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How compound bow sights and rests mount to the riser
A compound sight and rest both attach to the riser, and which interface your riser uses decides what will bolt on and what needs an adapter.
The riser is the mounting point
On a compound bow the sight mounts to the side of the riser and the rest mounts through the riser near the arrow shelf. Both connections have to be solid and repeatable, because any movement there shows up as lost accuracy downrange.
For years the connections were fairly standard across brands, but bow makers have added their own integrated interfaces, so today what fits depends on the specific riser.
Standard sight and rest interfaces
Sights commonly attach with a dovetail bar, sometimes with a two-hole or Berger-pattern mounting block, which lets you slide the sight in and out to set the sight-to-riser distance.
Rests traditionally mount through the Berger hole, the threaded arrow-rest hole in the riser, using a single fixing screw. This has been the near-universal rest mount for a long time and still fits most risers.
Integrated interfaces
Newer risers add purpose-built interfaces. Mathews Bridge-Lock takes a dovetail sight bar into the top of the riser for a very rigid sight mount, and Bridge-Lock also provides an interface for compatible accessories. Hoyt uses an in-line and picatinny-style integration, and PSE introduced the Integrate MX rest interface.
These integrated mounts aim to be more rigid and repeatable than a single-screw fixing, but a sight or rest built for one of them needs a riser with that interface, or an adapter.
Work out your interface before buying
Before choosing a sight or rest, identify what your riser offers: a standard Berger hole and dovetail, or an integrated system such as Bridge-Lock or Integrate MX. That tells you which accessories bolt straight on.
A standard Berger-hole rest fits most risers, while an Integrate MX rest needs an Integrate MX riser or an adapter. The fit tool matches your bow to rests and sights that mount without guesswork.
Match a sight or rest to your riser
Open the mount finder toolSelect your bow to see which sights and rests bolt on.Find Integrate MX arrow rest on eBayaffiliateRelated
Sources: Mathews · Hoyt · PSE