Well it’s time,I just turned the magic age number 65, hopefully its not all downhill from here , I want to try a scope on one of my 71’s, any suggestions on choice of scope & how to mount it would be very much appreciated, thanks.

Bal, relax...65 is the new 35 :-)

I keep telling myself that

Good way to ruin a good Win 71, your better off with a peep sight..mounting a scope requires 4 screw holes in the frame, and thats bad enough, but you still have an off set scope and thats awkward and not condusive to good shootin IMO...

I hear what you are saying but there is another way to possibly do this,use the rear sight dove tail & attach to an existing screw on the action,
Has anyone tried the no drill scope mount on a lever?

Your ejection is straight up, so the problem still exists, now one of the barrel mounted long eye relief scopes might work for sure but would require the dovetail and holes drilled in the barrel or front ring it seems to me..Ive addressed this prolem over the years and never found it suitable so went to the receiver sight as my eyes aged, and I get by well enough with the receiver option..Its worth a try!!

I fabricated my own custom designed scope base that uses the barrel dove tail and a set of screw holes in the receiver. The scope is directly above the bore.
The scope is done as a SCOUT setup, where the scope is a long eye relief version mounted froward of the receiver, providing plenty of clearance for case ejections.
Works very well and provides excellent accuracy.
I can send pictures if you provide an email address. I can also provide the design drawing (Gratis) for the scope base.

https://www.mod94scoperail.com/

Will you guys take a look at this setup?

I've opted for the receiver sight, so I have no experience with scopes on them. But a friend in his seventies really likes his red dot using the Turnbull mount. It uses the factory receiver sight holes.

Turnbull red dot mount

Thanks for your input,& yes the Turnbull mount does work well with a red dot,I have that setup on a couple of my rifles,I just wanted to play with something a little different.

I have two holes in the receiver center to center is about.600 plus, std peeps are in the .400 area, so I have no idea what they were drilled for, no existing peep for sure..and don't want to d & T the receiver with more holes..What my smith is going to do is cut a new hole in a williams sight beneath the slide to use the existing holes..My 71 is a 80% Oal condition long tang 1937 deluxe. Just a nice gun to be used..

Here's a picture of my custom scope mounted "71"


I can email my pictures if requested.

BTT

Bob,
Thanks for taking the time to post these pictures,that looks pretty sturdy,how does your gun shoot with the scope? any issues with elevation with the scope being high off the barrel?I have two long tangs non deluxe models with the top mounted peep like yours.

The accuracy was improved. I am very experienced with peep sights. With the peep sight on this rifle, my groups were 2-1/4 inches at 100 yards.
With this scope setup it easily does 1-1/2 inch groups.
To get elevation close when mounting the scope base, I installed a bore sight laser. I then looked through the scope and moved the receiver section of the scope base vertically to get very close and then "match drilled" for that elevation position.

Bob:
Agree that this is an excellent design-if
a scope is necessary, as in eye problems.

I once owned the best rig top mt I have ever seen:
it was the Detroit "Weathermatic" which also had a steel rod to the lever, actuating ejection while
chambering a new round. It had a Lyman Alaskan scope, and was built during the 1950s.
Unfortunately, it added about close to 2 pounds to the rifle weight. Accurate, but unacceptable.

A good Winchester 98A or Lyman receiver sight is the practical way to go.
I have owned about 13 of these rifles in 348 WCF and the wildcats from 348-At present all of mine are pre-war long tang versions. If you really look close, the triggers on the pre-war versions are identical to the 1886. Very crisp and sharp,
just like J. Browning intended.

Id love to buy that Win peep that interferes with your scope it seems, Id even just trade bolts and pay all costs if your ever a mind to. i hate to see a peep sight like that go to waste!!

Ray,
The Peep on that "71" is my custom made version of the factory original. Before I purchased the rifle, someone had removed the original. I didn't like seeing the naked bolt with cutouts for the sight being empty, so I pursued getting one, but the cost was too high. I was able to borrow a couple of originals and created a set of design drawings that I later used to fabricate this sight. In form and function it's identical to an original but I was unable to imprint the patent markings.
A few folks wanted to make their own complete sights and a few just needed to make repair parts, so I sold a couple of copies of the design drawings.

I have a an original Win. base from an old 71 bolt so Im half way there, but don't have the metal skills too make the top, quite a number of parts!! Im a stock maker and limited metal basic metal work skills..

