Patent ID: 7886476

Claim:
A mounting assembly for attaching an accessory to a dovetail rail interface on a firearm, said mounting assembly comprising: a body having a lower portion and an upper portion, said lower portion configured to engage a first side of said dovetail rail, said upper portion configured to receive and retain said accessory; a boss formation extending outwardly from a side of said body and including an opening therein; a clamping assembly configured to releasably engage a second side of said dovetail rail, including, a dual-sided foot portion positioned adjacent a bottom surface of said boss formation, said foot portion including symmetrically opposed first and second cam surfaces, and a bar magnet received in a complementary opening in a top surface of said foot portion, wherein said opening extends transversely across said foot portion between said opposed first and second cam surfaces, and further wherein a first end of said bar magnet is positioned adjacent said first cam surface and a second end of said bar magnet is position adjacent said second cam surface; an actuator arm extending outwardly from said foot portion; a shaft extending upwardly from said foot portion through said opening in said boss formation, a terminal end of said shaft being threaded; a spring received around said shaft adjacent the top surface of said boss formation; and a retention nut threadedly received on said terminal end of said shaft such that said spring is captured between a bottom surface of said retention nut and a top surface of said boss formation; and a buffer pad formed from a ferro-magnetic material pivotally mounted to said body adjacent a bottom surface of said lower portion and adjacent said clamping assembly, wherein movement of said clamping assembly to an engaged position causes said foot portion to clamp said buffer pad against said second side of said dovetail rail and wherein movement of said clamping assembly to a disengaged position magnetically withdraws said buffer pad away from said dovetail rail due to a magnetic attraction between said buffer pad and a respective end of said magnet in said foot portion.