Scout Scope Mount
Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2021 5:08 pm
I inherited a 1899 Krag carbine from my grandfather. He said he paid $1.50 for it from the DCM, way back when. It had been semi customized, with a Springfield front sight and a Rice rear sight. Anyhow my aging eyes just could not focus and see those pesky gongs at 100 yards. I had a Leupold 2x EER scope laying around, and deceided to see if I could use it on the Krag. I contacted one vendor who sells scout mounts for the Krag, and never got a respone. So I decieded to make my own. The two rear sight holes, were #8 screw size, appearing to be 8-32 thread. I retapped them to 8-40, without issue, and adapted an old Weaver base. The hole spacing on the Krag, is 2.340, so that's where I drilled the holes in the old base.
Unfortunately, the untapered base made no allowance for the tapered barrel contour, and the Krag still shot high with the elevation adjustment pinned down. A .060 shim was added to bring the elevation down to a more optically centered point. The Krag shot good, but looked like crap with the plastic shim there, so I went a hunting for another base. I found a suitable donor base on ebay for $9. It was a Weaver #88 base for a Mossberg shotgun. It had plenty of meat on it, so a taper could be cut to match the barrel contour. I have access to a mill, so cutting the taper was easy. A little trial and error, got me the right taper. I finished up, by running a pass using a 3/4 ball mill to get a channel down the middle, to fit the rounded barrel better. I located the center and spacing for the holes, drilled and countersunk them for the screw heads. Now time for assembly. I have a gunsmithing kit of screws, so finding a 8-40 screw was no issue. I had to shorten both screws a bit, and with some blue loctite, I was in business. The screws held up under considerable tightening, despite having the holes retapped. I did not feel a third screw on the mount was necessiary, as the scope is pretty light weight, and the rings are very close to the existing screws.
The rifle now has a new lease of life. Smacking the gongs in now much easier, since I can see. My current load is 18 gr 4759, with the Lyman 311284 bullet @ 1510 fps. If I do my part, 1.5" groups at 100 yards are not uncommon. All it cost me was $9.
Here are three photos. I hope the forum members find this post informative.
Unfortunately, the untapered base made no allowance for the tapered barrel contour, and the Krag still shot high with the elevation adjustment pinned down. A .060 shim was added to bring the elevation down to a more optically centered point. The Krag shot good, but looked like crap with the plastic shim there, so I went a hunting for another base. I found a suitable donor base on ebay for $9. It was a Weaver #88 base for a Mossberg shotgun. It had plenty of meat on it, so a taper could be cut to match the barrel contour. I have access to a mill, so cutting the taper was easy. A little trial and error, got me the right taper. I finished up, by running a pass using a 3/4 ball mill to get a channel down the middle, to fit the rounded barrel better. I located the center and spacing for the holes, drilled and countersunk them for the screw heads. Now time for assembly. I have a gunsmithing kit of screws, so finding a 8-40 screw was no issue. I had to shorten both screws a bit, and with some blue loctite, I was in business. The screws held up under considerable tightening, despite having the holes retapped. I did not feel a third screw on the mount was necessiary, as the scope is pretty light weight, and the rings are very close to the existing screws.
The rifle now has a new lease of life. Smacking the gongs in now much easier, since I can see. My current load is 18 gr 4759, with the Lyman 311284 bullet @ 1510 fps. If I do my part, 1.5" groups at 100 yards are not uncommon. All it cost me was $9.
Here are three photos. I hope the forum members find this post informative.