best way the mount a scope on a shotgun

headzilla97

October 13, 2003 11:07

drill and tap it or a b-square mount. the guy at the shop told me to tap it but i think he just wants the extra money.

I yearn for the simpiler times when a man could crawl out of his cave , club a woman over the head and drag her back "

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  rufe-snow

  October 13, 2003 15:53

  When I had a 1100 Remington, I installed what is called a "Saddle Mount". It uses the existing screw or pin holes. No drilling, taping or machineing required. This type of mount is made for many other shotguns besides Remingtons, it was set up to use Weaver Rings.
  There in www.brownells.com on-line catalog. Other manufactures beside B-Square make them.

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  bambihunter

  October 13, 2003 16:52

  I think it depends on just how accurate you need it to be... If accuracy is paramount then drill it. If close is good enough then side-saddle it.
  For me, a rifled slug barrel would definately be drilled. A smoothbore shooting slugs - I'm not sure. For shooters that just have a hard time seeing the sights and want to be a little more accurate for turkey then definately side-saddle!

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  sck

  October 13, 2003 19:12

  The folks above have offered good advise. There are, however, a couple of other things to consider.
  
  The saddle mount is easiest and you can do it yourself. They have a couple of problems. First, you have to be careful how tight you screw in the screws because if they are too tight, they actually pinch the receiver and can cause the action to become inoperable. Second, there is a tendancy to tighten the screws too tight because many saddel mounts don't seem to be that stable or secure. There are some that are better than others, so don't go too cheap. Third, saddle mounts tend to put the scope pretty high. Some are even designed to be high enough to allow you to see the iron sights under the mount. If you get up that high, you may have trouble seeing the scope or with the stock hitting your cheek so a leather add-on cheek piece my be in order. Fourth, because a shotgun is unlike a rifle in that the barrel and receiver are taken apart and put back together on a regular basis for cleaning, etc., there is no guarantee that anything mounted on the receiver will be in line with the barrel or stay that way.
  
  This is the same problem with drilling and tapping a shotgun receiver. Even if you drill and tap it carefully and then mount the scope with the utmost skill and boresight it with the most advanced system, there is no guarantee that a scope mounted on a receiver will stay lined up with a barrle that really doesn't fit the receiver all that tightly.
  
  Before you go too far in either direction, I would urge you to look into the possibility of getting a new barrel with a cantilever scope mount. Most of the original manufactures such as Remington, Winchester etc, make them and there are several after-market manufacturers that make them. One warning here, however. Make sure that the scope mount on the barrel is strong and won't allow the scope to move. For example, there are still some old Remington barrels out there from the first few years they offered the cantilever system and the mounting bracket is so flimsy that it moves with the slightest pressure from a finger, not to mention what happens under recoil from a 3in. mag shell.
  
  Best of luck. Keep us posted.

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  bambihunter

  October 13, 2003 19:27

  good points sck... However, not all receivers are seperate from the barrel. Case in point, the Benelli's autos use "receiver halves" whereas the top of the receiver is actually connected to the barrel. That way when the bolt locks in its lugs then everything pertaining to the barrel/receiver/bolt fit is exactly the same...
  This design is the exception and definately not he rule as far as shotguns go!

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  allechalley

  October 13, 2003 23:05

  I have a Weaver side mount that seems to do the job. It is fairly substancial and not flimsy. It is mounted with supplied screws thru the trigger assembly pin holes. The one problem I did have was I did not get the screws tight enough as when I was out in the cold hunting for a day, the whole thing nearly fell off (cold shrinks metal). This is mounted on an 870 Express special purpose. The tightening of the screws did not affect the reciever for me.

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