Your peep is awesome..and the perfect sight for pretty good eyes...AT some point I will probably settle for a mod 21, maybe

I like the peep, too.

Not so sure about the scope mount, extending forward of the sight dovetail.

You could stick a contoured block of steel under the front ring to limit damage from bumps.

I don't get Blaser and extended tactical mounts, either. Brands like NightForce make much of how tough their scopes are, then show crap like that at the back of the catalog.

The extension is necessary to get the rings far enough apart so the scope can be installed. The scope mount is solid steel and as such is quite rigid, with no likelyhood of deflection.

Bob, that's pretty darned clever. And you machined that peep!

Bob:
If that was a pre-war long tang rifle-
SN below 16000, then use the aperture peep.
Moose and elk can be killed easier.
The scope will add unnecessary weight.
Its a lever action...

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Bob, that's pretty darned clever. And you machined that peep!

I agree - it is very clever. It's the best solution to mounting a scope (without making extra tap holes) that I have seen on a Model 71. I am a fan of the forwarded mounted scope in closer range (e.g. deep woods) hunting. Here is a .32 Special carbine I have. I bought this carbine over 40 years ago, set-up as it sits. I've been successful with it (deer) and like that I can look through the scope while looking around it. I've shot running deer with it traveling through the brush. I believe this carbine was set-up this way before the, "Scout rifle" concept became popular. The mounts are Leupold "Detacho" mounts. The mount used the rear barrel sight dovetail and one tap hole goes in the top barrel band. If you are concerned about originality, simply get another barrel band for the tap hole.

I just can;t see the need for a scoped 71 or 94 Win, irons or a peep suit me..If I need a scope I have savage 99s and bolt guns.

It's great to know you can still use iron sights, Ray. For some people lengthening 'short sight' makes focus even on the front sight difficult. I agree with you regarding Winchesters at least. Putting scopes on 94s and 86 models kind of destroys the Western dream.

If I want a 348 with a scope, Id go with a 358 win in a Savage 99 with a low power fixed scope like my 2.5X Leupold Alaskan, or 3X Leupold. balistics match the 348 Win..but my Win 71 deluxe with a peep suites me..

the best approach to ageing eyes is a trip to the eye doc. Be sure he is a shooter, they can help you. MOst target, pistol, and shotgunners and old timers have eye sight problems..and a good set of glasses can give you a number of years shooting at least for most of us..Im 88 with bifocals and couldn't shoot without my prescriptios..still shoot'en irons.

Having myopia and borderline glaucoma, Ray, I'm well acquainted with my ophthalmologist. He didn't seem to have any answer to my seeing the diamond behind the folding open sight on my .45-70 doubled, or beads and posts thickened, though.

This hasn't stopped me shooting reasonable groups with the M86 or old MS 6.5x54 but when I raise the tang sight on the former, the bead shrinks to correct size and groups move laterally.

The Lyman aperture on my 375 Win works well enough but it has no alternative open sight to muddy the waters.

Its amazing how accurate a "peep" can be when when you switch to a huge hole to look through called the "ghost peep", all you need to do is put the front sight on target, and its accurate and incredibly fast. Ive seldom seen its mention on AR, and its ever so good on big bore..For years the old timers tossed the peep away and looked through the screw hole, I do that but its still not as good a (ghost peep w/ 1/2" hole...

Alternative open sight would be a flip up in the barrel dove tail..

With receiver sights, I sometimes saw 3mm off the front of the disc shank and screw/glue that in the front of the housing. That leaves a biggish shaded hole but small enough to sharpen the post and target a bit.

Bob,
Do you really think an improvement from 2.4"s with peep to 1,5"s with scope, especially with a barn door shooter like a 348 is designed for makes a meaningful difference ??

I have a Honey hole for big elk, that is so thick with timber that my longest shot so far has been maybe 15 yards and the rest off the barrel. A mile down the road 200 yards would be my longest shot but 300 might show up across a canyon..the peep on my gun gets me about 2-5 inches at 100 and has been all I've needed, otherwise my Whelen or 06 take over most years. My point being the 71 isnt a varmint rifle. but you know that!

I've enjoyed this thread. The Pearson mount is clever and from all the testimonials it seems to work very well. The Turnbull seems to work just as well.

Thank goodness I can still use a peep sight, but I could talk myself into using a red dot with the Turnbull system.

I know that the ER scopes work very well and I would never judge anyone for using such on a lever action, but man they make a Winchester lever look ugly.