Dovetail joint dovetails completely from view. The sliding dovetail is a method of joining two boards at right angles, where the intersection occurs within the field of one of the boards, that is not at the end. This joint provides the interlocking strength of a dovetail. Sliding dovetails are assembled by sliding the tail into the socket. It is common to slightly taper the socket, making it slightly tighter towards the rear of the joint, so that the two components can be slid together easily but the joint becomes tighter as the finished position is reached. Another method to implement a tapered
Dovetail rail Dovetail rail A dovetail rail or dovetail mount can refer to several types of brackets found on firearms primarily for mounting sights. Dovetail "rails" usually refer to any rail with a inverted trapezium (dovetail) cross-section (though the hexagonal-profiled Weaver rail and Picatinny rail are also derivative dovetail designs) running parallel to the bore for mounting a scope or diopter sight to a rifle. These are sometimes also called "tip-off" mounts, and allow the user to easily take on or off the sight. "Dovetail mount" can also refer to a dovetail track running perpendicular to the bore, see "Other uses" below.