mount Finder
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Vortex Defender ST is a Leupold DeltaPoint Pro optic. Here is the Weaver-compatible mount it needs and why a Picatinny footprint mount may not seat on a Weaver slot.

Direct fitThe Vortex Defender ST reaches a Weaver base through a Weaver-compatible DeltaPoint Pro-footprint Picatinny mount. A Picatinny version of the same footprint mount may not seat, because its 5.23 mm recoil lug can be too wide for the 4.57 mm Weaver slot. Buy the Weaver-cut mount, or fit a Picatinny base first.

OpticVortex Defender STLeupold DeltaPoint Pro

seats on

RailWeaver rail4.57 mm slot, narrower than Picatinny

Fit readoutBench figures

Fitment

Optic type

open-emitter reflex

Mount

Weaver-compatible Leupold DeltaPoint Pro mount

Mount the Vortex Defender ST on Weaver

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The Vortex Defender ST is a Leupold DeltaPoint Pro optic, so it needs a Leupold DeltaPoint Pro mount. On a Weaver base that mount has to be a Weaver-compatible version: Weaver slots are narrower and spaced differently from Picatinny, so a full-width Picatinny recoil lug may not drop in.

If the only Leupold DeltaPoint Pro mount you can find is Picatinny-cut, the cleaner fix is to replace the Weaver base with a Picatinny rail, then use the standard Leupold DeltaPoint Pro Picatinny mount. Check the mount clamps square before locking it down.

Related fitments

›Vortex Defender ST on a Picatinny railthe Picatinny case
›Vortex Defender ST footprint and mountthe optic
›Weaver railthe base
›Picatinny mount on a Weaver railwhy the lug matters

Questions and answers

Fit a Vortex Defender ST on a Weaver base?

The Vortex Defender ST reaches a Weaver base through a Weaver-compatible DeltaPoint Pro-footprint Picatinny mount. A Picatinny version of the same footprint mount may not seat, because its 5.23 mm recoil lug can be too wide for the 4.57 mm Weaver slot. Buy the Weaver-cut mount, or fit a Picatinny base first.